SOUTH AFRICAN INDIAN CONGRESS
P.O. Box 2948,
Johannesburg
20th February 1952

The Honourable the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa
House of Assembly,
Cape Town.

Sir,

We, the undersigned, in terms of the resolution adopted at the 20th Conference of the South African Indian Congress, held at Johannesburg on the 25th, 26th and 27th January, 1952 are enjoined to address you as follows:

The South African Indian Congress, as the representative organisation and mouthpiece of the South African Indian community, has at all times striven to protect and safeguard the interests of the Indian people against discriminatory legislation and to ensure their honourable and legitimate share in the development and progress of the land of their birth and adoption, in common with all sections of the population, both white and non-white. In spite of all its attempts, however, the position of the Indians, together with the rest of the non-European people, has been rendered intolerable by the discriminatory laws of the country. Indeed, their position had become so precarious by the passing of the Asiatic Land Tenure Act of 1946 that the South African Indian Congress had no alternative but to embark on a Passive Resistance struggle as a protest, and to request the Government of India to raise this question at the United Nations Assembly.

It is to be noted that when a change of government took place as a result of the general elections of 1948 and your Government assumed office, the Passive Resistance struggle was suspended and an approach was made to you in your capacity as the Prime Minister for a statement of government policy.

This offer, as you may well recollect, was rejected and the Congress was informed through the Honourable the Minister of the Interior, Dr. Donges, that the Government was not prepared to grant the requested interview. This attitude was no doubt the outcome of the policy of your party as formulated in its election manifesto which laid the main stress on apartheid which meant the compulsory segregation of all non-European national groups into separate compartments or ghettoes, and which specifically stated: "The Party holds the view that Indians are a foreign and outlandish element which is unassimilable. They can never become part of the country and must therefore be treated as an immigrant community. The Party accepts as a basis of its policy the repatriation of as many Indians as possible and proposes a proper investigation into the practicability of such a policy on a large scale in cooperation with India and other countries".

The Group Areas Act, which the Prime Minister has claimed to be the "kernel" of apartheid, is a law which runs contrary to all the fundamental principles of democracy and of human rights. The enforcement of this Act will cause mass uprooting of the non-European people from areas and homes which they have acquired and built through the toil and sweat of many generations. The setting aside of Group Areas will mean to the non-European an end to all progress in every sphere of life. It will bring about economic retrogression and impoverishment with all its concomitant evils of crime and degradation. In so far as the Indian people are concerned, the Act is intended as a means of expelling them from this country ( vide the Joint Departmental Committee's report on which the Group Areas Act is based). It is to be noted that even at this early stage of its enforcement untold damage has been done to the interests of the people. Their material and economic progress is coming to a halt and immovable properties and homes running into hundreds of thousands of pounds are in the process of being confiscated by the state in terms of the Act. The Minister of the Interior is using dictatorial powers by serving notices on many companies to sell their properties within a specified time, failing which the listed properties would be liable to forced sale by the State. Not only are privately owned properties affected but religious and public institutions communally acquired for the welfare of the community have also been served with such notices.

The Bantu Authorities Act is aimed at denying the African people their rightful role in the affairs of the country and rendering them ineffective as a political force. The purpose of the Act in granting controlled powers to the chiefs is to split up the African people into tribal groups which could beeffectively brought under rigid State control.

The purpose of the Suppression of Communism Act is to suppress the fundamental rights of the South African people to organise, to criticise, and to express by written or spoken word their opposition to any aspect of Government policy which they consider repugnant to them and anti-democratic. The way in which the arbitrary powers vested in the Minister of Justice have been used to attack the freedom of speech and of the press is already evident by the attempt to unseat a Member of Parliament and a Member of the Cape Provincial Council who were constitutionally elected to their offices, and by the Minister's threat to suppress the Guardian newspaper. It is apparent that this Act is intended to crush the activities of all democratic organisations and trade unions which are opposed to the apartheid and anti-democratic policies of your Government.

The Separate Representation of Voters Act is yet another apartheid measure which is depriving the Coloured voters of whatever limited franchise rights and effectiveness they possessed.

This brief summary of some of the main apartheid measures placed on the Statute Book by your Government will suffice to show that apartheid is primarily intended for the complete suppression of non-European people so as to procure an unlimited supply of cheap labour. With this purpose in mind the Government is endeavouring to divide forcibly the population of our country into separate racial groups and tribes. The policy of apartheid is anti-democratic, reactionary and contrary to the laws of natural development of history and can only be imposed by means of Fascist tyranny and unrestrained dictatorship. Indeed, not only have the non-European people become the victims of this policy but it has also encroached upon the rights and liberties of the European people as evidenced by the State interference with the freedom of individuals to travel abroad, with the freedom of the right of parents regarding their children's education, with the freedom of the press and with the freedom of trade unions to conduct their own affairs.

It is a fact of history that since your Government came into power, it has attempted to impose its apartheid policy with callous disregard for the feelings of the people and disastrous consequences to the country as a whole. Race relations have reached a most critical stage in our country's history. There has been unbridled incitement of race animosity and prejudice between the different population groups and unremitting race propaganda. There has been a steady increase in the use of violence and intimidation by the police and the occurrence of race riots hitherto unknown. There has been a constant tendency to place unlimited and arbitrary powers in the hands of the Ministers, powers which under the provisions of the various laws enacted by your Government are being used to crush the rights and liberties, particularly of the non-European people. There has been continuous impoverishment of the people with a steep and steady rise in the cost of living, with the brutal enforcement of the Pass Laws, the forcible deprivation of the African peasants of their only wealth, their cattle, and the further enslavement of the urban African population through the Native Laws Amendment Bill.

It was in this rapidly deteriorating situation that the Conference of the African National Congress resolved to adopt a plan of action to obtain the repeal of the Group Areas Act, the Bantu Authorities Act, the Suppression of Communism Act, the Separate Representation of Voters Act, the Pass Laws, and Regulations for the culling of cattle, as an immediate step to lessen the burden of oppression of the non-European people and to save our country from the catastrophe of national chaos and ever-widening conflicts. This plan of action was endorsed by the Conference of the South African Indian Congress which met in Johannesburg on January 25th, 26th and 27th, 1952. In terms of this decision we have been instructed to convey to you the full support of the South African Indian Congress to the call made upon your Government by the African National Congress for the repeal of the above-mentioned Acts, failing which the South African Indian Congress will participate with the African National Congress in holding protest meetings and demonstrations on the 6th day of April, 1952, as a prelude to the implementation of the Plan for the Defiance of Unjust Laws.

It is with abiding faith and calm confidence in the truth and justice of our cause and firm conviction in democratic ideals and principles that we made this supporting call notwithstanding the contents of your reply to the letter of the African National Congress.

We solemnly affirm that the Indian community of South Africa is South African and it shall live and work for the progress and prosperity of the country on the principles of equality of rights and opportunities for all sections of our population, irrespective of race, sex, colour or creed, and that it shall continue its firm alliance with the national organisations of the non-European people and all democracy-loving Europeans in the struggle for a Free and Democratic South Africa.

We unhesitatingly and emphatically state that our struggle is not directed against any national group, that we bear malice or illwill to none and that our struggle is solely against unjust laws.

The Indian people in South Africa bear the proud inheritance of the precepts and example of Mahatma Gandhi, of devotion to the cause of righteousness and truth, of courage and determination in the prosecution of peaceful struggles against injustice and oppression.

The non-European peoples cannot allow their own destruction by accepting apartheid - it would be a crime against man. Our ideal is clear, our duty is defined, and our efforts peaceful and our resolve not to succumb to the evils of apartheid unfaltering. In this historic era of greater democracy and of independence of peoples' rights (sic), both large and small, we in South Africa, too, are giving expression to the natural freedom urge and democratic rights of the people - for therein lies the true Pad van Suid Afrika.

In the interest of peace, humanity and the future well-being of our country and of our peoples, we expect that unbiased justice will prevail and that laws which offend the dignity of man and retard the progress of South Africa will be repealed.

(Signed) Y. M. DADOO
President

D. U. MISTRY,
Y. A. CACHALIA,
Joint Hon. Secretaries