College Workers Union of South Africa - Cowusa

Cosatu conference enters third day Cosatu is expected to elect new leadership at its National Congress. Courtesy

State capture report | High-profile politicians implicated Zwelinzima Vavi General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions has been on record pleading with Former President Jacob Zuma to fix South A...

Cowusa wishes a happy festive season for everyone.

From:
Kgobane wa Mphaphathe,
President,
College Workers Union of South Africa,
COWUSA.
On behalf of COWUSA leadership.

Greetings
The news about the passing on of comrade Nthabiseng Chidi have saddened us very deeply. As we all know, comrade Chidi was elected to serve in the responsibility of Treasurer when COWUSA was formed at Kagiso on 13 May 2016. We had the humbling privilege to serve with her in the founding leadership of the union. She was always available when the union's leadership team travelled to spread the COWUSA message in far flung place such as Vuwani, Sekhukhune, Bloemfontein, and many other places. Comrade Chidi was present at almost every activity of the union even when she was no longer occupying any leadership position. She was a committed soldier of the green revolution. We will always remember comrade Chidi for her contribution to the struggle for CET lecturers in South Africa to be treated as professionals with dignity.

On behalf of the leadership of COWUSA I would like to convey our deepest condolences to the late comrade Nthabiseng Chidi's family, to COWUSA members at Kagiso CLC, to COWUSA members in Gauteng and to the comrades & colleagues at Kagiso CLC. May the revolutionary soul of comrade Nthabiseng Chidi rest in peace.

Farewell soldier!!!
Farewell green revolutionary!!!Farewell Commandant!!!
Farewell MBOKODO!!!
Farewell dear sister!!!

Dear Cowusa members
Myself and leadership Ishe will drive to Venda. If your green regalia is ready please inbox me. Leaving 21h00. Free transport.

If you sell regalia also inbox me... They need it there.

Please inbox

JUDGEMENT RESERVED IN THE PLASTICS STRIKE
17 October, 2018
For Immediate Release

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) was in the Labour Court in Johannesburg earlier today to oppose an application by the PCSA to request an urgent interdict to block the Plastics Strike. The Plastic Convertors of South Africa (PCSA) are trying to use the courts to silence our members from protesting about their conditions through strike action. The court has not yet handed down judgement in this matter and the decision on whether to grant the interdict will be made on Friday.

We repeat that the decision to apply for an urgent interdict is nothing more than an attempt by employers to intimidate our members. Our strike is a legal strike. We have followed all the processes. The employers are losing money because we are affecting production and this is why they are taking us to court. They care only about profits and they are not interested in engaging meaningfully with our demands. We condemn the PCSA and the plastic employers for this backward mentality. We would not be on strike in the first place if they had chosen to take our demands seriously when we highlighted them way back in 2016. It is outrageous that they can claim that our strike is illegal when we have been trying to engage with them on these issues.

The employers in the Plastics sector are determined to impose backward conditions on our members which will worsen their conditions. Workers in the plastics sector face a major reduction in their wages, as well as the removal of benefits and conditions which took years to negotiate under the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council, the MEIBC. Under the MEIBC workers receive a minimum R40 per hour wage; they are paid for overtime and they are eligible for a bonus. Now the employers in the Plastics sector want to take all this away from them. They have always fought against any progressive benefits and wages for workers which is why they formed their own bargaining forum. They want to be able to freely and legally be able to abuse and exploit workers.
We have not taken this decision to strike lightly. We are aware of the negative impact that a National will have on our economy and the industry. However, we have been forced into defending ourselves. The employers do not want to listen to workers because their racist attitude blinds them to the fact that African workers are human beings, deserving of human rights and humane treatment.
We hope the courts will give us a favourable outcome. However, regardless of the outcome, we will continue to do all we can to fight on behalf of our members.

We welcome the support from our global union IndustriAll which has issued a statement in solidarity of the strike in the Plastics sector. IndustriAll is a global union federation which represents more than fifty million workers in mining, energy and manufacturing industries in 140 countries worldwide. The General Secretary Valter Sanchez said in a statement sent to us this week that:
“IndustriALL Global Union rallies behind NUMSA’s call to employers in the plastics sector to support the extension of the main agreement on substantive wages, terms and conditions of employment, as agreed by the Steel and Engineering Federation of Southern Africa.”

We also welcome the support we have received from the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party of (SRWP) for joining our members as they marched in Pinetown in Kwa-Zulu Natal yesterday to hand over a memorandum of demands to the employers.
We call on all workers, not just NUMSA members in all factories to intensify the strike.

This is a legally protected strike and you can participate without any fear. When we win this battle, all workers will benefit. You are already suffering under the abuse of the Plastics employers, join us and free yourselves from slavery. The only language that the employer understands is if he loses profits. The only power we have is the unity and power of all workers in the sector.
In the words of Karl Marx we say:
“Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose except your chains!”
Issued by Irvin Jim
NUMSA General Secretary

For more information, please contact:
Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
NUMSA National Spokesperson
0833767725

SAFTU rejects repackaged old neoliberal and austerity programmes that have dismally failed for the past 24 years
The outcome of the Jobs Summit on 4-5 October 2018 confirms all the worst fears of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, and vindicates its decision to decline the invitation to attend as an observer and be associated with a sham.
It produced nothing but empty rhetoric and no solutions to the catastrophe which has led to South Africa having one of the world’s six highest levels of unemployment, that has left almost 10 million workers with no job. We have the appalling levels of poverty, among both the unemployed and their families and thousands of employed workers as well, almost zero economic growth and the most unequal society in the world.
The Summit Framework Agreement, a massive 84-page document released early on the first day of the summit, was obviously drafted well in advance, making a mockery of the idea that the event was a platform for a free exchange of views from the Nedlac constituencies. The outcome was pre-ordained.
As expected the delegates representing government and business and, scandalously, those claiming to represent labour, showed no awareness of the extent of this economic and social catastrophe facing the big majority of South Africans.
They failed to condemn, or even to acknowledge, that the underlying cause of the crisis was the failure of successive governments, in alliance with white monopoly capital and global financial institutions, to transform the economy from the one which we inherited from the years of colonialism and apartheid.
The natural resources of South Africa are still plundered by multi-national corporations to be imported back as finished products, rather than to be manufactured here in a growing manufacturing industry which could have created thousands of new jobs and drawn millions more people into economic activity.
As SAFTU said when explaining why it would not attend the Summit, business and government are the cause rather than the solution of the crisis. They have pursued an economic strategy which started with GEAR and continued with the National Development Plan and which is enforced by the credit ratings agencies, based on neoliberal, pro-market policies which only prioritise the amassing of as much profits as quickly as possible for a super-rich elite.
For as long as government stays on this course, there was never any prospect of the Summit deciding on anything that would turn the tide, or to create jobs at the rate required even to reach the National Planning Commission’s newly amended target for unemployment in 2030 to reach a still huge level of 14%.
In a gross understatement, Sipho Pityana, President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) had to concede that "business was under no delusion that the summit would provide all the answers needed to get the 9.6-million unemployed South Africans into the labour market”. The truth is that it had no answers at all.
The Summit came down firmly on the side of “business as usual”, despite admitting that “long-standing inequalities stress our democratic institutions and make it harder to agree on common priorities. That in itself tends to hold down investment.
“No democracy’” it said, “can maintain the strategies and governance required for growth unless most citizens see tangible benefits. Economic inequalities are rooted in high levels of joblessness; profoundly inequitable pay and workplace organisation; and unequal access to quality education and economic assets.”
Yet there was absolutely nothing agreed that would even begin to narrow these inequalities. For example the Summit not only endorsed the iniquitous Employment Tax Incentive scheme, which subsidizes employers with tax breaks for paying lower wages to youth, but also agreed to extend it for another 10 years.
Ramaphosa claimed that “We have committed to raising R1.3 trillion in five years and we want to get a clear demonstration that there is a commitment by the investment community that they are ready to invest”.
This sounds like nothing more than holding an auction for a charity, or passing a begging bowl around monopoly capitalist companies and asking them to donate more funds.
The Agreement recognised that these companies “bear the primary responsibility for initiating and implementing actions to avoid job losses” yet, as Pityana admitted, “We are here to decide on pragmatic ways to protect jobs wherever possible”.
What capitalists see as “possible” is governed by their greed for quick profits, yet they will be left with the power to decide what is or is not “possible” for the country. They will not fill the begging bowl if they decide that it is more important to increase or maintain their profits. They have the power to sabotage every one of the more than 70 specific proposals for additional spending, by simply saying it is “not possible”.
Meanwhile government has reiterated that “there will be no retrenchments in the public sector” and gave a welcome commitment “to addressing the imperative of filling all critical vacancies in the public sector”. Yet Ramaphosa dodged the question of getting rid of 30 000 jobs by other means, as already suggested by the Treasury’s statement, just after Pravin Gordhan’s 2016 budget speech, that it was considering the implementation of voluntary severance packages to reduce the public-sector wage bill.”
This has been confirmed by Minister of Public Service Ayanda Dlodlo and Deputy President David Mabuza who have made it categorically clear that the current government wage bill is not sustainable in their view and therefore numbers must be cut, not increased.
For SAFTU the most disgraceful outcome of the Summit was the capitulation of the leaders of the labour constituency, who won no concessions beyond a few crumbs. Speaking on behalf of labour at Nedlac, COSATU general secretary, Bheki Ntshalintshali admitted there had been several occasions where labour had wanted to pull out of the Jobs Summit, but had opted to put their differences aside and put the interests of the most vulnerable first.
He said he was surprised by the decision of an organization he did not name, to "boycott social engagement”. He that said labour had proposed a moratorium on retrenchments, an end to the "investment strike" and the filling of public sector vacancies, but conceded that not all their demands were included in the final declaration.
The truth is that none of the demands of these sweethearts were included. They capitulated to the pressure of government and employers and put their names to an agreement which will leave ten million still unemployed, their families and communities still mired in poverty and an even less equal society.
They have made this an even worse betrayal by allowing government and business to claim that the Summit reflected the united view of the whole of South African society, which is patently untrue. Not only SAFTU with its more than 700 000 members, but many community groups including unemployed formations and small business bodies were also not there.
These are the organizations, which came together in the Working-Class Summit in July, and this charade of a Summit will spur on their campaign for a complete break with the capitalist status quo.
SAFTU is prepared to join in “social engagement” in any genuine attempt to find solutions to the catastrophic level of unemployment, but rejects completely any plan which only proposes more of the same pro-big business policies. In particular the federation repeats its call for economic strategy to be based not on the dictates of credit ratings agencies and global big business.
Mass unemployment leads to a huge percentage of the population being virtually excluded from the economic life of the country, because they can only afford to buy the most basic essentials. This leads to low levels of demand for goods and services and therefore leads to even more lost jobs of the workers who produce them. Poverty pay is one of the main reasons for South Africa's economic stagnation, yet Nedlac parties are united in the view that the R20 an hour national minimum wage is an answer.
SAFTU insists that no sufficient number of jobs will be created within the framework of today’s neo-colonial economy which remains, as designed by colonialists an economy based on the extraction of the mineral wealth by multinational corporations and exploitation of cheap black labour. Nothing is going to fundamentally change if our economy is still based on the GEAR/NDP framework which have the following key elements:
The removal of industrial tariffs even faster than required by the WTO leading to the deindustrialisation of our economy and decimation of sectors such as clothing, textiles, footwear, steel, etc.
Adoption of inappropriate fiscal policies that led to the shifting of the tax burden from the shoulder of the rich to the shoulders of the poor as demonstrated by the latest VAT increase.
Adoption of an inappropriate monetary policy that prioritised the targeting of inflation, removal of exchange controls which allowed billions so desperately needed to build our economy to be moved offshore including through listing of important local companies in foreign countries.
SAFTU insists that a new growth path, not by just in name but through raising new resources through such measures as imposition of wealth and solidarity taxes must be introduced. This should include taxing the over a trillion rands hoarded by business, and taking firm and decisive action to stop financial outflows, mispricing and illicit trade.
This growth path must include re-nationalisation of both Iscor and Sasol as well as full implementation of the Freedom Charter demands to share the wealth of the country by addressing the land and property poverty of the majority through nationalisation of the mineral wealth beneath the soil and redistribution of the land under the worker control so that a process to beneficiate and build secondary industries from our minerals can begin.
South Africa should follow the path taken by former president Lula of Brazil, who raised minimum wages and social grants. This led to an economic boom, as far more money was being spent, which turned the wheels of the economy and created more jobs to meet the higher demand for goods and services.
New jobs must be created for those retrenched. For example, domestic workers could be re-employed by government and assigned to those who most need help, in the many understaffed hospitals and facilities to care for the elderly and mentally handicapped, like the victims of the Esidimeni massacre. They would be paid a living wage and be performing a vital public service.
EPWP workers should be permanently employed to acquire experience and skills, not, as at present, in a government cheap labour scheme to do jobs which should be done by permanent workers. They should be absorbed immediately by municipalities to deal with the backlog of infrastructure projects and with a decent wage and benefits.
In the long run however, there will never be jobs for all under a capitalist system, which exploits workers in order to amass profits and then discards them when profits fall.
The solution must be a new democratic socialist order, with the nationalisation of the mines, banks, and monopoly industrial companies so that the wealth created by the labour of the working class is owned, controlled and shared by the working people and not a super-rich elite.

The South African Federation of Trade Unions expresses its full support for the poor communities across the country who are rising in protest against poverty, unemployment, crime, drug dealing and gangsterism.

SAFTU since its inception has consistently warned that we are sitting a ticking time-bomb. Community protests have been increasing throughout 2018, and becoming more violent are facing attacks from police. They have become so frequent that almost every day they feature in traffic reports as roads are closed as a result of attempts to block roads as a way to draw attention to grievances.

The latest big protests by the movement on the Cape Flats and protest in Westbury and Sophiatown in Johannesburg prove that the level of anger within communities is reaching new heights. Similar movements are mushrooming across the country, and are the inevitable consequence of one of the world’s highest rates of unemployment, deepening poverty and widening inequality.

These underlying problems are aggravated by particular local problems - the underfunding of education and health services, non-delivery of new houses, and especially the appalling levels of violent crime, gang warfare and drug dealing.

Hundreds of young people are becoming addicted to deadly drugs like nyaope and being recruited into gangs who terrorize communities and fight each other in the street, making residents virtual prisoners in their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

There are also frequent allegations that some local police officers are have been bribed by drug dealers to take no action against them. In both the Cape and Westbury, residents have complained bitterly that police do nothing to arrest gang leaders and drug lords, but arrive in numbers to arrest peaceful protesters and attack them with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.

This criminal take-over of poor communities is a sign of a failed state - a total collapse of law and order, with devastating consequences for the residents.

It also provides further proof of the vast inequality in the quality people’s lives within South Africa. The rich residents of suburbs like Bishopscourt or Sandton can buy their way out of such problems, using private security companies and blocking off access to their streets with controlled barriers.

SAFTU condemns the view that the kind of violence and criminality is less of a problem when the victims are the poor and marginalized. On the contrary they suffer most, from the double misery of being poor, very often unemployed, living in slums and then in addition being terrorized and murdered by gangsters.

The federation welcomes Police Minister Cele’s visit to the communities in both Bonteheuwel and Westbury, where he listened to their complaints and promised to deal with them, including action against drug lords and an urgent investigation into community claims that police officers were on the payroll of criminals.

SAFTU demands that the minister fulfills these promises to take action, although so far residents say he has failed to so. Government must also equally urgently tackles the longer-term problems of the quality of life of the people in these, and all other communities of the poor and marginalised.

The Working-Class Summit on 24 July 2018 created a platform for workers to link up with community and civil society organisations, and forge a strong united mass movement of the poor majority of the country. The fight against rampant crime has to be a core component of the campaign.

Workers live in communities and are no less the victims of criminals and the social problems confronting the poor and unemployed workers. So they have to join the fight for a safer community for them and their families. In Cape Town this has already led to close collaboration between union and community members in the campaign. This example must be followed in all areas.

The Steering Committee elected by the Summit is to meet shortly and should launch a campaign to demand that the poor receive the same l

THE EVERLASTING MESSAGE OF ROBERT SOBUKWE!

THE EVERLASTING MESSAGE OF ROBERT SOBUKWE!

Posted by Mayihlome News



The speeches of Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe are persuasive, incisive and evocative from the time he was at Fort Hare University until he was arrested in 1960. The imagery he painted in some of his speeches depicted natural phenomena or nature, and the descriptive terms he used left indelible impressions on his audiences. I once described him as a wordsmith in one of my writings more than ten years ago. The constant theme in Sobukwe’s speeches is the liberation of Africa, African unity and the destruction of white supremacy and its attendant vices of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism.

In his 1949 speech at Fort Hare he said “We are seeing today the germination of the seeds of decay inherent in Capitalism; we discern the first shoots of the tree of Socialism. He also said “We are the first glimmers of a new dawn. And if we are persecuted for our views, we should remember, as the African saying goes, that it is darkest before dawn…”

Let me now focus on his 1959 speeches beginning with his inaugural address to the founding congress of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania. There is no doubt, he said, that with the liquidation of Western imperialism and colonialism in Asia, the Capitalist market has shrunk considerably. As a result, Africa has become the happy hunting ground of adventuristic capital. He continued, “There is again a scramble for Africa and both the Soviet Union and the United States of America are trying to win the loyalty of the African states.”

One wonders what goes through the minds of some African leaders who were cautioned by Sobukwe about the second scramble for Africa almost six decades ago, yet there are US military bases known as ‘Africom’ established on the continent of Africa. The US plans to occupy every strategic part of the continent, according to an article from the World Socialist Web Site of 11 December 2015 published under the headline “Pentagon announces worldwide expansion of US military bases.”

What goes through the minds of the heads of state of South Africa, Nigeria and Gabon who voted in favour of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which resulted in the destruction of Libya?

Sobukwe identified white supremacy/white domination/herrenvolkism as one of the untenable, cardinal sins of whites or Europeans on the continent so much that in his inaugural address he mentioned it eight times and later that year, mentioned it sixteen times in the State of the Nation address. Herrenvolkism is the theory of a master race which emanated from Germany.

On the race question, Sobukwe said, “The Africanists take the view that there is only one race to which all belong, and that is the human race. In our vocabulary, therefore, the word ‘race’ as applied to man, has no plural form. We do, however, admit the existence of observable physical differences between various groups of people, but these are the result of a number of factors, chief among which has been geographical isolation.” He further stated that “In Africa, the myth of race has been propounded and propagated by the imperialists and colonialists from Europe, in order to facilitate and justify their inhuman exploitation of the indigenous people of the land. It is from this myth of race with its attendant claims of cultural superiority that the doctrine of white supremacy stems.”

Sobukwe debunked the myth that whites or Europeans were superior to Africans and put to rest the idea of white supremacy almost sixty years ago and he said it is our (the PAC) contention that true democracy can be established in South Africa and on the continent as a whole, only when white supremacy has been destroyed. According to Sobukwe, to achieve lasting peace in Africa and find solution to the economic, social, and political problems of the continent, a government must be based on a democratic principle. This means that white supremacy, under whatever guise it manifests itself, must be destroyed. He said Europeans were responsible for the pernicious doctrine of white supremacy which has resulted in the humiliation and degradation of the indigenous African people.

Sobukwe also spoke about the Indian foreign minority group who came to this country not as imperialists or colonialists, but as indentured labourers. In the South African set-up of today, he said, this group is an oppressed minority. But there are some members of this group, the merchant class in particular, who have become tainted with the virus of cultural supremacy and national arrogance.

Sobukwe said the Africanists do not at all subscribe to the fashionable doctrine of South African exceptionalism.

Of multiracialism, he said the following: “Against multiracialism, we have the objection, that the history of South Africa has fostered group prejudices and antagonisms, and if we have to maintain the same group exclusiveness, parading under the term of multi-racialism, we shall be transporting to the new Africa these very antagonisms and conflicts. Further, multi-racialism is in fact a pandering to European bigotry and arrogance. It is a method of safeguarding white interests irrespective of population figures. In that sense it is a complete negation of democracy. To us the term ‘multi-racialism’ implies that there are such basic inseparable differences between the various national groups here that the best course is to keep them permanently distinctive in a kind of democratic apartheid. That to us is racialism multiplied, which is what the term truly connotes.”

What Sobukwe said is clear and demonstrates his vision and foresight as we have recently witnessed at this country’s universities where white students and their parents wanted to maintain group exclusiveness, prejudices and antagonism. This also shows how Nelson Mandela was wrong when he said in the early 1990’s that white people’s fears are genuine and that African people have unrealistic expectations. I didn’t see any fear in the white people who were punching African students at the rugby field of the University of the Free State and those who fought against African students at the University of Pretoria. It is clear from Sobukwe’s speeches that African people can’t have unrealistic expectations after more than three hundred years of oppression.

The idea of a “rainbow nation” transported to the new Africa the antagonisms and conflicts Sobukwe spoke about in 1959. However, the ANC just does not get it. They are faltering to this day as to how to combat white supremacy (racism). It is worth imparting to the youth the knowledge that Sobukwe is condemning multi-racialism because the Freedom Charter ANC at some stage in their history espoused multi-racialism – which they no longer want to be associated with – and abandoned it surreptitiously and embraced non-racialism which was advocated by Sobukwe and the PAC. The ANC has never thanked Sobukwe and the PAC for the concept of non-racialism.

Sobukwe was a Pan Africanist as can be attested in many statements he made in his 1959 inaugural address. For an example, Sobukwe stated that “Besides the sense of common historical fate that we share with the countries of Africa, it is imperative for purely practical reasons that the whole of Africa be united into a single unit, centrally controlled. Only in that way can we solve the immense problems that face the continent.” Sobukwe continued stating that “It is for the reasons stated above that we admire, bless and identify ourselves with the entire nationalist movement in Africa. They are the core, the basic units, the individual cells of that large organism envisaged, namely, the United States of Africa”.

Sobukwe’s undying commitment to Africa as alluded to above made him a target not only of the white minority government in South Africa but the whole western world which is even to this day working hard to expunge Sobukwe’s name from the annals of African history, the international media and from the collective consciousness of the African people. I wish to substantiate the abovementioned conclusion. In his book MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations published in 2000, university lecturer Steven Dorril writes, “Most MI6 efforts in Africa were stymied by inter-agency demarcation disputes and internal Whitehall political battles. MI6 was unable to open stations where the service felt they were needed. It did, however, occasionally conduct robust – or what the service called ‘disruptive’ – operations. Including Africa as part of his remit, Bruce-Lockhart concentrated his efforts on Northern Rhodesia and the former Belgian Congo, which has valuable uranium deposits…” The author continued stating that “This conspiracy view of Soviet pe*******on of Africa was shared by (George) Young’s right-wing ‘friends’, who took an extreme and racist view of Africa and Africans. The official line, however, was that ‘Communism (amongst African political movements) has made no great impact’ and that the idea of pan-Africanism could be discounted.”

The first point to note is that this British spy agency is discussing the mineral wealth of Zambia which was called Northern Rhodesia and Congo which is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. If Africa was united as Sobukwe and other leaders such as Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah suggested and worked towards that goal, the West would not have a chance to exploit Africa’s mineral wealth. The second point is that this British spy agency says Pan Africanism could be discounted which clearly shows the West is against Pan Africanism and have frustrated efforts by well-meaning African leaders to unite the African continent under the banner of the United States of Africa. The evidence is there for all to see that all the leaders I mentioned were overthrown and/or assassinated.

Sobukwe was arrested in March 1960 after the anti-pass campaign that culminated in the shooting of unarmed civilians in Sharpeville and Langa. Sobukwe never enjoyed freedom since that day in March 1960 until his death on February 27, 1978. When he died he was under South African government restriction. He could not travel abroad even on humanitarian grounds to seek medical treatment or employment abroad.

On 14th October 1960, Patrice Lumumba was deposed in a CIA, MI6 and the Belgian government backed coup and installed Joseph Mobutu who changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko. On the 17th January 1961, Lumumba was assassinated and the manner in which he was murdered and placed in a vat of acid is captured in Karl Evanzz’s book The Judas Factor:

The Plot to Kill Malcolm X published in 1992. In 1966, Nkrumah was overthrown by the CIA as revealed in The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X. In 2011 Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown by the UN and NATO, publicly lynched and assassinated.

On February 3, 1960 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told the all-white South African parliament in Cape Town that, “the most striking of all the impressions I have formed since I left London is of this African national consciousness. In different places it takes different forms, but it is happening everywhere. The wind of change is blowing through this continent…The great issue in this second part of the twentieth century is whether the uncommitted people of Asia and Africa will swing to the East of the West”. This speech by Macmillan is known as “the wind of change” speech even by Africans. But as we can see for ourselves, Macmillan was worried about this African national consciousness and wondered whether the uncommitted people of Asia and Africa will swing to the East or the West. Macmillan could not have been oblivious to Sobukwe’s inaugural address delivered eleven months earlier in which he said, “It is at this time, when fascist tyranny has reached its zenith in South Africa, that Africa’s loyalty is being competed for. And the question is, what is our answer? Sobukwe provided the answer and stated that “Our answer, Mr. Speaker and children of the soil, has been given by African leaders of the continent. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah has repeatedly stated that in international affairs, Africa wishes to pursue a policy of positive neutrality, allying herself to neither of the existing blocs but, in the words of Dr. Nnandi Azikiwe of Nigeria, remaining ‘independent in all things but neutral in none that affect the destiny of Africa.”

In his two 1959 speeches, Sobukwe mentioned the phrase African personality about four times. What is this African personality? According to another great African thinker and Pan Africanist Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, African personality is a cultural identity which relates an individual to his people. Diop says there are three factors that go to make up the collective personality of a people. They are the historical factor, linguistic factor and psychological factor. These factors, particularly the psychological aspects, go through constant change, while the linguistic and historic aspects provide coordination of relationships. He pointed out that the Blacks in the Diaspora have had the linguistic ties cut but the historic factor remains as strong as ever, perpetuated by memory. The historic factor is the cultural cement which unites the disparate elements of a people to make a whole. Historical consciousness is the most solid rampart of the cultural security of a people. Historical continuity is the effective arm of a people against outside cultural aggression. A people without an historical consciousness is just a population. The loss of historical continuity can lead to stagnation and retrogression.

In the third paragraph of his inaugural address, Sobukwe states that “In the course of the past two years we have seen man breaking asunder, with dramatic suddenness, the chains that have bound his mind, solving problems which for ages it had been regarded as sacrilege even to attempt to solve.”

Speaking about mental liberation in August 1959, Sobukwe said, “Now for over three hundred years, the white foreign ruling minority has used its power to inculcate in the African the feeling of inferiority. This group has educated the African to accept the status quo of white supremacy and Black inferiority as normal…….It is our task to exorcise this slave mentality and to impart to the African masses that sense of self-reliance which will make them choose to starve in freedom rather than have plenty in bo***ge, the self-reliance that will make them prefer self-government to the good government preferred by the ANC’s leader.”

Sobukwe continued to say that once the Status Campaign has been launched, the masses will themselves come forward with suggestions for the extension of the area of assault – and once that happens, the twilight of white supremacy and the dawn of African independence in this part of the continent will have set in.

On the eve of the 21 March 1960 anti-pass campaign, Sobukwe cautioned all regions and branches of the PAC to be aware that white rulers are going to be extremely ruthless but that “we must meet their hysterical brutality with calm, iron determination. We are fighting for the noblest cause on earth, the liberation of mankind. They are fighting to entrench an outworn, anachronistic vile system of oppression. We represent progress. They represent decadence. We represent the fresh fragrance of flowers in bloom; they represent the rancid smell of decaying vegetation. We have the whole continent on our side. We have history on our side. We will win!”

The ANC government has declared March 21 a national holiday, a day which came about as a result of the brilliant organising ideas of Sobukwe and his persuasive language. But they don’t want to recognize Sobukwe, the person who, with the PAC, made it possible for us to be free today. There must be a national holiday on either the 27th February or 5th December in memory of this great leader.

By Sam Ditshego

http://mayihlomenews.co.za/the-everlasting-message-of-robert-sobukwe/

mayihlomenews.co.za   The speeches of Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe are persuasive, incisive and evocative from the time he was at Fort Hare University until he was arrested in 1960. The imagery he painted in some of his speeches depicted natural phenomena or nature, and the descriptive terms he used left indelible impress...