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| Volume 1, No. 32 • 31 August - 6 September 2001 |
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THIS WEEK:
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It was with a deep sense of sadness and shared loss that the National Executive Committee and membership of the ANC learnt of the passing on of Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki in the early hours of Thursday morning. The Mbeki family shares their loss with the nation. 'Oom Gov' - as he was known to many South Africans - was a lifelong warrior against racism, oppression and exploitation. We recall with profound gratitude a life of service and sacrifice. Govan Mbeki was a leader of the people. Born in Transkei in 1910, he experienced first hand the conditions of rural peasants at a time when the expansion of colonial capitalism was stripping the African people of their land, their livelihoods and their labour. These early encounters with the devastating effects of the colonial and apartheid systems account for his incisive writing about the relationship between migrant labour and capitalist production. They explain too his involvement in political organisation and in a number of local and regional organisations. Even in the early days of his political involvement, he was respected as "a man of the people". His political activities were accompanied by practical efforts to assist small peasants, encouraging them to form simple co-operatives, to pool their resources and labour to improve production. Govan Mbeki was an educator. Having completed a teaching diploma, his formal teaching career was cut short as he was repeatedly dismissed for political activities among students and local communities, and for organising workers and trade unions. Yet he never stopped teaching, imparting to those around him an appreciation of learning. His love of education was infectious, influencing many generations of young activists over the years. He had an uncanny ability to give tasks to young activists - whether political or educational - which empowered them to grasp the essentials of struggle. His passion for books and intellectual debate remains as a powerful antidote to the legacy of 'bantu education', which sought to deprive black South Africans of knowledge, skills and opportunity. Govan Mbeki was a prolific writer. He recognised the power of the written word as a tool to expose tyranny, and to empower and mobilise an oppressed people. He was capable of translating the social, political and economic reality of apartheid South Africa into words that could be easily grasped. In 1954 he joined the editorial board of New Age, which for the next eight years was to be the only national newspaper serving the liberation movement. Together with other members of the editorial board, he played an immensely important role in ensuring the pages of the paper reflected the conditions, demands and aspirations of the black people. Mbeki was to write a number of important books, most notably 'South Africa: The Peasants' Revolt', an epic account of the peasant uprisings which took place between 1956 and 1960 in many parts of the countryside. The book, which was begun on rolls of toilet paper and smuggled out while he was awaiting trial under the Explosives Act, earned him international recognition and an honorary doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. One of his early works, a monograph on co-operatives entitled 'Let's do it together', was a plain-language guide arising out of his work in assisting small peasants. His book, 'Learning from Robben Island', was a collection of essays written by Govan Mbeki on Robben Island to arm young activists arriving at the prison to serve the mandatory 5 year sentences imposed under the old Terrorism Act. He also published 'The Struggle for Liberation in South Africa' in 1992 and 'Sunset at Midday' in 1996. Govan Mbeki was an organiser and freedom fighter. Even while Eastern Cape editor of New Age, he was immersed in mass political mobilisation, organising branches of the ANC and publicising the movement's policies. He was Chairman of the ANC in the Eastern Cape and an active member of the underground Communist Party, and was recognised as a master in designing organisational structures. When the limits of non-violent struggle were exhausted and the decision taken to embark on an armed struggle, Mbeki became one of the key figures in the underground leadership. It was for his activities in Umkhonto we Sizwe that he was arrested together with the other Rivonia Treason Trialists and sentenced to life imprisonment. After his release in 1987, he immediately continued with the work of the ANC, which was still a banned organisation. He became Deputy President of the newly-established Senate following the 1994 democratic elections. Govan Mbeki was a revolutionary in every sense. At the centre of his being was an unwavering commitment to the emancipation of all oppressed and struggling people. This commitment demanded of him - and his family - great sacrifices. He was subjected to years of state harassment, braved the uncertainty of underground activity, and spent a quarter of a century on Robben Island. For this the nation owes the Mbeki family a debt of gratitude. To his wife, Epainette, and to his children - who together have carried the burden of a life of service - the people of South Africa say a profound 'thank you'. The selflessness and individual commitment embodied by Govan Mbeki is the cornerstone of every successful revolution. His constant political and intellectual engagement with the challenges of the moment - marrying theory with practice - must continue to serve as a weapon against the calcification of revolutionary thought and the threat of complacency. It was these qualities that earned him the award of Isithwalandwe, the highest honour the liberation movement can bestow. We mourn the loss of a great South African, comforted in the knowledge that what made Govan Mbeki great lives on in the struggle in which he was forged and to which he dedicated his live. We pledge to honour his memory by continuing to wage that struggle in the dedicated manner in which, through his actions, he taught us. We dare not fail him. Kgalema Motlanthe |
From the Desk |
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South African women face a complex web of oppression The living conditions of the majority of black women in South Africa starkly illustrate the complex relationship between gender, class and race evident in many unequal societies. While apartheid has been dismantled, its legacy continues in the form of the triple oppression experienced by black, working-class women, argues an article in the latest edition of Umrabulo, the ANC's political discussion journal. While vast inequalities exist between black and white South Africans, the situation of black women is compounded by gender oppression. Sixty percent of all female-headed households are considered poor, as opposed to 31 percent of male-headed households. The exploitation of workers and oppression of blacks and women are the result of power relations that overlap and exist within each other. There is a gender dimension within all forms of race or class oppression. Colonialism was accompanied by patriarchy, the system of male domination and control at all levels of society. This, together with indigenous forms of patriarchy, was harnessed to benefit apartheid. While there is an overarching system of patriarchy in South Africa, different women experience different forms of exploitation and oppression according to race, class and other factors. White, middle-class women, for example, experience patriarchy differently to rural African women. Many white women escape the socially-prescribed gender roles by transferring domestic responsibilities to black "maids", domestic workers who are among the lowest paid and most vulnerable of South African workers. These white women therefore benefit from racist and sexist economic relations. These unequal economic relations arise from the requirements of colonial and apartheid capitalism, where African men were regarded merely as cheap labour and African women as necessary for the reproduction of that labour. African men were required to travel to work in urban areas - but were not permitted to permanently reside in these 'white' areas - while African women remained largely in rural areas bearing the costs and efforts of labour reproduction often carried out in developed economies by society at large. The unpaid work of African women has had to compensate for the lack of pensions, public education, health care, housing and municipal water and power infrastructure. African women have had to support this supply of cheap labour by caring for the young, the sick, the unemployed and the aged. They have had to spend long hours fetching water, collecting fuel and finding food. As much as 70 percent of households in rural and peri-urban areas have to fetch water from outside the home. On average, women spend over an hour a day fetching water. The position of women within the system of apartheid capitalism affected every area of life. In 1995, 23 percent of adult African women had had no formal education at all, compared to 16 percent of African men. Approximately 58 of every 100,000 African women in South African die while giving birth, compared to three in every 100,000 white women. Approximately 54 in every 1,000 African babies die at birth, compared to seven in every 1,000 white babies. Women in all race groups usually live longer than men in the same group, but white men live longer on average than African women. The system of class, race and gender oppression in South Africa cannot be reformed, according to the Umrabulo article. Complete and fundamental transformation of the system has to be undertaken. While there should be no competition between the fight against racism and sexism, it argues, society tends to respond more to acts of racism than sexism: "This is perhaps because gender oppression is so entrenched and yet hidden; it begins with the family and permeates throughout all aspects of society. It often appears to be normal and natural, and is thus more difficult to identify and mobilise against than racial discrimination." "The various forms of discrimination and oppression form a complex web, which is difficult to unravel by pulling one string, the whole tapestry has to be undone," it concludes. |
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Century of non-racial thought recalled A century of non-racial thought in South Africa is recalled in a special edition of Umrabulo, published to coincide with the World Conference against Racism currently underway in Durban. The ANC's quarterly journal of political discussion, Umrabulo has re-published a number of historical documents which helped shape the tradition of non-racial struggle in this country. These include the seminal article on the regeneration of Africa by Pixley ka Seme, a founding member and former President of the ANC. Published in 1906, the article envisages a "brighter day rising upon Africa". "Already I seem to see her chains dissolved, her desert plains red with harvest, her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and universities. Her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce, her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business, and all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace-greater and more abiding than the spoils of war," Seme writes. This theme is picked up by Chief Albert Luthuli's Nobel Peace Prize lecture in 1961: "Our people everywhere from north to south are reclaiming their land, their right to participate in government, their dignity as men, their nationhood." Also published is Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock at the Rivonia Treason Trial of 1964, in which he says: "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities." The role of Indian people in the South African struggle is discussed in an interview from 1968 with Dr Yusuf Dadoo, a former President of the South African Indian Congress and leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP). The relationship between race and class in South Africa is discussed in extracts from a book by Jack and Ray Simons published in 1968, a speech by Thabo Mbeki from 1978 and an SACP pamphlet by Joe Slovo. Oliver Tambo, the ANC's longest serving President, discusses in a speech from 1986 the new world order and the global prevalence of racism. The writings conclude with the 'I am an Africa' speech of Thabo Mbeki - then ANC Deputy President - at the adoption by the Constitutional Assembly of the new South African Constitution in 1986. "This thing that we have done today, in this small corner of a great continent that has contributed so decisively to the evolution of humanity says that Africa reaffirms that she is continuing her rise from the ashes," Mbeki says. PREVIOUS ARTICLES ON THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM: |
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Alliance partners agree on need to meet over differences President Thabo Mbeki has agreed with Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on the need for a direct meeting between the leadership of the ANC and Cosatu to discuss "whatever issues might be in contention" between the two organisations. Mbeki was responding to a request from Cosatu for an opportunity to clarify assertions made around Cosatu's decision to embark on a national strike. "I agree full that such a meeting or meetings should take place. I also agree fully with you that it is through discussion rather than trading accusations in public, or other forms of hostile confrontation, that we will find solutions for whatever issues might be in contention between the ANC and Cosatu," Mbeki said in a letter sent to Cosatu. He said he has asked ANC Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe to do everything possible to ensure that a meeting took place as soon as possible. Mbeki noted however that the ANC had kept out of the public debate for many years, "while everybody else seemed to find it perfectly legitimate publicly to attack the ANC on many issues". Former President Nelson Mandela raised this at the ANC's 50th National Conference in 1997. Mbeki repeated these concerns in 1998 at the opening of a meeting of Cosatu's Central Committee. "We had deliberately decided not to engage in any public wrangle not because we could not defend ourselves. We did this because we were conscious precisely of what you state correctly, that it is only through our direct meetings that we will resolve any contradictions that may arise between and among us," Mbeki said. The forces that have an historic responsibility to bring about fundamental social change in South Africa would not achieve this objective by behaving in a manner which defines any of these forces as the principal obstacle to progress, he said. No revolutionary advance could ever be achieved by launching a hostile offensive either against the ANC or Cosatu. This task, he said, should be left to the forces of reaction. "Nevertheless, in the end it becomes impossible for the ANC to remain silent while its positions are persistently being grossly misrepresented, and the movement itself projected as a traitor to the cause of the ordinary masses whose interests it has sought to protect and advance for almost nine decades. "In any case, we have an obligation to explain and account for our ideas and actions to our members, to the broad democratic movement and to the millions who have consistently expressed their full confidence in the ANC in all our democratic elections since 1994," Mbeki said. In his letter, Cosatu's Zwelinzima Vavi said Mbeki's letter in the previous edition of ANC Today was based on "one-sided information from government about the process of discussions around restructuring the state". There were however more fundamental issues than the matter of correct and adequate information, Mbeki said. He said he hoped that as the organisations met to discuss these issues, "we will all be ready to confront these strategic issues frankly, honestly, in depth and as true comrades". |
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