Introduction
My childhood
School days
Domestic work
He was a jolly somebody
Factory work
The trade unions
The ANC and the Women's League
The start of mass campaigns
Stay-away!
The Defiance Campaign
Forming the Federation
The Anti-Pass Campaign
Bantu Education boycott
The South African Congress of Trade Unions
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PART 2
Stay-away!
In 1950 there was a big protest against this law called the Suppression
of Communism, which was so the government could send communists and people
like that to jail for a long time. The police broke up that protest and
they shot some people there. Then there was a call all across the country
on Freedom Day for everyone to stay away from work to protest against
those shootings. The next year there was a stay-away on Freedom Day.
In Port Elizabeth we didn't have this influx control law saying who can
come and live and work there, and who is not allowed there. But now,
at this time, they wanted to introduce this law in Port Elizabeth. So
everyone in Port Elizabeth was very upset about this, and when we organized
for the stay-away, we organized around this issue too.
We had big meetings in the townships, some of them outside, and we
went from house to house knocking on each door and telling the people
why they must not go to work on the 26th. It was easy for us to organize
for the stay-at-home in Port Elizabeth because the trade union was
very strong there, and there were a lot of us who were in the trade
union and the ANC and so we talked to the workers at the factory as
well as at home, and because they were already organized they understood
what we were saying. So in Port Elizabeth the response to the stay-away
was very, very strong. Lots of workers stayed away from work that day.
It was a sign to the government how strong we were and that we would
fight these bad things that they wanted to do to us.
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The Congress of the People
The fight against passes continues
On trial for treason
'Asinamali'
Don't eat potatoes!
The special branch
The start of a bad time
Solitary confinement
Jail
Banishment
The struggle continues
Abbreviations
Resources
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