18281. (Z.K.M. 18) prevent us from topping the human resources available in the country to the full. In the field of education we are confronted with the /erwoerd resolution which purports to he designed to stream line African education to make it serve the needs of white South Africa. In the political * sphere the socalled Bantu Authorities are expected to exercise authority on behalf of their white masters and the system of separate representation is to keep the non- whites scrambling for the crumbs of office while the white political machine goes on grinding out its wanted output of discriminatory legislation. The question that arises from all this is what is to be the reaction of the African people to this situation? There are several attitudes which may be adopted. One is the attitude of resignation, that of accepting the situation. That is of course what our enemies would like to see us do, but for that attitude is not deserving of a moment's consideration. We have not been created to serve or to surrender or to worship ordinary mortals like ourselves. No tin gods for us, only the Almighty Goci whose sovereignty we acknowledge. Therefore no resignation and no surrender is our minimum policy. Another line that may be taken is that of blind aggressiveness, a kind of wild hitting out/any and ever - body in the hope of finding a target somewhere. That kind o of emotional outburst may give temporary relief to sense of frustration, but it gets those who indulge in it nowhere. On the contrary such outbursts are apt to be followed by deeper fits (?) of depression and despair. You cannot beat a well organised foe with that kind of
Transcript
18281. (Z.K.M. 18)
prevent us from topping the human resources available in the country to the full. In the field of education we are confronted with the /erwoerd resolution which purports to he designed to stream line African education to make it serve the needs of white South Africa. In the political
*
sphere the socalled Bantu Authorities are expected to exercise authority on behalf of their white masters and the system of separate representation is to keep the non-whites scrambling for the crumbs of office while the white political machine goes on grinding out its wanted output of discriminatory legislation.
The question that arises from all this is what is to be the reaction of the African people to this situation? There are several attitudes which may be adopted. One is the attitude of resignation, that of accepting the situation. That is of course what our enemies would like to see us do, but for that attitude is not deserving of a moment's consideration. We have not been created to serve or to surrender or to worship ordinary mortals like ourselves. No tin gods for us, only the Almighty Goci whose sovereignty we acknowledge. Therefore no resignation and no surrender is our minimum policy.
Another line that may be taken is that of blind aggressiveness, a kind of wild hitting out/any and ever -body in the hope of finding a target somewhere. That kind o of emotional outburst may give temporary relief to sense of frustration, but it gets those who indulge in it nowhere. On the contrary such outbursts are apt to be followed by deeper fits (?) of depression and despair. You cannot beat a well organised foe with that kind of
18282. (Z.K.M. 18)
unorganised and unco-ordinated reaction. There is a third kind of attitude which may-
adopt and that is the search for scape goats within our own ranks, people who may TDJ "blamed for the situation in which we find ourselves. The people who indulge in this witch hunting generally adopt a kind of self-righteous attitude. The~r themselves have never done anything either e?ight or wrong, but they are very skilful in picking out the contributors to our downfall. The African Chiefs, the missionaries, the liberals, the members of the Native Representative Couhcil, the members of the Advisory Boards - these are the people on whom
all blame must be laid for the disabilities under we i
labour. The result is that instead of getting on with the struggle against our main foe, our time is taken up with dog fights among ourselves. All of which is not only entertaining but very helpful to our enemies. The situa-tion was very well summed by members of the C.I.D. who were asked by a member of Congress why -Lhey seemed to pay no attention to the activities of a certain organisation, but concentrated all their attention on the A.N.C. Their reply was that there was no need for them to direct any attention to that organisation because it is fighting the A.N.C. It is clearly recognised by the police that any organisation or individual fighting the A.N.C. is part of the arm of the police.
This brought me to what I consider to be the right attitude for us, namely the building up of a will organised fighting force. That fighting force is *the A.N.C. The A.N.C. as an organisation stands for the
18283. (Z.K.M. 18)
political independence of the African people. The programme of Action which was adopted by the A.N.C. in 1949 states this quite clearly % "The fundamental princi-ples of the programme of action of the African National Congress are inspired by the desire to achieve national freedom. By national freedom we mean freedom from white domination and the attainment of political independence, This implies the rejection of the conception of segrega-tion, apartheid, trusteeship or white leadership which are all in one way or another ??? by the idea of white domination or the domination of the white over the blacks. Like all other people, the African people claim the right of self-determination."
There we have our goal set out for us. Nothing that is done to us should make us deviate from that goal. The passing of laws or the drawing up of schemes by the government which are designed to defeat our objectives must and will be regarded by us as merely temporary set-backs, which will be overcome by one thing and one thing only - the building up of a mighty A.N.C. The spirit of thw A.N.C. must be instilled into every man, woman and child, whether they are members of the A.N.C. or not. This means that wo must put all our energies not into parrying temporary blows directed at us, but into building for the future which we know to be ours. It means that we must not befiome panicky and jittery. We must not lose our heads because everybody assured us ? losing. It means that we must face the future without fear and with our plans to counteract the schemes that are intended to thwart our struggle. We must pick up the gauntles and meet the challenge of our day and generation.
18284. (Z.K.M. 18)
It is in thaat spirit that we must enter into our deliberations at this Conference. Our conference must be devoted not to discussing the latest laws passed by a larliament in which we are not represented, but to considering how we can make the A.N.C. our parliament -into a more effective instrument for mobilising the forces of liberation in this country.
The forces of liberation in this country are not as weak as is generally supposed ? all sections of our population - Europeans, Coloureds, Indians and Africans -
there are people who believe in equal citizenship rights for all. But their principal weakness lies in the fact that they are not only unorganised but are frequently dis-organised by a tendency to go off on tangents.
18285. (Z.K.M. 32)
EXHIBIT Z.K.M. 32.
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (CAIE) ANNUAL C: NFJAENCE f JUNE 18 & 19, 1955.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
BY PROF. Z. K. MATTHEWS.
Sons and Daughters of Africa, Once more this time has come round for me to
speak to you in my capacity as President of the African National Congress in the Cape. The preparation of an address of this kind is a matter which engages the atten-tion of the President from the moment one annual conference is concluded until the next one begins. During the year, while individual members of our organisation are primarily concerned with the work of Congress in their respective areas, it is the duty of the President to endeavour to see the work of Congress in the province as a whole as well as to keep in touch with developments in other parts of the country as far as the liberation movement is concerned. The organisation to whicu we have the honour to belong is Union-wide in its ramifications and our responsibility for its welfare and its success must always be broadly conceived. Any action we take either as individuals or as groups may have, indeed is bound to have, repercussions far beyond the area for which it is intended, and may either promote or hinder the work in which we are engaged, namely, to weld into a mighty, lisciilined and irresistible force for freedom
18286. (Z.K.M. 32)
and independence, the African people who have been sub-jected for so long to so much oppression and humiliation in the land of their birth. I say it is not always easy for us as individuals to see our work in its proper perspective in our day to day activities, but I conceive it to be one of our duties, at least once a year, to focus our attention on the need for us all to see things from a broader point of view, to look beyond our local needs and local problems, to take stock of the road we have travelled since last we met, to record our successes and to note our failures and so learn from ournexperiences how best to prosecute the struggle in which we are engaged.
(CONTINUED ON EXHIBIT Z.K.M. 21)
18287. (Z.K.M. 21)
EXHIBIT Z.K.M. 21.
bans and deportations. You will recall that soon after that memorable
conference which we had at Uitenhage, the government of t:iis country though its appropriate ministers took against some of our most prominent members, certain steps designed to cripple the work of our organisation. In the first place two of our most trusted leaders, namely Dr. J.L.Z. Njongwe - our Vice-Iresident - and Mr. R.M. Matji, our Irovincial Secretary, were banned and were called upon to resign from the A.N.C. and a number of other organisations apparently chosen at random by the powers that be. It is not necessary for me to remind you about the valuable services v/hich these Sons of Africa had rendered to our organisation in the Cape. One day when the story of the freedom movement in South Africa is fully told, as it must and will be, their names will rank high among those who by their selfless devotion and their undoubted gift for leadership advanced our cause by an appreciable amount. No tribute that we can pay the] can be too high. It is of course impossible for any Minister to ban anybody from the A.N.C. in any real sense. As far as the A.N.C. is concerned these Sons of Africa are still members of our organisation with their names written indelibly not on bits of paper which can be confiscated but in the hearts of their people where they are beyonrl the reach of governmental interference. Thuir enforced inactivity speaks louder to the members of the A.N.C. than any actions of their own. The banning of thes Sons of Africa was followed by the ieportation from East
18288. (Z.K.M. 21)
London of Mr. A. S. Gwentshe and Mr. S. M. Lengisi, Without "bringing any charge founded or unfounded against then the Governor-General exercising the powers granted
to him under that notorious law - the Native Administra-tion Act 38 of 1927 - "to remove any Native from any place to any other place", decided to remove them to different parts of the Northern Transvaal, there to live among people among whom they would presumably be unable to exercise any influence in favour of the principles for which the A.N.C. stands. Deportation is one of the severest penalties which can bo imposed cn an individual because he is separated from the members of his family and is deprived of his normal means of livelihood. It is a form of punishment which is designed to break the spirit of the individual concerned and to convert him into a sort of spineless individual. But African heroes who have had this treatment meted out to them have not reacted as they were expected to. They have proved them-selves truu Sons of Africa able to adapt themselves to any area to which they have been sent and to preach the gospel of freedom wherever they have gone. Set down among people whose languages and customs were strange to them, they have found that the language of freedom is intelligibl to oppressedpeoples everywhere. The result is that our colleague A. S. Gwentshe has had to be removed from the area to which he was originally sent to another where it is hoped his message will be less effective. There can be no doubt as to what will happen there. While I am on this subject I want to remind you about the duty we owe to those members. As you know efforts are being made by the A.N.C. to secure the rescission by the Supreme Court
18289. (Z.K.M. 21)
of these deportation orders which we believe to "be of doubtful legality. The response of our branches to our appeal for contributions towards the cost of these applications has been very gratifying but we must not lose sight of the fact that provision must also be made for the maintenance and support of our*deported friends and any donations specially earmarked'for this purpose will be appreciated and will be forwarded to them without delay. Finally on the subject of bans and deportations I want to
•
refer to the ccnfindimnt of cur President-General, Chief A.J. Luthuli to the district of Lower Tugela and to the ban imposed on cur Secretary-General W.M. Sisulu. It has been said that it is the tallest trees that have to bear the fo£ce ,f the strongest blasts of the winds. In the wilderness which comprises the South Africa in which wo live today the A'.'N.C. has had more than its fair share of tall trees which have had to bear the blasts of this stormy period in our history.
But not onoy has the hand of the government of the Whites rested heavily upon the leaders to whom I have referred and upon others to whom I c uld refer - our hats go off to all of them - but the ordinary com r n people have also felt the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune which is theirs in the land of their birth. Need I remind you ab. ut what has happened in the Western .areas of Johannesburg - the City of Gold which would have been nothing but a mudhear but for the blood, sweat and toil of thousands upon thousands of Africans. For generations the flower of African youth have gone down into the bo /els of the earth there to run the gauntlet of industrial diseases, mutilating
18290. (Z.K.M. 21)
accidents and cruel masters in order tc bring to the surface the wealth which has made Johannesburg the richest city on the African continent. There in that City for which thousands of them have made the supreme sacrifice, the nfricans found themselves both wanted and unwanted, with no place in which they can have a secure and a permanent home. From the 7astern Areas in which they have lived under indescribable conditions of filth and squalor for reasons beyond their c ntrol they are now being bundled out at the point of £he gun to Meadowlands with no greater prospect of security. As sure as the sun rises in the L'ast in a |ew years time some new pretext will be conjured up for removing them from Meadowlands to some other area. Not even in the sky is the African safe from the designs of those who will not rest as long as there is some African who has some place in which he can lay his head. Africans who had no more respectable place in which they could be housed than the roofs of flats have become guilty of the offence of creating "locations in the sky" and they are to be bundled out of those roods into the "site and service" nigger-heavens which are being created in different parts of the country.
Not only in the 7estern Areas of Johannesburg but everywhere whore Africans have settled down, acquired properties at great cost to themselves and built them-selves such homes as their meagre resources permitted, they are confronted with the spectre of compulsory removal. Latterly it is not only the Africans who are being subjected to this sense of insecurity.
7e in the A.N.C. have always maintained that the type of treatment meted out to Africans constitutes the
18291. (Z.K.M. 21)
yardstick for the rights of other sections of the popu-lation. In the past other sections of the population enjoyed better rights than the Africans and some of them were inclined to adopt an air of superiority towards Africans. They appeared to believe that what happened to Africans could never happen to them. Instead of helping Africans to protect and defend their meagre rights as they were systematically whittled down by legislation year after year, they left them to their own devices and acquiesced in the gradual dimmnition of their rights. When Africans lost their franchise rights in 1936 many of the people who in 1955 are busy organising protest meetings about the entranched clauses of the constitution were only too glad to give the government of the day the necessary two-thirds majority to deprive Africans of their rights. After all only African rights were involved. It never occurred to them then that the entrenched clauses represented a pledge of honour to defenceless and voice-less people. Depriving mere "kaffirs" of their rights was not such a bad thing after all and some of their so-called friends spared no efforts in an attempt to persuade Africans then that the system of separate representation introduced in 1936 was better than the franchise on the Common Roll which they had enjoyed before. In 1955 it is not only the Coloureds who arc faced with the pros-pect of being given "something better" than they had had hitherto. Other sections of the population will be given a taste of "something better". The Appellate Division Quorum Bill and the Senate Bill and others still to come constitute a "writing on the wall" which needs no Daniel to interpret. The mills of Justice like those of
18292. (Z.K.M. 21)
God grind slowly but they griend exceeding fine. The white people in the Transkei who for generations have lived in perfect safety among millions of Africans and have "been treated like princes on every hand - did they ever speak when their African friends wore being deprived of one right after another? No, every leprivation which the Africans suffered only serve I to widen the gulf between them and the Africans until the Transkei become as apartheid-ridden as any other part of our so-called sovereign state. Today for them also the writing is on the wall. For their comfort they have been assured that for them there will be no compulsory removal, but a gradual diminution or Elimination of white interests in the Transkei.
There will no doubt be some Africans who will be taken in by this move to the extent of believing that it represents some sort of gain for the Africans; there will be a few extra trading licences here and there, a post here or a post there for some African, but on balance this action will io nothing more than pile one wrong upon another. The A.N.C. representing a people who h .ve had more than their fair sho.ro of wrongs in this country has no hesitation in saying that a few doubtful "rights" in the Transkei can hever make up for what Africans have lost and are losing in the country as a whole. Cur claim is not for a few miserable privileges in a corner of South African but for full citizenship rights in South Africa as a whole. Our opposition to the Transkei proposal is not based on any doubt regarding the ability of the African to govern himself, on the contrary it is because we believe that the Africans together with freedom loving persons from other groups can and sh-uld govern the whole
18293. (Z.K.M. 21)
country, that we are not prepared to accept this geogra-phical circumscription of his right to share in the govern-ment of the country.
Other disabilities which hitherto seemed reser-ved for Africans but which are gradully being extended to other sections of the population include the pass system, euphemistically called population registration in the case of non-Africans? the regulation of departure from the Union; the grant to the police of the right of entry to all, not only African, public meetings; the banning from attendance at gatherings and from membership of certain organisations; the denial to teachers of the right to take part in public affairs; the surveillance of the activities of certain individuals by members of the Special Branch of the C.I.D. including tampering with correspondence and the tapping of telephone conversations. These are everyday occurrences to which the Af ricars have become, in a sense, accustomed, anl whether these are evidences of a lolicj State or not they are certainly the marks of what someone has called the pris n house which was once our country.
But easily the biggest thing that has happened to the Africans since last wo met has been the transfer of African schools to the control of the Bantu Education Division of the Na' ive Affairs Department since April 1, 19 55. It is common knowledge that the object of this transfer is to make Bantu Education the handmaiden of the policy of white supremacy. We have been reminded ad nauseam that permanent white baasskap is to be the keynote of Union Native policy. That policy cannot of course become permanent unless it is accepted by the people on whom
18294. (Z.K. M. 21)
it is imposed. Some method must therefore be devised of conditioning the African to make baasskap acceptable to him. On the principle that the child is father to the man the apostles of baasskap believe that if they can conditionthe African child through a special system of education prepared for him, if they can give him the right environmental and other studies, he will grow up into a man who will willingly accept the status accorded to him by his white masters. Now a systematic prodess of condi-tioning to control the minds of people in such a way as to make them react the way they are expected to is quite a possible thing. A process of conditioning combined with a systematic control of the mass media of communication such as the Tress, the wireless, literature, the cinema, etc. plus the rigid stamping out of all those who deviate from the official policy can produce the neces-sary servility in the population for which it is intended. It has been done before with high civilised and educated nations. It was done in Nazi Germany. It was done in Fascist Italy and Fascist Spain. Even in the so-called free countries, it is common knowledge that the mass media of communication and propaganda are widely used to destroy freedom of opinion, speech and action. Indepen-dent thinking has always been regarded by rulers as a dangerous thing to encourage among the common people.
In other words looked at from the point of view of the believers in baasskap it is logical for them to take the African schools from the voluntary agencies such as churches and other organisations which are not necessarily amenable to the dictates of the baasskap school of thought and to place them in the care of handpicked
18295. (Z.K.M. 21)
Africans who are prepared to play ball with their masters. The officers of the government have been at pains to explain that "Bantu" education will in no way be inferior to the education previously given to Africans. In fact they go so far as to say that nr system of education could be worse than the system that has hitherto existed in African schools. Be that as it may. What no officer has dared to contradict is that the new system is intended to do better what the previous system had not been able to do well enough for the liking of the apostles of apartheid, namely to produce a race of docile Africans willing to accept the status accorded to them by the laws of the white man.
Now the African National Congress does not and never will accept the concept of white supremacy. The white man can go on believing that he is a superior being if he is content to subscribe to illusions which fly in the face of reality. But when he wants the Africans them-selves to accept these illusions, it is necessary for us to remind him, that we have lived long enough with him in this country to know that he is just an ordinary mortal no better and no worse than the ordinary run of men. The African National Congress is opposed to the system of Bantu Education because of the principles and jjolicios underlying it. It is not going to be misled by the elabo-rate facade of so-called "history making" Bantu School Boards, School Committees, Secretaries, sub-inspector-ships, etc. Nor is it impressed by the flowing reports regarding the ready co-operation of Africans of all grades in the new system of education. Avery scheme designed to deprive Africans of their rights has always been accom-panied by similar fanfares of trumpets, but with the passage
18296. (Z.K.M. 21)
I of time its real nature has come to light and the propa-ganda has turned out to "be sound and fury signifying nothing hut misery. The African - The South Africa Act, the Natives Land Act of 1913? the Native Affairs Act
$ 1920, The Natives Urban ,,reas Act 1923, The Native Taxation and Development Act of 1925, the Native Representation Act of 1936, The Natives Land and Trust Act, 1936, the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 - one and all were supposed to usher in the millenium, but the Africans wh ) have to
] i) live under these laws alone know what they have meant and have done to African society.
The African National Congress is quite unrepen-tant in its attitude towards all these laws and will continue to fi ht against them. The same applies to the
15 Bantu Education -ict. But in our campaign against these laws wo must remember that we are engaged in a long struggle. Any idea that victory will be obtained over-night is wishful thinking of the worst type. Wo are dealing with a well organised powerful and relentless
Jlgroup which will stop at nothing to achieve its aims. We have deliberately chosen non-violence as the basis of our method of strug le, a method which requires a high iegree of discipline and a highly developed sense of responsibility.
15 Various methods have been suggested for dealing with the situation created by the Bantu Education Act.
In thv, first place Africans throughout the country whether they belong to the A.N.C. or not are unanimous in condemning the principles and the policies underlying "Bantu" Education. There are no Africans who believe in the idea that their children should be sent to
18297. (Z.K.M. 21)
school in order that they should "become better servants of the white man. For them as for all parents their ob-ject in sending their children to school is to enable them to prepare themselves for a wider not a narrower sphere of life, for an enhanced not a lower status, for greater freedom and not for more subservience. How then are Africans &oing to prevent their children from suffering the fate that is prescribed for them?
There are those who say that Bantu education should be fought against from within. In other words what is suggested here is that African parents, teachers and children should, while appearing to accept Bantu Education, engage in a widespread campaign of sabotage of the system. The members of the school committees and school boards should discharge their duties in such a way as to make the system unworkable. The teachers should expose every untruth contained in the sy^llabus they are supposed to follow and inbue the children they teach with the spirit of freedom and opposition to the concep-tion of white supremacy. In this way it is believed the whole superstructure of Bantu Education would eventually crumble like the walls of Jericho. To those who intend to fight Bantu Education in this way we can only say that wo do not envy them the chamelion-like role which they have chosen to play. Wo can only wait and see how they will preserve their will to fight from withinl
Then we have the cynical school of thought which consists of individuals who intend to make the most of q.ny benefits, material or otherwise, that happen to be associated with the new system of Bantu Education. For them it doew not really matter what the content of the
18298. (Z.K.M. 21)
of Bantu Education is. They are concerned with making the most of it while they can he feathering their own nests and clearing out as soon as they have to. Such individuals, of course, make no pretence of fighting
arainst Bantu Education, hut want to exploit it to the full for their personal benefit. Any African who can gain any advantage out of the white man is welcome to it, hut when ho does so at the expense of his fellow Africans, he must remember that the sufferings of his people will be on his head. So members of school commit-tees and school boards, make the most of such opportuni-ties as are to be had. Teachers and supervisors, take the promotions which are available under the new system but remember that man does not live by bread alone and beware of selling the birthright of your children for a mess of apartheid pottage.
Then there are others who look upon the new sys-tem of education as providing the African people with an opportunity of capturing the whole school system by getting into all the key positions in school committees, boards, staffs etc. and once having done that turning the whole system into a powerful arm of the liberation movement. This will I suppose call for the creation of a kind of Broedorbond to direct this necessarily under-ground movement.
The African National Congress has adopted the total withdrawal of African children from Bantu Schools as a method of fighting against the Bantu Education Act. [fhe A.N.C. has, as usual, not indulged in any condemna-tion of those v/ho have de cided on the different ways of fighting Bantu Education mentioned above, but has rather
18299. (Z.K.M. 21)
put forward its own programme. This is to embark on a campaign of persuading African parents to withdraw their children from schools unler the control of Dr. Verwoerd and the establishment of alternative cultural, recreational and social activities for such children. In doing this the A.N.C. has as usual chosen the hard road. That this road is not an easy one has been realised by those who, understandably impatient to be rid of Bantu Education as soon as possible, decided to embark upon spontaneous local campaigns. The experienced gained from the campaigns conducted in Benoni and other areas have made it plain that a mighty organisational effort is required if the A.N.C. is to achieve success in this campaign. We shall have to close our ranks, get rid of mutual recriminations among ourselves, beware of the activities of agents-provocateurs whose aim is to produce division and confusion, and to intensify our propaganda efforts and follow the directives of our National Executive. It will be for this conference to consider ways and means of making this campaign the effective blow for freedom which it ou£ht to be. For its success this campaign will naturally depend upon the co-operation of x.frican parents. If we fail to persuade them that withdrawal is the right road to take, we shall have to consider alternative methods of defeating the Bantu Education Act, but defeat it we must.
It is hardly necessary for me to point out that the A.N.C. stands for full educational opportunities for African children. The A.N.C. has always been in the fore-front of the battle for better educational facilities for African children, better terms and conditions of service for african teachers and a greater share of responsibility
18300. (Z.K.M. 21)
fcr African parents as far as management and control of schools for their children is concerned. The A.N.C. stands for free, compulsory education and the assumption of financial responsibility by the state for the educa-tion of African children in the same way as is done in the case of children of other sections of the population. Under the Bantu Education as you know, the Union govern-ment has not accepted responsibility for the financing of the education of African children but has limited its responsibility to an amount of six and a half million pounds. The government has given itself the right of 100^ control of African schools. Nobody will be allowed to run a school as defined in the Act for African children unless he has the permission of the Minister of Native Affairs to do so. The right of any group of parents to establish a school for their children and to raise funds for this purpose has been taken away from them. Many an African child has begun his education in a private school of this type. With a population such as ours where the majority of children of school going age, (60$) have no school facilities the right of people to be free to add to the meagre facilities for their children is of great importance.
The status of the teachers under the Bantu Education .act is worse than that of any group of un-skilled workers. From being a respectable profession teaching in African schools has become almost menial. Teachers have been converted into yes-men to all and sundry, who must look over their shoulders everytime they wish to express an opinion on public affairs. These men and women who by their devotion to duty and self-
18301. (Z.K.M. 21)
sacrificing service are largely responsible for the progress which has to date "been made in African educa-tion are in the future to be treated as if they constitute a potentially "subversive" element. We have full confi-dence that the majority of African teachers will ignore the ridiculous regulations framed for them under the Bantu Education Act and get on with the business of educating the African child for a free society and not for a slave society as contemplated by the Act. Although they will have to keep their mouths shut, nobody except them solves can keep their hearts closed as far as concerns the welfare of their people, who will not be unaware of which teachers are with them and which against them.
Dr. Verwoerd, who has confidence in his own word has threatened that every African child withdrawn from school as a result of boycott opposition to the Bantu Education will be refused all further educational opportunities or rather will be denied such opportunities as he has to offer.
As you know in the Transvaal over 7,000 chil-dren in the East Rand have been placed in this position and in sjjite of tearful please by deputations of so-called "leaders" who pride themselves on having lost the will to fight for their rights which they say they once had, Dr. Verwoerd has turned a deaf ear to all their appeals and advised them to go to the A.N.C. and ask the A.N.C. to withdraw its boycott resolution which is hanging like a sword of Democles over African schools. These emissaries of Dr. Verwoerd have not yet approached the A.N.C. but they had better be prepared for the
18302. (Z.K.M. 21)
receiption they will receive. The A.N.C. is not in the habit of allowing its policy to be dictated by ministerial threats. The withdrawl resolution was adopted by the National Conference of the A.N.C., our supreme legisla-tive body and only that body can decide whether or not to abandon that resolution, and my suspicion is that the activities and threats of the Minister of Native Affairs will strengthen rather than weaken the determination of the A.N.C. to go on with its campaign. 6 o f the African children of school-going age are without Educa-tional facilities of any sort, and we are not impressed by Dr. Verwoerd's decision to deny a further 7,000 children all further educational opportunity. As the years pass under the new dispensation even our deputation friends will come to realise that education for ignorance and for inferiority in "Verwoerd's schools is worse than no education at all. It is the future of the African child, not the present, which must be safeguarded. The African fight for the education of the children has been
a long and painful one. That fight has been concerned not only with the erection of school buildings which have largely been provided out of the meagre resources of the people. For many years African parents had to provide the money for the payment of teachers' salaries and for the provision of equipment by means of school fees and contributions to concerts and other fund-raising efforts organised by the teachers. It is only recently that Africans have been relieved of the burden of paying school-fees and other charges, iifrican parents have also had to fight t see that their children are not
18303. (Z.K.M. 21)
fobbed off with an inferior system of education. They have had to be vigilant and to examine eyery new scheme introduced into African educational system to satisfy themselves whether it was a forward or a backward step. Every move which they have regarded as backward move has in the long run been defeated by the people. Attempts have been made in the past to give us medical aids instead of medical doctors; agricultural demonstrators instead of agricultural officers; school farms instead
sufficient to overcome a people's will to resist what they believe is not in their interest. For that reason we are not afraid of the Bantu Education Act; we know that in the long run it will be defeated by the will of the people to resist the evil doctrine of white supremacy.
The African National Congress stands for a free South Africa for a free people who enjoy <£qual rights whatever their colour, race or creed. It is for that reason that we are opposed to the narrow nationalism which w uld seek to create a caste society in South Africa with an apex of a minority of so-called national-minded whites with various grades of underlings ranging from so-called un-national minded whites through Coloureds, Indians and down to Africans below them. That kind of South Africa has no future in the modern world. Slowly but surely the people of South Africa will come to realise that they have been led up a blind alley far too long and that they must make a right-about-turn and march out of this separationist bline alley into the larger freedom which is the destiny of man. The mighty Congress of the People to be held in Johannesburg this month is a step in that direction. There a vast concourse of peoples drawn from every racial group and from every part of the country will gather and will speak freely to South Africa and to the world about the kind of South Africa they would like to see established in this country. The Freedom Charter which they will draw up will sound a dream to the reactionary elements which hasce been in the ascendacy for too long in this country, but the vision which the Congress of the leople will set before
18305. (Z.K.M. 21)
the people of South Africa will with the passage of time become clearer and dearer and will set before all goals for which to strive in the years that lie ahead. We congratulate all those who have worked hard to bring this campaign to a successful culmination and wish the Congress of the People the success their efforts deserve. Unlike the exclusively white Parliament which is just about to conclude a session in which it has as usual broadcast dragons teeth from which this unhappy land will reap an ever more doleful crop, this Parliament of the People will have no doubt send a message of hope to every home in South Africa.
The present session of parliament has been remarkable for the manner in which the ruling party has exposed the nakedness of the policies of the opposition parties and especially that of the United Party, which has not yet learnt the lesson that they will never teturn to power by trying to out-Nationalist the Nationalists. Only a party with a policy diametrically opposed to that of the Nationalists party will ever remove them from office. No such party has yet emerged from among the people who enjoy the franchise in South ^frica. Such a party when it eventually does emerge will probably be in the wilder-ness for some time, but it will be the only party with a future in S.A. and will constitute a genuine alternative government to that of the Nationalist Party. It is such a party and such a party alone which will be able to preserve South Africa not for white civilisation, but for civilisation as such.
In conclusion I should like to say a word of thanks to the members and officials of all branches of the
18306. (Z.K.M. 21)
African National Congress as well as to the members of the Provincial Executive for the manner in which they have performed their duties throughout .the year. They
have laboured under great difficulties. In many centres public authorities have done all they could to hamper the work of the organisation through the prohibition of public meetings, through police interference with our meetings, by removing our members and officials through bannings and deportations and by involving our members in litiga-tion over trivial offences, all of which actions might have intimidated a less determined people. But our organisation has gone from strength to strength. Our membership continues to increase and the message of free-dom which we preach continues to win adherents even be-yond the ranks of our paid-up membership. We know that those who are not against us are for us but we are out to save even those who are against us, from the bondage in which they would like to keep all of us - the bondage of mutual fear and insecurity in the land of our birth. I would be failing in my duty if I did net conclude with a personal word of thanks for the loyalty and confidence which you have reposed in me during my terms of office and my colleagues in the provincial executive will agree with me when I say that as wo lay down our offices we hope you will show the same loyalty to the new executive which is to be elected at this Conference and thus main-tain the proud record of the A.N.C. (Cape Province) in the fight for the liberation of South Africa. This does not mean that we can afford to rest on our laurels. There are many things which require to be put right in
18307. (Z.K.M. 21)
our organisation so as to make it a more effecting fighting force. We must examine and re-examine our machinery with a' view to removing from it all the things that clog the wheels of progress. You have shown in the past that this can he done and we appeal to you for
11 greater efforts in the future. Mayibuye.
18308.
MR. FISCHER s My Lord, we have decided not to call any further
evidence, but there are two of the Accused who wish to make statements from the dock, and this apparently is the correct stage at which those statements should be made. Those are the Accused W.M. Sisulu, who is Accused No. 19, and T. L. Tshunungwa who is Accused No. 29. My Lord, I think it would be convenient if I asked the interpreter to take this microphone to the table at the back, otherwise the statements will not get on record.
ACCUSED NO. 19, W. M. SIBULU : My Lord, I do not think I can add anything tc
the evidence that has been given about the non-violent policy of the African National Congress. I wish to state, however, that in August 1954 I was banned from being a member of the African National Congress and other organi-sati ns, including all the associations or organisations mentioned in the Crown's Indictment. I also wish to confirm that the document, Exhibit T.T.35, which was read into the record at page 9823, is the text of my speech which I delivered from this typed document at Veeplaats, Tort Elizabeth on the 28th March, 1954. I also had in my possession a large number of copies of the document African1s'Claims, which has been read into this record under various exhibit numbers. These were taken by the police during a raid on me. Whilst I was a Secretary-General of the African National Congress, this document and the Programme of Action of 1949 were issued to every branch of the African National Congress. I know that the
18309.
document African's Claims was very widely distributed in the A.N.C. I can confirm that in 1952 I wq.s Secretary-General of the African National Congress and that copies of the speech delivered by Irofessor Z. K. Matthews on the 12th April, 1952, read into the record by Advocate Kentridge on the 5th October, were distributed to all A.N.C. Branches, with the instructions that it was to be read to all members. I have nothing further to add, My Lord.
T.E.TSHUNUNGWA, Accused No. 29 : You Lordships, I wish to make a statement only
about the following matters : 1. The Exhibits T.E.T. 69 and 70, being a manuscript document entitled "The Analysis", and an incomplete type-written copy thereof, were taken by the police together with other papers of mine from the house of my uncle, Ben Twaku, at a time when I was not present. The hand-written copy was sent to me in thL. course of my business, which I conduct under the style of African Art House in Queenstown. I was instructed to cut stencils and cyclo-style the d~cument, but this was an • rdinary c mmercial transaction between myself and -ne A. I. Mda, and the document had n^ c nnecti n with the A.N.C. A.I. Mda, at the time when I receive! this d cument, was n-lrnger an active member f Congress. As we c^uld not arrive at a satisfactory arrangement with regard to payment, although I had started typing the document, I did not finish the typing and did not cut stencils or
18310.
cyclostyle the document. The two documents handed in were left lying with other papers of mine and were taken hy the police as I have described. 2. As regards the lectures referred to in the letter to me from the National Action Committee, Exhibit T.E.T. 71 and T.E.I. 3» I wish to sta'te that although I received certain parcels of lectures, I never distributed them to the A.N.C. Branches. At the time I was Secretary of the Cape and was the pers'n wh> would have had to attend to the distribution of material to A.N.C. Branches. I did not in fact road them, but I can confirm that I did mention to Professor Z. K. Matthews that I had received a batch
of lectures from the National Action Council of the Congress of the People in the course of a visit to him about the A.N.C. Affairs. I enquired whether such lectures should be translated and circulated to branches, it being the accepted procedure in the Cape that all matter for branches should be translated into Xosa. Professor Matthews stated that there wer. no funds available for this purpose and the matter was taken no furthr. In the result I lid net even distribute the English copies and all the lectures I received were taken fr:m me by the j;lice on the 21st March, 1955, when I was raided by the p'lice.
3. I can cc.nfirm that the address of Irofessor K. Matthews of the 12th April 1952 read into the record
by Advocate Kentridge on the 5th October, was distributed both in English and Xosa with instructions to all branches that it be read t^ all members. 4. I also wish to comment on the evidence given by the witness Mredlane, about a meeting of the ^.N.C. Youth League held on the 9th October, 1955. It is stated
18311.
at page 9551 of the record that I read a resolution and also spoke. The portion I wish to comment on appears at page 9552, where it is said, "We want each delegate that he must concentrate to the list and teach it to the people, if we can say we are the people of the land, we want our land by blood. The blood can flow, we are going to go through the big fires. Our campaign is to teach the Preedo m Charter correctly". At page 9561, the witness conceded that parts of this report are unintelligible. My comment is that it is true that I spoke at this meeting and read the resolutions. The portion I have mentioned would have been part of my address, and I spoke in Xosa. The portion quoted is a gross miss-reporting of what I in fact said. I spoke on the Congress of the People and the demands which were to come from those in all walks of life, AS nearly as I can remember, I then said ; "Our duty is to go out and teach the Freedom Charter correctly and that in order to succeed the soles of our shoes should get finished? those who are barefooted should do likewise from house to house even if their feet have bruises, as long as that blood from those bruises is for the general welfare of our campaign to achieve freedom", AS regards the reference to "big fires", I am sure that as I was speaking in Xosa, I used an idiomatic express which means "whether or not the yoke of oppression is as hot as a fire, we shall not retreat". I certainly did not suggest that our methods should be one of violence or bloodshed. That is all I wish to say, Your Lordship.
18312.
MB. MAISELS : My Lord, on behalf of all the Accused excepting
Mr. Nokwe who is defending himself, we close our case. ACCUSED NOKV/E ;
My Lord, I also close my case. MR. TRENGOVE s
My Lords, in connection with the Accused Nokwe, the Crown was not aware that throughout he has "been repre-senting himself. There were certain days on which he was not present in Court, and in terms of the Code if he is not present and the trial continues in his absence, if he is not legally represented, he has a right to have the record road over to him, or to put questions to the witness. I wonder My Lord, whether we could dispense with this item? MR. NOKWE ;
My Lords, I am quite prepared to read the record myself for the days which I have been absent. I won't to wish a I won't wish to ask questions of any of the witnesses.
DEFENCE C^SE ON BEHALF OF ALL THE aCCUSED CLOSED
18313.
SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS TESTIFIED TO BY WITNESS N. SEGONI AT IAGE 9774 OF THE RECORD IN RESPECT OF WHICH THE CROWN DOES NOT RELY ON THE CONTENTS OF WHAT WAS SAID AT MEETINGS, BUT MERELY THE FACT THAT THE MEETING WAS HilLD BY THE ORGANISATION SHOWN AND WAS ATTENDED AND/OR ADDRESSED BY THE PERSONS INDICATED.
Jack (43) 3. 1.1954 G. 500 Chairman 20. 6.1954 G.513 Chairman 7.11.1954 G.517 Chairman 3. 4.1955 G. 534 Speaker
Kepe (44) 22. 5.1955 G. 577 Speaker
Mati (47) 23.12.1954 G.521 Speaker 13. 2.1955 G. 526 Speaker 22. 5.1955 G. 577 Speaker
Mini (48) 22. 5.1955 G. 577 Chairman 31. 7.1955 G.591 Speaker
18315.
NAME DATE EXHIBIT NO. CAPACITY
T. Mqota (4-9)
D. Fuyani (82)
P. Matomela (83)
Dr. Njongwe (96)
R. Matshe (97)
J. Nieri (98)
S. Sifali (103)
B. Stuurnan (109)
Tsuku (118)
23.12.1954
29. 5.1954
29. 5.1954 13. 2.1955 31. 7.1955
13.12.1953 10. 1.1954 29. 5.1954
13.12.1953 10. 1.1954 29. 5.1954
29. 5.1954 7.11.1954
20. 6.1954 7.11.1954
13. 2.1955
7. 8.1955
G. 521
G. 511
G. 511 G. 526 G. 591
G.499 G. 501 G. 511
G.499 G. 501 G. 511
G. 511 G. 517
G. 513 G. 517
G. 526
G.592
Speaker
Speaker
Speaker Speaker Speaker
Chairman Chairman Speaker
Speaker Speaker Speaker
Speaker Speaker
Speaker Speaker
Speaker
Speaker
1
18316.
MR. DE VPS : My Lord, at this stags there are two small
matters which I wish to raise to the Court. Firstly, My Lord, I think the Crown intimated - the Crown should intimate to the Court at this stage that in presenting its argument it intends doing it on the basis of alloca-ting to individual members of the Crown team certain portions of argument. That may involve, for instance,
that My Lord,/the whole terrain facts will not be covered by one person arguing on the whole matter of facts, from the factual position. I merely wish to intimate that to the Court at the moment, and add that the Crown will take every precaution so as to totally avoid any duplica-tion of argument. It seems that under the circumstances of this particular case, that is the only feasible and the only practical way of tackling an argument of the size involved. My Lord, secondly there is the question of an adjournment. The Crown as a full team has given very full consideration to its position, and we ask the Court to boar in mind that until last week we were informed in Court that the Defence intended closing its case in the foreseeable future. We had been acting in accordance with information, with indications received from the Defence on the basis that a mass of further evidence would be led including as far as we know, asfar as we knew, Accused and co-conspirators. That certainly meant My Lord that as far as the team of the Crown was concerned, preparation on the basis of preparing for cross-examination, all the possible, all the potential witnesses that we expected to be called. My Lord, the Crown also feels that especially in a case
18317.
of this groat, unique, length and size in more ways than one, of such intricacy in more ways than one too, it should do all it can, not only to put the case for the Crown as clearly as it can and as fully as it can, but also to assist the Court in coming to a proper decision, that it should fulfil its duties as well as it can. Unier the circumstances, My Lord, taking these factors into consideration, the Crown first of all had in mind, after serious consideration, asking the Court for a period of six weeks adjournment. That My Lord we have now reconside red, and feel that in the interests of expediting the proceedings, we could pare that period down to what the Crown team considers a minimum period of cane month. My Lord, I respectfully apply a ccordingly. MR. JUSTICE RUMTFF 5
Mr. de Vos, how strong is the Crown team? How many members have you got? MR. DE VOS s
Seven, My Lord. MR. JUSTICE RUMFF ;
When did the Crown close its case? MR. DE VOS ;
At the beginning; of March. MR1 JUSTICE RUMIFF :
Can't you even begin to argue next week? MR. DE VOS s
My Lord, not on the basis that a fully documen-ted, fully informed argument, covering all the facets of the case that has been covered by the Defence, should be presented to the Court. We have to consider the evidence My Lord...
18318. MB. JUSTICE RUMiFF :
But this is extraordinary, Mr. de Vos, because the Crown case in the main is a case based on documents and reported speeches. The Crown case was closed in March. I take it after that time the Crown started to prepare its case on the whole evidence. MR. DE VOS s
My Lord, we had to keep track with the evidence advanced by the Defence in the meantime, and I can assure Your Lordship, I must assure the position exactly as it is... MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF :
•Did you start frim March building up your own case? MR. DE VOS g
Yes, My Lord. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF :
As the evidence for the Defence continued that evidence could have been dealt with and synchronised with the evidence of the Crown, the documents and alleged speeches. Then there are broad matters which could have been prepared long ago. MR. DE VOS s
My Lord, as mass of preparatory work has indeed been done so far, an analysis of most of the evidence of the Defence insofar as the record has been given to us so far, has been made. But the full synchronisation and co-ordination of all the factors of the case will take some more time. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF :
You told the Court that you wanted originally six weeks and now a month, that we should settle on a month.
18319.
MR. DE VPS ; My Lord, I can only put it to Your Lordship...
ME. JUSTICE RUMIFF : I am amazed that the Crown is not ready to
start at least with certain portions of its case that could have "been finished long ago. What about the ques-tion of Communism, for instance? MR. DE VPS 5
Certain parts of it can certainly he dealt with immediately. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF s
The whole could have been dealt with, apart from individual expressions and some documents dealt with by Defence witnesses, why isn't that case ready? MR. LIS VPS i
My Lord, with respect, a massof evilence - first of all the Defence intimated to the Crown from time to time the possibility and the probability - I put it even higher than that, of calling certain further witnesses on that point, so that had to be taken into account... MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF i
Mr. de Vos, who is going to address the Court on Communism? MR. DI3 VPS ;
Myself, My Lord. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF 5
•Veil, couldn't you have been prepared? MR. DiJ VPS :
My Lord, with respect, I couldn't have been prepared more than I am now. I can only put it to Your Lordship as frankly and fully the position as I know it
18320. at the present moment, and as a team we have considered the whole position, and it is my duty to put it to the Court. ME. JUSTICE BEKEER ;
The factual position is that you are not in a position to argue presently, and what is the minimum time you would require to have your argument ready? A month? MR. DiC VPS s
My Lord, the Crown team has considered on the "basis of a proper argument, it should have a month. Afterall, My Lord, may I put the matter of the Communism to Your Lordship. It does not stand,alone, My Lord, it has to be... ME. JUSTICE RUMiFF j
What about the law of high treason? Are you going to argue that or is some member going to argue that? ME. DE VPS :
Yes, My Lord. ME. JUSTICE RUiVLFF :
Why aren't you ready for that? MR. Did VCS ;
My Lord, the position is, as the Crown sees it, we should have an uninterrupted flow of argument on the whole case, beginning from the one and proceeding to the other points, co-ordinate law and fact and communism and the whole lot. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF s
Who is arguing the law of high treason? ME. DE VPS 2
Mr. Trengove will be arguing the law of high reason.
18321.
MR. JUSTICE RUM1FF : Well he has been occupied in Court for a long
time. MR. DE VPS s
My lord, if Your Lordship is prepared to take piecemeal argument... MR. JUSTICE KENNEDY s
Yes, I agree with you, Mr. de Vos, the argument should continue uninterrupted on every aspect, and I don't necessarily associate myself entirely with what My Lord is saying, and with respect to My Lord, I suggest the Defence "be asked to express its attitude on your request. MR. Dj5 VPS :
My Lord, subject to what Your Lordship may require me to reply to, I have nothing further to add on the point. I have put it as frankly and as clearly as I can, and tried to intimate candidly the position as the Crown team has found it to be. MR. MAIS'iiLS 5
My Lord, save for the serious misstatements of fact made by the Irosecutor, we have no views on this matter at all, and leave the matter entirely in Your Lordships' hands. We don't know what the Crown has done and what it hasn't done, and we don't know My Lord what it is going to do and what it is going to argue. I am only concerned to correct the misstatement that the irosecutor made in Court. There is only one point that we will make to Your Lordship and that is this, dependent on the form in which the Crown presents its argument eventually, bearing in mind our copy of the
18322.
record, we may have to make an application - we don't want to, it is our desire to continue straight, on when the Crown has concluded, tut I just thought it right, My Lord, dependent on the form mn which it is presented that that may arise. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF 5
What date is this that you are asking for, Mr. de Vos? MR. DE VPS s
The 7th of November, My Lord, that is Monday the 7th of November, I960. That would be four working weeks, four full weeks with the weekends on either side thrown in. MR. JUSTICE RUMIFF s
Well, the Crown in this matter asks for an adjournment of a month, in order to enable it to commence its argument. Speaking for myself, I am extremely dis-appointed that the Crown after being many months - after the many months of Defence evidence, are not in a posi-tion to at least start the argument on some of the aspects of the case, which in my personal opinion could have been ready by now. However, Mr. de Vos says that it is not possible for the Crown team to argue at this stage. We have to be given the benefit of a full argu-ment by the Crown, and in those circumstances we have to give the adjournment to the Crown in order that they may prepare their argument properly to start then on the 7th November. In the circumstances the Court will adjourn to the 7th of November, I960. CASE REMANDED TO THE 7TH NOVEMBER, I960. COURT ADJOURNS.
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