MARCH 25, 1955 (1)
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of our Congress, I express our sincerest thanks to the Rev. Father Trevor Huddleston for agreeing to open this Eighth Annual Provincial Conference. (2)
One of the striking features of our Conference this year is the forced absence of so many of the Congressmen who in the past have played an important part in setting our organisation on its present course in the nation-wide struggle for democracy and freedom. Today the oppressed people of the country, in particular, are in the midst of their struggle, and it is only fitting that the opening address should come directly from the battlefront and from one of South Africa's greatest soldiers for freedom.
Father Huddleston today stands as a symbol of all that is good on the South African soil. His courageous and unswerving stand against the Western Areas Removal Scheme has given hope to millions in this land. When the Police State went into action in Sophiatown, South Africa and the world paid tribute to the work done by Father Huddleston and his associates in maintaining calm and peace, notwithstanding the explosive situation created by the authorities. Although the Government and the daily press have tried to present a distorted picture of the position in Western Areas and the forced removals carried out at the point of the bayonet, we know for a fact that what happened there was against the will and true interests of the people in the Western Areas.
It was correctly stated by a foreign correspondent that such forced removal could have only taken place in Germany under Nazism. Today Western Areas remains the active battlefront for our non-violent army fighting the battle against apartheid and when we meet in Conference, we salute Father Huddleston, the brave leader of this army, and the thousands of ordinary men and women of Western Areas who form the rank and file members of the great freedom movement.
Since we met last year the Government of the Union has taken our country further on the disastrous path of fascism, seeking to solidify the police State. There is no other part of the world in which the lights of liberty and freedom are being extinguished at such a rapid rate.
While we ourselves as an oppressed group are engaged in a higher task of making our country free in cooperation with fellow oppressed and democratic citizens of the country, we cannot be unmindful of the great events which are taking place on the international plane. We must know where we stand in world affairs and help to contribute our share in matters which affect the entire mankind.
From our platforms we have repeatedly emphasised that internationally we have a clear and unambiguous course to follow. As oppressed people we stand for the liberation of the whole of mankind and hence we reject totally imperialism and colonialism. Our stand is not a passive one. We support the struggle against imperialism and we show our solidarity with the liberation struggles in colonial and semi-colonial countries.
The history of mankind gives clear proof that war is the instrument of the oppressor and that in all ages and all times the oppressed people have stood for peace and against war. The common people of the world are not interested in the exploitation of the weak; they are not interested in obtaining world markets; they are not interested in subjugating others in order to increase the profits of a decadent group. Today mankind yearns for peace while warmongers, because of their lust for profits from colonial domination, are brandishing before the world nuclear weapons. We totally condemn the atom and hydrogen bombs and stand for their total abolition.
It is one of the most pleasing features on the international scene that the country of our origin is having a mighty impact in world affairs. Under the wise and tried leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, India is a beacon of hope in a world torn by ideological differences. India's foreign policy today has millions of adherents, not only within the sub-continent but outside the shores of India.
One of the focal points on the international front is Formosa. And here the stand taken by Pandit Nehru is one which is welcomed by all those who are against another global conflict in the present century. In terms of the decision of the great Powers themselves, decisions arrived at in the midst of World War II, Formosa belongs to China and China belongs to the Chinese people with their legitimate Government at Peking. It is a folly on the part of the United States of America not to recognise the great People's Republic of China.
The Government of Mao Zedong has forged bonds of friendship and peace with the Republic of India and today Asia free from imperialism is in no mood to tolerate outside interference in her domestic affairs. The irresistible claim of the People's Republic of China to a seat in the Security Council of the United Nations cannot be indefinitely postponed. If the nations of the world are truly seeking peace and peaceful co-existence then it is only natural that China should take her rightful place at the United Nations.
During the past year the African continent has continued to show its determination in making Africa free from imperialism. The freedom movement in Africa is growing from year to year and in the not too distant future Africa too will take her rightful place in international affairs as Asia is doing. Asia and Africa, the two continents which had to bear the brunt of colonial oppression and exploitation, are historically bound to work in unison in their common resolve to end exploitation of man by man. It is therefore a welcome sign that the great Afro-Asian Conference is to be held in Bandung, Indonesia, on the 18th of next month. An important item on the agenda of this conference is the question of the fight against imperialism and the winning of freedom by the people of these continents.
We deeply regret, but we are not surprised, to find that our country did not qualify to participate at this conference. With a fascist government in power pursuing its insane policy of racial and colour discrimination, South Africa remains a pariah in international gatherings. Although the Union Government has been disqualified, and rightly so, and it has not received an official invitation, it is important that the liberation movement in this country should have their own observers at this conference, and thereby demonstrate the solidarity of the millions of unrepresented people in this country with the rest of the freedom-loving people of Africa and Asia. (3)
The reaction of the free world to the policy of racial segregation has been made crystal clear in the discussions which have taken place in the United Nations since this new world forum was founded and when we meet in Conference it is natural that we should record our sincerest appreciation to those who supported our cause in the General Assembly. The united lead given by the Governments of India and Pakistan on this issue has been acclaimed by South African Indians who hope that all outstanding differences between these two countries will be resolved in the very near future.
We note with gratitude the decision of the United Nations to continue to give its attention to the policy of racial discrimination in the Union.
At the commencement of my address I said that fascism has been established in our country. That is the bitter truth. Steadily since the Nationalists came to power in 1948 measures have been enacted, building on the anti-democratic foundation of the past, with the result that today we have little liberty left. Mr. Swart has a number of measures before Parliament seeking to give wider powers to the police and with their enactment the Union will have become a police State with all the tyranny which goes with it.
How ineffective has been the parliamentary opposition to the advancing fascist tide is sharply emphasised as Parliament meets in Cape Town each year. Segregation is embedded in the Union constitution itself. Thus, the House of Assembly and the Senate are reserved for Europeans only while the aspirations and hopes of four-fifths of the country's population are hardly brought to the notice of those who legislate for or rather legislate against the majority of the country.
In the laws which the Nationalists have enacted there has been the continuous attempt to vest the Executive and individual ministers with arbitrary powers and to nullify the rule of law. The Nationalists have succeeded in their objective with such measures as the Group Areas Act, the Bantu Education Act, the Native Laws Amendment Act, the Population Registration Act, the Native Resettlement Act and the Suppression of Communism Act already on our Statute Book.
The Criminal Laws Amendment Act and the Public Safety Act passed as retaliatory measures against the great Campaign for Defiance against Unjust Laws have placed in the hands of the Executive powers to declare a State of Emergency, suspend all laws and establish a dictatorship, and now another parliamentary session has before it another instalment of the Nationalist programme for the enslavement of the people of South Africa. The United Party, and for that matter all parliamentary parties, have proved impotent and futile against the onslaught of the Nationalists. What else could be expected of a parliamentary opposition when the opposition itself believes in racial discrimination?
The historic task of making South Africa free lies in extra-parliamentary forces. It is to the credit of the national liberation organisations that they have not succumbed to the Nationalist onslaught. The protest of 26th June, 1950, and the great Defiance Campaign of 1952 will be recorded in the annals of our freedom struggle for liberation in South Africa. The Defiance Campaign in particular has made the oppressed people realise their existing and potential strength. From the campaign the African National Congress has emerged as the leader of the struggle for national liberation waged unitedly by the African, Coloured and Indian people, supported by European democrats.
We meet in Conference at a time when our people are in the midst of extensive preparations for the holding of the Congress of the People to be convened in the near future for the formulation of the Freedom Charter. I make an urgent call to all Congressmen to work increasingly with enthusiasm and fervour for this historic Congress destined to to be one of the great milestones on the road to freedom. Let this Conference take vital decisions on the maximum contribution each branch can make in rallying the people of Natal for the full participation of this province in making our own destiny in a free South Africa, for that is essentially what the Congress of the People seeks to achieve.
One of the most urgent tasks before this Conference is the question of organisation. This question assumes great importance because of the attacks made by the Nationalists on all progressive bodies in South Africa. We must survive these attacks and continue to give a courageous and fearless lead to our people. I have confidence in the membership of Congress to do so. The Congress membership has rallied magnificiently, particularly after the wholesale banning orders served on so many members of the Executive elected by the last Conference. In a year of trial and tribulations the present Executive with new men at the helm of affairs has creditably advanced the cause for which we stand.
In the ensuing year Congress branches must remain fully alive to the problems facing their respective areas and take up issues which affect the people in their daily lives. It is only when we can rally the people effectively on local issues can we rally the country as a whole on national issues and on the major struggle for full democratic rights.
The Population Registration Act, the Group Areas Act, the Bantu Education Act, the move to remove Coloured voters from the common roll are some of the measures around which the entire country can be rallied in defence of democracy and I ask Conference to discuss these problems in detail and formulate a policy of action consistent with our organised strength and with the demands of our people.
I speak to you not in person at this Conference. There are many other Congressmen who are in an even worse situation and are debarred from engaging in Congress activities, leave alone attending gatherings. But remember Congress is greater than any individual or a group of individuals. It is an organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi and it has a proud heritage of struggle and sacrifice. I call upon you to remain steadfast to your great heritage. If you remain true to the cause for which Congress stands then in my mind I am fully convinced that no tyranny or oppression can ever eliminate the Congress from achieving the ideals for which it stands.
NOVEMBER 1955 (4)
The Group Areas Act has often been described as the cornerstone of the apartheid structure which the Nationalist Government seeks to erect on the blood and sweat of the non-white people of this country.
The Congress condemned the law on the grounds that it would ruin the Indian people economically. The truth of our contention has been clearly borne out.
During the last session of Parliament the Government, with the connivance of the Durban City Council, enacted the Group Areas Development Act. By one stroke of the pen Indians in Durban alone are to lose millions of pounds under this law if allowed to be enforced.
Every property-owner, big and small, is seriously affected by the provisions of the Development Act.
Already in Durban's central commercial area where Indian business etablishments are concentrated, all Indian property development has been frozen for a period of two years.
The new proclamation dealing with the enforcement of Section 23 of the Group Areas Act places every Indian licence in jeopardy. For the time being the authorities do not want to enforce this section as far as renewals are concerned, but this is only to provide administrative relief.
The Land Tenure Board has not the machinery to deal yet with so large a number of applications for renewals in Natal. But sooner than some people realise, if this Act is not challenged, the Land Tenure Board can become effective machinery in the hands of the Nationalist Government to refuse renewal of licences and so restrict our traders to a small number in keeping with the Nationalists` policy of introducing a racial quota system in trade.
We must not live in a fool's paradise and believe that with this danger facing the entire community a few will be able to save themselves. We must expose those in our community who are thinking in terms of saving their own commercial interests at the expense of the rest of the traders.
The latest treacherous move of the Nationalists is the desire to utilise the Group Areas Act for the purpose of prohibiting workers of one race being employed by members of another racial group.
Grave danger faces the whole Indian community. The Natal Indian Congress must convene a conference of all bodies and organisations to meet this challenge.
(1)The address was read by Dr. M. N. Padayachee, Vice -President, since Dr. G. M. Naicker was then banned from attending gatherings.
(2) The Reverend Trevor Huddleston, a priest in South Africa from 1943 to 1956, strongly supported the struggle of the Africans for their rights. The African National Congress bestowed its highest award on him in June 1955.
(3) The Asian-African Conference was held in Bandung, Indonesia, from April 18 to 24, 1955. Moses Kotane and Moulvi I. A. Cachalia attended the Conference as observers from South Africa.