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Modes of politics at a distance from the state 0 comments Should the Anti-Capitalists Contest Elections? 3 comments Anarchism's Relevance to Black and Working Class Strategy 0 comments Recent Articles about Southern Africa HistoryThe relevance of the ICU of Africa for modern day unions and liberatio... Dec 12 19 Ένωση Βιομηχ ... Dec 08 19 Bill Andrews and South Africa’s Revolutionary Syndicalists Apr 05 16 Social Organisation and Black Workers in South Africa: 1914-1921
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Wednesday July 30, 2008 23:28 by Lucien van der Walt
The following selection is from 'Debates in South African Labour History', an undated booklet published by SACHED in Durban that collected a series of articles written by the LACOM labour service organisation for the 'Learning Nation'. The latter was a supplement to the now-defunct radical anti-apartheid 'New Nation' newspaper. Edited by Zwelakhe Sisulu, and Catholic-financed, 'New Nation' was a weekly tabloid primarily aimed at black readers. The analysis presented in the article below suffers from several flaws,
among them There are other points of interpretation and explanation that can be questioned. That said, there are still many points of interest in this article, which I why I am putting it back into circulation. Lucien van der Walt Johannesburg, 28 May 2008 Social Organisation and Black Workers in South Africa: 1914-1921The struggle against participation in the warWorld War I broke out in Europe on August 14 1914. This war brought many problems to the socialist and labour parties in Europe and South Africa. Before the war, most socialist parties have been organised into an international organisation called the Second International. In 1912, at its congress in Basle, the second international adopted a resolution on the coming world war. This resolution said that all socialist and labour parties should oppose any participation by workers in the war. The resolution said that the world war was a war to enrich capitalists. It said that workers should refuse to take up arms against other workers. When the war actually came, many of the parties of the Second international supported their own governments. The strongest party in the Second International, the German Socialist Democratic party, also supported the German government. It encouraged German workers to take up arms against other workers. This led to splits within the German party. In South Africa too, the question of participation in the war led to many debates. The South African Labour Party (SALP) was formed in 1909 and adopted some of the policies of the Second International. The debates over the war led to divisions within the SALP. Those socialist who were against participation formed a group called the War on War League. When it became clear that the divisions could not be healed, this group split from the SALP and formed the International Socialist League (ISL). The League published the paper called 'The International'.
The ISL turns to black workersUntil about 1915, the socialist movement in South Africa addressed itself only to white workers. Most of the socialist activists at that time had come from Europe. They brought with them a tradition of trade unionism and socialist politics. When the SALP was formed in 1909, it took a position which said that the black workers had no role to play in the struggle for socialism in South Africa. The SALP viewed all black workers as a threat to the interests of white workers. Under the leadership of Cresswell, who had been a Major in the Defence Force in South West Africa, the SALP said that Indian workers must be sent back to India. The SALP allowed 'coloured' workers to join the party. This was because in the Cape a number of 'coloured' workers were skilled workers who belonged to craft unions affiliated to the SALP. Since some 'coloureds' in the Cape had the vote, the SALP also wanted their support.The SALP said that African workers were uncivilised and savages and should go back to being peasant farmers. The SALP propagated a policy of segregation and did not approve of social mixing between whites and blacks. It also did not approve of 'mixed marriages'. The SALP argued that because black labour was cheap it would be used by the capitalists to replace white workers. It therefore called for segregation and 'equal pay for equal work'. For the SALP, black workers were only temporary and would soon go back to the countryside. Although a number of members of the ISL also held these views, towards the end of the First World War, a number of factors forced some socialists within the ISL to change their views. This was mainly because:
* White workers strongly supported the war. The ISL members lost many
elections to municipal councils because of their stand on the war. They
tried, without success, to convince white workers that the war was a
capitalist war which did not benefit workers. Under the influence of these two factors, leading members of the ISL, like SP Bunting and Bill Andrews started changing their attitudes to black workers. They argued that only solidarity between white and black workers could overthrow the capitalist system in South Africa. For the first time in history of socialism in South Africa, the ISL started calling for the organisation of black workers into industrial unions. This call was supported by the syndicalists within the ISL. The syndicalists believed that only when workers were organised into strong industrial unions could they overthrow capitalism. They said that workers' strongest weapon was the general strike. Unlike the SALP, which believed in craft unions, the ISL strongly believed in non-racial industrial unions. This turn towards the black workers was not without its problems for the ISL. Many of its members still believed in the old SALP position. The majority of the ISL still saw the need to organise black workers to protect whites. They argued that black workers must be organised so that they could not be scabs when white workers went on strike. After much delay, the ISL started a night school for black workers in 1917. In that same year the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), a general union for black workers, was formed. Some of the workers who played a major part in the IWA came from the ISL night schools.
In its first pamphlet distributed in 1917 the IWA called on the workers
to unite, irrespective of colour. The pamphlet ended with the words:
The ISL's attitude to black and white nationalist organisationsThe syndicalism of the ISL was also reflected in the attitude of the ISL towards the nationalist organisations.Throughout its existence (i.e. until 1921) when the ISL together with other organisations formed the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), the ISL took a very hostile attitude towards the nationalist organisations. The ISL believed that the conflict in South Africa was between the capitalists and the workers and not between black and white. It called on black workers not to follow the lead of the nationalist leaders in the South African Native National Congress (SANNC which later became the ANC). It also called on the Afrikaner workers not to follow the lead of the Nationalist Party under Hertzog's leadership. The ISL said that the black middle class which led the SANNC and the Afrikaner nationalists were opposed to trade unionism. Although the ISL was opposed to the nationalist parties it did not oppose the fight for democratic rights. It argued that the struggle for democratic rights had to be based on industrial unions. The ISL was correct in its hostility to the nationalism of the SANNC and NP as solutions for the working class. The ISL proposed that the industrial trade unions were sufficient basis for the struggle for democracy. This position highlighted its own syndicalist weaknesses. Despite its limitations, the ISL made an important contribution towards the struggle for socialism. Its struggle against participation in the war showed a spirit of working class internationalism. It was also the first organisation to take the organisation of the black workers seriously. |
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