The Significance of the All-African Convention
Notwithstanding the temporary vicissitudes, which overtook the Convention, the indubitable fact remains that the formation of the All African Convention was a turning point in the political history of the African people. The period 1935-37 marked the highest point of development in organisation affecting them as a group. The political exigencies of the time and the crisis of the Hertzog Bills had compelled them to organise on a nation-wide scale. The creation of the A.A.C. was a spontaneous act. Without any premeditated theory the people brought into being a form of organisation which could knit them together into a single compact unit, capable of being a fighting force.
Prior to this, as we have indicated, there had existed many small organisations each operating independently of the others. There were political and professional organisations, trade unions and civic and church bodies, etc., all of which had one purpose, the fight for liberation. But each one worked in isolation from the rest. The characteristic feature of this stage of development was a mutual suspicion and rivalry between the various organisations, each of which was dominated by a single personality. It became, one might say, the duty of the leader or leaders of one organisation to denounce all others, not because of differences in political policies or principles, but because they could not brook any rivalry in the leadership. Each one felt that the other organisations were not necessary and that everybody should join the particular organisation where he was leader. Thus all political fights degenerated into personal squabbles and the leaders exhausted all their energies in fratricidal strife.
This state of affairs is not to be ascribed simply to the personal attributes of the particular leaders of that time. It must be borne in mind that the lack of political clarity and the formulation of aims and principles, together with organizational deficiencies, provided the soil in which such defects could thrive. In the absence of a clear formulation of their raison d'Áªtre, their function and purpose, organisations found themselves caught up in petty and personal concerns. This was bound up with the fact that the organisations were attached to individual leaders, who were looked up to as heroes, with the result that the whole activity of organisations tended to revolve round these leaders and their ambitions.
In such an atmosphere it is not surprising that the African people did not consciously formulate their tasks and work out a programme of struggle against the oppressor on 'a nationÂwide scale. Their vision was circumscribed and turned in upon themselves;their energies were dissipated and exhausted in mutual strife.
Then came the crisis of 1935, which altered the course of development and precipitated the people into taking a leap in the growth of political consciousness. Now in the day-to-day struggle for existence the people are not aware of a growth or a ripening process that is taking place. They have not the time to stand aside and observe objectively what is happening to them. It is only when they are faced with a crisis that it becomes evident that a growth has been taking place. For when they act, they act with a maturity, which they themselves are not aware of. The programmes and the political institutions, which have spontaneously created at such a time, reflect this growth and are evidence of the fact that a maturing process has been taking place unobserved.
We pause here to comment on the word "spontaneous". The idea of spontaneity is often associated with mysticism and identified with some kind of divine inspiration. But the so-called spontaneity of action on the part of the people is not at all spontaneous in the strict sense of the word. It itself is the outcome of knowledge acquired in the hard school of daily experience. The masses may not be able to express this knowledge in words, formulate it in theory and present it in a considered statement of principles. Nevertheless, their so-called "instinctive"or "spontaneous"action is guided by their knowledge-a knowledge that may also have been acquired as a, result of past failures.
It is against the background of such a growth of a whole people that the sudden coming into being of the All African ConÂvention acquires meaning and significance. In creating this body, the African people made a tremendous discovery, which was to mark a turning point in their history With a leap of imagination and a creative genius-which a people achieve under stress- they had lighted upon a form of organisaÂtion which was not only capable of welding a whole population into a single unit, but which at the same time opened up a vista of theoretical and political possibilities. But the masses were;not aware of the full significance of what they had discovered. And the leaders themselves did not at any time stop to examine it, formulate the nature of the discovery and evaluate its possibilities. Yet it is essential that this should be done.
This discovery marked one higher political level. It might be said to fall into two parts, i.e. one can look at it (a) from the purely organisational aspect and (b) from the political aspect. Both of these call for a somewhat detailed examination.
The Organisational Aspect
The problem was to create a mouthpiece for the whole of the African people, a forum from which their voice could be heard. It was obvious that no single party could fulfil this task, A single political party cannot represent a whole community or race, for the mere fact of belonging to the same race has nothing to do with a man's political affiliations. In any given community people share different political ideas ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right, with all shades of leftists, centrists and conservatives in between. These must naturally fall into their various political groupings or parties. Any attempt, therefore to form a unitary political organisation or party was doomed to fail. Further, no one party could claim to represent tribalists, nationalists, internationalists and liberals, and at the same time integrate and attend to the specific tasks of industrial workers farm labourers, peasants, professional classes, etc. Yet the very crux or the problem was to find a form of organisation which would meet the demands arising out of a two-fold oppression-national oppression and class exploitation. The problem was to find a means of integrating and co-ordinating the national struggle with the struggles of the people striving to defend themselves against exploitation in their respective fields of labour It was this objective fact, along with the particular stage of development reached by the people at the time, which dictated the form of organisation required.
In establishing the All African Convention, then, the African people had discovered such a body. The prominent idea at the time was unity. The dominating thought in everybody's mind was how to remove competition and eliminate all rivalry between organisations. Each leader was to bring his followers to the Convention, and he together with the leaders of other organisations was to form a single leadership with a common aim and purpose. Mutual antagonisms and rivalry were replaced by the spirit of co-operation. The leader who jealously guarded his personal position was replaced by a unified leadership and petty sectional considerations gave way to a form of thought which embraced the whole race. In such a body the interests of each constituent part were identical with the interests of the whole. Yet this did not mean that the individual organisations were to lose their identity and be swallowed up by the whole. On the contrary, the recognition of a common aim and purpose would revivify and strengthen the component parts, while the strengthening of each component part would in turn enormously reinforce the whole.
Federal Organisation
Let us picture the structure of the All African Convention in some detail and see how it works concretely.
Once the All African Convention was established, the first duty was to build it up. For this it was necessary to have organisers who would go round the country, putting before the people the idea of this new form of organisation. Let us suppose that it had been in the position of having a full-time organiser -as was the intention at the time. What would his task have been? What would he have done? First he would have to bring to the masses the policy of Convention. (This will be dealt with later.) He would have to educate them to the idea of the federal structure of Convention. How would he do this? In his tour round the country he would find that in some places there were no organisations at all in existence. Here he would ask the people to form an organisation;he would put before them the example of a number of organisations already existing in other places and he would recommend them to choose one according to the conditions and burning problems of the particular place, either rural or urban. The actual choice would be left entirely in the hands of the local people. But the organiser would insist emphatically that, whatever organisation they decided to form, it should ally itself to and co-ordinate its struggles with the other African organisations throughout the country. This would be done by affiliating to the All African Convention. He would stress the point that the individuality of their organisation would be maintained. The control of its finances, etc., would be a matter entirely for themselves. All that the Convention would insist upon is that they would do nothing in contradiction to the policy, which is, or shall be, decided upon by the whole people in Conference.
In some places the organiser would find that there are many different organisations in existence and here his method would be rather different. He would not attempt to form a new organisation to compete with existing ones. This would be totally opposed to his purpose. He would get in touch with the leaders of the local bodies, ask them jointly to call a public meeting in which lie would urge the people to join any one of the existing organisations-it wouldn't matter to him which one. The main thing is that not a single man or woman would fail to join an organisation. But-and this is of the utmost importance-they must see to it that whatever organisation they join shall link itself up with the rest of the African organisations by affiliating to the All African Convention. These, then, would be some of the tasks of a full-time organiser.
In the case where-as has happened-the All African Convention has no funds, the same thing could be done, perhaps even more effectively, in another way. (And this incidentally would also demonstrate the superiority of the federal structure.) While the federal body itself may have slender financial resources, it is possible for some of the constituent bodies to have sufficient funds to allow of full-time organisers for their own organisations. Let us say, for example, that the Voters' Association, the Trade Unions, the African National Congress and the Teachers' Association were all affiliated to the Convention and could each afford an organiser. What would their function be and what would they do? Bearing in mind that the prime impulse, which brought the All African Convention into being, was the urge to unity on the part of the people-a unity which replaced rivalry and disruption-the organisers would see their task as much more than simply propagandising their own particular organisations. They would see their respective organisations as links, vital links in a whole structure, each one being necessary to the life of the whole.
Their attitude to their respective organisations would be guided by their recognition of the fact that to strengthen their own organization was to make a contribution to the strength of the whole. Conscious of their common tasks, they would tour the country together and thus make practical demonstration of unity. Wherever they held meetings they would urge the people to join their respective organisations;the workers their trade unions, the teachers the Teachers' Associations, and if there Mere a Congress branch in that district the people would be asked to join it or any other political party that happens to be in existence there-with one proviso: that each and every one of these organisations should regard themselves as parts of a whole and affiliate to the All African Convention. Under such conditions there would be no room for rivalries;there would be no fear of one organisation ousting another. For the dominating consideration would be the contribution to national unity.
Now as to the manner in which the federal body functions. To its annual Conference all the affiliated organisations send their representatives;all the political parties of all degrees of political opinion varying from the extreme left to the extreme right are also represented. Thus in this body representative of the whole African population, deliberations are held in a truly democratic manner and whatever decisions are made they will reflect the desires of the majority. It is this which makes the All African Convention the mouth-piece of the African people, the forum from which their voice can be heard. It is in this way that it can decide on a policy to be followed by all. Whatever decisions are made are carried back by the delegates to their respective organisations, which then act in accordance with the declared policy.
Local Co-ordinating Committees
As to the channels through which this policy is carried out:
In every district there are usually a number of organisations existing independently. The idea is that within the federal structure the activities of these already existing bodies should be co-ordinated in the following manner:-To take an example of a rural district in which there are branches of the Farmers' Association, the Teachers' Association and the Voters' Association, etc. A co-ordinating committee is created, consisting of two or three representatives from each of these bodies, and it acts as a sentinel guarding over the interests of all in that district. If anything affecting a section of the community should arise- such as an attack on the teachers-it is not the teachers' association alone which takes the matter up , but the co-ordinating committee. Its representatives put the problem before their respective organisations, who together take up the fight under the leadership of the co-ordinating committee. Thus the people are taught in a practical way to put up a united resistance. If they succeed in a specific battle, the credit goes to no one parÂticular organisation, but equally to all of them, and once again rivalry is eliminated. If they resist another attack and again succeed the people begin to learn the value of united action. The strength of the co-ordinating committee increases and thence also the strength of the various organisations as a whole.
To understand, then, what this federal structure, the All African Convention, looks like in action, picture first the annual Conference at Bloemfontein, which decides on policy. This is directly linked with the local co-ordinating committees in every province, in every town, rural district, dorp or village. These in turn are rooted in the masses through their various organisations, who deal with their specific problems in accordance with the policy which has been decided upon at the Conference. It might be likened to a heart, which through the arteries feeds every limb of a vast body. But at the same time there is a reciprocal flow from the masses through the local committees to the representative body. Unity is the guiding principle perÂmeating the whole structure. Unanimity of policy dictates unanimity of action. In this way there is established a dynamic unity, not only between the various leaders who constitute a single leadership, but between this leadership and the masses.
The Wider Political Aspect
We have said that the discovery of the new form of organization, the All African Convention, thus capable of uniting the people on a national basis, opened up still wider possibilities of political and idealogical development.
If the African people themselves were still unaware of the potentialities of their discovery, the rulers were fully alive to the danger to itself inherent in this development. It was not the form of organisation per se that worried them so much as a further development, which sooner or later would follow it. It could prove a basis for a new outlook. They are aware of the interconnection between the form of an organization (which itself marks a development) and the political outlook, which accompanies it. This form of organization, uniting a whole people, cleared the way for a national outlook, the logical outcome of this particular stage of development. A national outlook on the part of an oppressed people constitutes the first stage of a threat to White domination. Such a development of political consciousness had to be arrested by the ruling-class at all costs.
Organised Disruption
For the rulers it was necessary to sow confusion amongst the masses and instead of unity create disunity. The idea of the All African Convention had to be smashed at birth. It was comparatively easy for them to succeed, at least in part, because the idea had not yet become part and parcel of the people's thinking.
Their tactic was to build up a particular leader by boosting him in their Press. For this, they found a tool in Mr. Dube. He was the first one to break away from Convention and with him went practically the whole of Natal. The herrenvolk Press acclaimed him as a great statesman, a moderate, a practical politician and in fact the epitome of all the virtues. They crowned him with a halo of greatness and conferred a doctorate on him. It was as Dr. Dube that he led Natal to the Native Representative Council at Pretoria.
This was a clever move on the part of the oppressors. Seeing the rewards and honours heaped upon Dube, others followed suit. The noble sentiments that had surrounded the birth of Convention had evaporated and one after another the leaders deserted. Amongst them was that same Mr. Selope Thema, who, in 1936, had moved that the All African Convention should be established as a permanent body. But these people could not smash the Convention by the mere act of breaking away and asking others to follow suit.
Still another and more thorough method of disruption had to be devised. It had to be organized disruption. And what could be better for this purpose than an organization? What could be better than one already in existence and well known. Thus the African National Congress was resuscitated. The Congress die-hards saw an opportunity of using the organization for the purpose of breaking the All African Convention, with all that it stood for. They let it be believed, however, that Congress would be a means of gathering the unorganized masses and bringing them into the Convention-as had been agreed in 1935. But as soon as the Congress had gathered to itself a fairly respectable number of people they wrenched the organization away from the Convention. By this time Dr. Xuma, an ex-Vice-President of Convention and Chairman of its Executive Committee, was now head of the African National Congress. (It will be remembered how stirringly he had addressed the 1937 Conference of Convention from London, calling the people to unite under the All African Convention and show the world that they meant to stand together at all costs.) Here it is interesting to observe how the herrenvolk proceeded in their tactics of organizing disruption. In 1935 Dr. Xuma had been a new and comparatively unknown figure in the political field. Unlike the generality of African intellectuals and the older leaders, he was independent of Government employment. He was, moreover, one of the most outspoken during the 1935-37 period, and nobody had been more eloquent than he in urging unity under Convention. The eyes of the younger generation were naturally turned towards him with considerable hope and expectation. But the very reasons which made the oppressed Africans look towards him with such hope, made the herrenvolk look askance at him. At this stage-be it noted-his eloquent appeals for unity found no place in the columns of their Press. They took good care to ignore him. For at this time, it must be remembered, unity had been the keynote of the mood of the whole African people who were strong in their determination to resist. At that time, too, the Congress leaders, who were all in the Convention, received no publicity in the herrenvolk Press and not even their President was heard of.
When the African National Congress, however, began to break away from Convention, the attitude of the herrenvolk Press became totally different. Their propaganda machinery proceeded to function with a particular end in view. It proceeded to build up the President of Congress, Dr. Xuma, as a great champion of the cause of the African people. Every speech of the new leader was splashed in their Press;every eloquent appeal for unity received publicity. That is, they helped him to unite people under Congress. Yet there is nothing that the rulers fear more (as they themselves have indicated inside and outside Parliament) than the unity of the oppressed. What is the explanation of this seeming contradiction? Why was the silence of the Press, that had surrounded the unity of the people under the All African Convention, now replaced by a blast of publicity for "unity"under the African National Congress?
This might be answered by asking another question: what was the nature of this unity under Congress, at this stage? Congress was now breaking away from Convention, from the larger unity, from national unity. It was breaking with the new policy of Convention and thus not only arresting this new development, but taking a retrogressive step. For to unite people in this way in a splinter organization, which was breaking away from Convention, was to foster organized disunity. This was the surest method of disrupting the unity so recently achieved by the African people. To speak of a unity, which was actually a breaking away from unity, a disruption of unity, was of course to sow confusion in the minds of the people. This explains the tactics of the herrenvolk press in boosting the Congress at this time. The rulers had to foster and support, by every means at their disposal, an organization, which set itself up in opposition to the All African Convention. For it had to kill the very spirit of unity on a higher political plane-the unity which had given rise to the formation of the All African Convention.
What the rulers had succeeded in doing-and this the younger intellectuals do not know-was to plunge the African people back to the pre-1935 period, that whole epoch in which the struggles of the oppressed were reduced to a stalemate by fratricidal strife. The young intellectuals who left school at the end of the thirties or the early forties and who entered the political arena at that time , were handicapped by a false and incomplete picture of events. The Press presented them with ready-made figures of national heroes, and, being filled with a desire to take up the cause of their people, they naturally threw in their lot with these popular figures.
They never stopped to ask what had been the past history of the people, least of all what had taken place in the immediate past. They never stopped to wonder exactly why these leaders were so popular with the herrenvolk press. But with the ardent zest of earnest youth they threw their energies into the building of the organisation in which they found these leaders, i.e. the African National Congress. They did not realise that by organizing Congress at this stage they were in fact organizing disunity;that by building Congress in opposition to the other organizations unified under the All African Convention, they were destroying national unity. They who wanted to advance the cause of their people were in effect fostering sectionalism and racialism, which are the very antithesis of true nationalism.