up members successful campaign litigation aimed at bylaws the succeed - PDF document

1 up members. successful campaign litigati
up members. successful campaign litigation aimed at by-laws, the succeeded in the imagination Durban's opened offices large part Natal, where economic pressures on extensive sheep and wattle farming, numerous opened in towns stretching ontent and the complex relationship between 8 Union leaders their constituencies. as Bradford has ICUts drawn from racially oppressed was both fractured this socially ambiguous nature moments, to spokesmen for ''Black idioms provided the peculiar local political Workers could thus rework the language face of flux is in these terms that this study seeks to explore ways in the Union mobilized local support-base, it attempted through political struggles, it ultimately lost volatile and desperate constituency. homestead heads to retain into labour-tenant one alternative these punishing conditions terms, specific tfzms regional or have dominated particular h~wever, market was restructured and is more than l

2 ikely newly proletarianized heightened c
ikely newly proletarianized heightened competition over access B8sotho Xhosa were Durban entered and as labour expanded, the (probably inclusive many non-Zulu origins served the social labour market workers, employment prospects for the African work force was female. While several hundred could hold jobs as S fpants, other areas employment previously available women were closed Beer brewing evolved as the sing the absence urban female enployment opportunities!' me women was reflected the provision beds for females were provided for These measured concessions the urban African household were granted the backdrop the continuous expulsion African women terms of the The convenient refusal to common-law marriages Durban's labouring poor consequences for over.22,000 mostly in was frequently in the "meanest as the Mayor put that workers were able to create cultural alternatives control. Shebeens, emerged as within an emerging proletarian The es

3 tablishment beer halls, the consequent p
tablishment beer halls, the consequent proscription shebeens and the African drink trade, was rooted white rulers to urban capitalist social penal sanctions disciplined work force to local The uneven this goal much due to the persistent evasion registration, pass The experience rural dispossession older modes social organization Amalaita gangs, for example, their roots basis for novel migrant youth networks and embodied labour and penal for their fondness mouth-organs and light fighting-sticks (iainduku), many flhouseboysl' organized themselves into amalaita each of informal control throughout policeman loomed common official responfg to the and petty tpg aralaita The prohibition of the carrying with the arrest found playing mouth-organs in street were also measures aimed depriving workers symbols associated the custodians industrial labour-discipline, magistrates could also impose prison those found selling or smoking dam, yet the co

4 nsumption endemic amongst town where un
nsumption endemic amongst town where uniform domestic workers and where "European1' white policemen, the language of dress could assume an alternative symbolic ("drinkers of a prominent landowner and proprietor the Durban-based Ilanga lase the demand differential treatment, "better class" Africans, found a place on generally parochial NNC Not surprisingly, NNC members as Ama-mspe&ables, forcibly closed experiences confirmed distance between NNC and the emerggyt urban under-classes, a dissension Dubefs little to Union Leadership: Rural Refugees the Pact Government's "civilised policy" bourgeoisie rapidly edged down short stairwell into the labouring poor became increasingly real for those Africans in a "disappointed classft of bh~cks, as Champion that the ICU yase Natal tended find its J H example, became Branch Secretary after being "discharged Europeans who would work2gith a Kaffir" also after having given critic

5 al evidence to the vulnerability is capt
al evidence to the vulnerability is captured Ngcobo, a member gese Body, as "the pillar that the Krantzkop until he remained a ensconced in more than one38f colleagues when "there respect for skilled work in The majority increasingly devalued during the twenties. yase Maqwebu, Assistant Chairman Jim London had worked a salary which might have compared unfavourably with labourers' wages. abandoned this as a had had long experience J J Macebo, Chairman Governing3Body, transition from Khumalo, worker during 1920s, recalls that leaders from workers their ability to all ICU officials fell one side mentallmanual divide. David Sitshe, a member a semi-literate later a while the illiterate Mabaleka coupled leaders ever needed confirmation "unrespectable" find it in two ogganizers, P Maduna and Sam had had J A "lieutenants", had a theft in the Free State town Lindley, where he had fired from his job in 1924. might well have provided

6 the Chief Constable "the3JCU in fact,
the Chief Constable "the3JCU in fact, the riff-raff Union". Certainly, Dunn, had served in the African Native C~ntingent,~telped inject the with the "returned soldier". It is likely, too, that the hardships of rural orgy&zation which a Union Officials made them to the demands and migrant work other important gese Natal officials distanced from their contemporary observer noteg7that Champion "belong(ed) birth to Natal". was Champion, like a African, but likely that during the men like Champion found increasingly difficult maintain a economic bas what was Cabinet". leadership styles did, however, important implications Union in wider initially directed Dw, led Champion's the secession hardly surprising, then, that the relationship between Union leaders their constituency and dynamic. example, only a workers had force the Union into organizing a ~trik2~ had been Itapproach the proper authorities". support for remained co

7 nditional. Political action was to test
nditional. Political action was to test this support to the Secession: the "Zuluf1 Trade Union During the first part the future the ICU Natal looked anything Union suffered the state a number themselves without fkom the Durban 86 the absence large debts, mouth, Champion sold Vuka Afrika and membership apparently Champion's in April been greeted with anger 'n their tickets 5b refused to have further to do with Organisationt1. in Durban organized a men and women attended in ICU-manufactured red- sported exuberant red sashes and rosettes. for its capacity to "idioms of the masters" with those an heroic past, the parade marched militagx formation, under Ifduly the streets a number the parades, more or timed to with the underlying significance ICUts secession a South Africa where amabutho in the nineteenth century Bambatha rebellion 1906 were embedded in consciousness, it is not identity in first ICU Provincial Secretary, ascr

8 ibed to gg his birth, there doubt that
ibed to gg his birth, there doubt that transferred from for this reason. Both David Sitshe were well their capacity to deliver rousing speeches Zulu language, coloured organizer Sam Dunn was popularly known as Zulu kwa Ilalandela, "for this expression when the5&ourse his great appealed to the inner feelings people". In a town where members of amalaita themselves with umshdmbezi decoration comprising round the head which 1906), where utshuala was self- consciously referred to as "Zulu beer", some Zulu workers were prepared to the dipping Dunn's to the past was not Clearly, the Union leadership helped migrant workers The Zulu Udibi lwase to a sense of ulu nationhood, especially where speaker^.^' The formation of the Independent ICU (TICU) in the however, the establishment an IICU Branch was also precipitated ppears that George Lenono, resentful being labelled f1foreigners"58, and formed Basotho Branch Zulu-speaking wor

9 kers "foreign natives", the ICU gacr
kers "foreign natives", the ICU gacre relative autonomy a time regional political economies underpinned the natives for the purposes of financing (the Board S ) advancement1'. 63 meetings in Sydenham March indicated the level grassroots opposition the beer marched from these marches reported They were organised body Highland costume They had a Union Jack and a red flag hammer and dresse&in and carried in military and subversive protest came the Union's public presence in the which survived sustained official campaign a common identity amongst racially oppressed physical distance between the Union's Union demagogues every effort political message ngoma clad in umutshas could lead Durban's "Iiyde as Champion it, to amahubo lamabutho (regimental anthems) en also used experience with One song nguma dancers, most whom were workers, was recorded Who has taken our country from Who has taken Now it and dance also act meanings in the

10 a new ingom'ebusuku or isicathamiya,
a new ingom'ebusuku or isicathamiya, style was rooted traditional idiom migrant workers also appropriated elemenkg black mission richly syncretic workers were some sections Durban's African population expression to self-conscious urbanism. barrack-dwellers, differentiated themselves bags. No were members a social grouping celebrated in one on Oxford Oxford Bags are always confident like misbehave and home. g'? The Union's and Choir also symbolized the emergence more music, too, might have appeal amongst members middle classes cultural idioms as an Dem Darkies could expect an enthusiastic when they performed at and disguised distinctions. Champion's comment that ICU memkership through the also suggestive cultural broker advanced through providing cultural expression with Financially, too, these Union- sponsg~ed institutions were be as f 400. They say that this from today the is taking and are willing to with them beer! (Loud J T

11 Gumede,. radical President who was Du
Gumede,. radical President who was Durban during May and infused with CPSA's served to underline rank-and-file militancy: has taken (NNC) absolutely in Natal that shows that officers (NNC) were wrong could think other people us combine take our Today the Black man work together National Independence the struggle was much about flunjust laws made by Hertzogu exploitation, as about beer monopoly and togt surprisingly, Champion oppression, using the NAD and exhorted those present join the Champion also togt workers were "earning a very good salary", which could well have justifying his opposition to Champion's "lieutenants1' would uniformly have shared opinion, least Sam Mabaleka was a Ndhlovu, a ICU representative at the docks, was a railways induna the Union's leadership increasingly impelled identification with Durban's labouring poor, was, not Provincial Secretary, systematically picketed stick- wielding workers and me

12 mbers police a white motorist was killed
mbers police a white motorist was killed with the District Commandant (SAP) he went to "there stop to %is grievances will authoritiesrf. This call went unheeded white vigilantes had in the workers from and hostels throughout the town converged on Ndhlovu wearing a skin carrying a revolver, were heard to shout the Zulu war Usuthu! Also consp&juous were members League dressed khaki shirts which followed two white civilians were One immediate consequence the appointment connnission to investigate his report, de Waal viewed workerst grievances as "utterly ltprofessional agitator", "capable good, or mischieft1, used supposed grievances to "foment tro~ble'~. in terms of&he Act, and adequate space for Champion claimed that the Natal would disb~d if a location for "better class natives" advisory board Commissionts agitator thesis hardly appropriate to the realities popular protest yase Natal meetings led to fears that the positi

13 on could "become dangerous moment", Ch
on could "become dangerous moment", Chief Magistrate meetings under the Riotous Assemblies Sitshe, Mabaleka, Gwala, Vilakazi and three months' labour for ban which the possession genere$ goal mutiny, central government intervened in dramatic the Minister elected Nationalist government arrived in Over the following weeks Squadron swooped on compounds to check poll tax and embarked extensive operation to crush shebeens the illicit traffic in the town its peri-urban over 2,000 arrested and isiWxhiyaue While revenue from the beer reme&ned negligible, in one week Durban's intimidated workers f5,000 repression was undoubtedly welcomed by the municipal and harshly ideologues such as Marwick. the recently liberal Mayor, Lamont, were embodied a report Joint Council claimed that Africans Ifin that state revolutionary propaganda easily thrivesft and that ltNati5% opinion should be scrupulously consulted considered". the Report Nati

14 ve Affairs Commission conceded that Afri
ve Affairs Commission conceded that Africans had genuine grievances, of low The Report the lack "native village1# adequate recreation facilities had led a situation illicit drinking, the ill-informed and unbalanced agitator communistic or anti-European halls where the the national S4 a consequence, the Commission reiterated the need a location, a Advisory Board and recreational facilities. The implementation real victory, yase The Native Advisory Board the Beer Boycott The establishment was clearly a situation where Africans' shared experience facilitated the the popular alliances Chief Native Commissioner the NAB wou@ "be useful as a buffer between.the people and authority". The Board comprised Town Councillors and African representatives. an unprecedented yase was allocated which were subsequently NNC also allowed two representatives while the remaining six seats to residents and municipal barracks. The had no legal status sinc

15 e it constitu@d Areas Act and was thus
e it constitu@d Areas Act and was thus ltgoodwill gesture". Board members presented on the councillors' threats that have to P&Oincreased to offset "unfavourable Native Revenue the "economic questiontf, they regarded as integral to the beer boycott. attempted to distance themselves from the boycott. NNC, represented J R Msimang and a resolution stating that Congress no "connection whatsoever the Beer BoycottIt. 581. the Congress movement, having lost its claims warmly embraced bodies such took the the Durban Councills formal recognition "difference between the umfa~; educated native clerks, teachers, etc" . In broader regional terms, the NNC political initiatives attempting to gafff state recognition of Solomon kaDinizulu Zulu Paramount Inkatha. suggested the social norms obligations underpinned the women were commonsense beliefs been violated yase still able to attract a diverse cross- section of Durban's meetings

16 , in had all but Durp~ itself Union su
, in had all but Durp~ itself Union sufficient to offset its financial problems. Given Union's ambitious promises to workers, it is hardly surprising that it implicit grassroots support for the is probable that the active participation Advisory Board rank-and-file support. f 18 Zulu King Union's Imbongi over declining Union strategy. meeting on Champion claimed that he l'g0in5~;40 call a Native Chiefs kaDinizulugf. While the financial the Union had do with tactics, the traditionalist authority should also be understood in the exigencies local struggles a town where themselves as members this social terrain that Union organizers responded to while Champion continued as the organizers extending back to 1?8 chiefs and headmen Zululand arrived in The purported reason invitation extended Champion to strike which began on eight days after Champion Solomon and the Vhile anticipation, Union leaders closed meeting the question Rising levels u

17 nemployment which depression, together n
nemployment which depression, together need to ensure urban incomes into rural households, this meeting with Union urban struggles was the meeting which dealt with cattle-dipping, thfl~and on beer brewing, and black this was conscious attempt link urban public meeting was held various chiefs addressed an audience starvation wages, although Ngonyama kaGumbi Union's Pietermaritzburg branch invoked British "murderous actst1 Africans should "cut the throatsv* of government officials "as the Russian Communists also reported from the seats the alleged thanked Champion for what he carry on the the country also Native from the crowd commenc(ed) 'bongering' past and with Champion this is dangerous proceeding in gathe~h~g of the ICU variety ... &he the meeting Humu! litmu! while thousands Eaatsbeni! (Beer halls!) Conclusion: Shakavs When no tangible benefits accrued from the with the Zulu authority, mass support for yase appears

18 finally who had paid in the that Champio
finally who had paid in the that Champion his Union would successfully struggle for workers had were simply dismissed employers seeking maintain profit the municipal to eject large numbers "with visible means s~bsistence~~ the town. Durban's unskilled African workers were rendered largereservearmy of labour in other forces work which served to detach Union volatile constituency. Through the small section Durban's African The establishment Clairwood for civilised" blacks partly fulfilled proposed housing depended substantially on the decreasing revenue accruing to the Native Revenue Account, since white labour opposed the use cheap migrant labour in the sections of were to benefit from proposed location the termination the beer the moulding popular protest along more yase Natal continued the beer boycott after Champion's departure from became increasingly ambiguous. tooi wage would enthusiastically embraced fl donations to the "Champ

19 ion partially discredited through its i
ion partially discredited through its involvement Ndhlovu law into severely assaulted the rep59gentative for the Bell Street regarded as unrepresentative. is no wonder, then, mobilizing local for its proposed pass-burning at the should have drawn workers (including lower-level Union forced the to prolong meetings in order to prevent workers from "crossing the railway line" to to fiery Party speeches. workers responded to the to destroy workers, for Mtosi "if his parents doing". Others, anticipating renewed violence, simply returned more than that the police approached "Dingaants Day", and heard his royal thfS2the Party's campaign would attract a few hundred 18Basutos the low the ICU leadership publicly dissociated from the the predominantly Basotho IICU gave what had to the campaign. It was not without that the "riff-raff", wscumlf and "habitually idle" were in strong evidence "Dingaanls Day". was precisely those the restru

20 cturing the labour unemployed urban the
cturing the labour unemployed urban the CPSA could receipt were "badges of slavery1' low wages and women who residual optimism that they could greater recognition from the leadership in of times, the amelioration workers' to mass worker late 1920s the members this middle in the hope South Africa (hereafter UNISA) Secretary's March 1926. Udibi lwase Afrika, early membership Champion to la Guma, C Kadalie, 9 outline these court victories, see UNISA, (n.d.). these formative struggles in particular campaign against the bodily disinfecting '!The City: alcohol, popular culture 1902-36", University of Cape Town, 1984, ICU Microfilm, 4, List of Natal Delegates, 16 December 1927. H Bradford, '!The Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union of Africa in the South African Countryside, 1924-193OM, the Witwatersrand, state to W, UG 41-'42. Natal Government Gazette, Act to * Native Affairs By-laws down precise service contracts. laws al

21 so a harsh curfew and compulsory medical
so a harsh curfew and compulsory medical Mayor's 1917, p Hausse with Charles Khumalo Tshabalala, Durban, August 1986. Khumalo's See NA, Police Report l1 Council to Native Economic l2 Interview with Khumalo and Tshabalala. l3 NA, Durban Alsb see C Murray, migrant labour in 1981), worsening conditions amongst rural - in Natal, see ~radford,- op. cit., pp 52-65. l4 Interview with Khumalo and Interview la Marrengane with F Zondi, Maqadine, awaits further l5 Inquiry into Evidence (hereafter Commission (Det Sergt R For example, white- and Indian-owned effectively marginalized African Minute, 1926, p l7 brewing, see Evidence, p (Mrs Sililo). l8 NA, Durban Criminal Records DCR) Case heard 3 January 1916.' l9 NA, TCF, 467B, Amendment of General By-Law No 71. 20 For example, see Report of the General Missionary South Africa 19221, pp 73-95. 41 R H Interview with Bertha Mkize. 42 CAD, JUS, 917, 1/18/2

22 6-sub, R H Arnold to CID, 6 February 19
6-sub, R H Arnold to CID, 6 February 1928. 43 CAD, JUS, K22, Box 1, 6301/29, Champion Papers, Workers1 Club was 2/6, the entrance 2/6. 44 black separatist thought Champion, see W, African Studies ASI), "Autobiography of Champion" (ms), p 53. Also cf Bradford, "The ICU" , pp 184-89. 45 Interview with Khumalo and Tshabalala. 46 Hausse with Jacob Cele, KwaMashu, 27 August 1986. 47 the chaotic finances, see CAD, JUS, K22, Box 2, Judgement of Justice Tatham in case not solely responsible the financial Cowley, the Union's lawyers, were owed £3000 for legal expenses. 48 R H and 1927. See D Hemson, "Class Consciousness and Migrant Durban", thesis, University pp 202-05. 49 See CAD, May 1928. 50 CAD, NTS, 56/326, 1, R H May 1928. Cf T 52 the ICU 1975), and Bradford, cit., p 165. Interview with Hausse with Khumala, KwaMashu, 15 April 1986. 55 for example, 56 Commission Evidence, Ilanga lass

23 St L 57 CAD, JUS, K22, Box 1, 6301/
St L 57 CAD, JUS, K22, Box 1, 6301/29, Memorandum submitted the Representatives ICU to the September 1928; Det Sergt to Inspector 58 ArnoLd Champion, who as his wwormlf into the Union the ICU Commission Evidence, 441 (A F Batty). 59 H J Simons, Class flClass and Nationalism South African Protest: African Communist Party Native Republic, 1928-3411, African Revolutionary 1975), PP 14-42. No 23, G Dhlamini, 12 November 1929; No 27, C Nxaba, 12 November 1929; and No 34, T Myeza, 13 November 1929. 87 these struggles, "The ICUtf , pp 312-61. 88 Natal Mercuq, 6 November 1929. 89 for the illicit alcohol were six- month period in were convicted. the view NTS, 7665, 46/332, Native Affairs CNCts Office, 6 September 1929. NA, TCF, 63, 467, W North to Town Clerk, 19 November 1930. Also see CAD, NTS, 7606, 49/328, I, Translation of Igazi ne Zinyembezi. 92 JUS, 823, hanks to Helen Bradford for comments on Ntombela.

24 ) 93 Interview with 94 K22, Box 95
) 93 Interview with 94 K22, Box 95 CAD, JUS, K22, Box and Natal Mercury, JUS, K22, 6301/29, the Executive concerning SAP Demonstrations, November 57, 323, 98 CAD, NTS, 7665, 46/332, August 1929. 3238, Native Administration loo NA, Minutes the NAB, 19 February 1930. lol TCF, 21, 91, F M lo2 Joint Council Urban Areas Act of referred to "a self-constituted body refises to admit the accepted leaders". lo3 These attempts to bolster traditional authority were seen as securing the class interests #'The Family under the South kaDinizulu, Inkatha and Zulu ~ationalisml~, PM thesis, University of Natal, 1985. lo4 CAD, NTS, 46/332, Report of Meeting in CNCts office; and Ilanga lase Natal, 12 August 1927. lo5 NA, Minutes of the NAB, 16 April 1930. lo6 (John Dube f . lo7 TCF, 57, 323A, Ngcobo to TC, 6 June 1930. lo8 NA, Minutes of the NAB, 16 April 1930. log NA, TCF, 315E, T J Chester to TC, 16 April