Documents: Africans Acting Alone

DOCUMENT 48k. Report on the pro­ceedings of the Special Emergency Con­vention  of the African National Congress in Umteteli wa Bantu, July 23, 1932

A special emergency convention of the African National Congress was held at Kimberley on July 2. The meeting was convened by members of the "Cabinet" who in a statement published in Umteteli of May 21 accused the president-general, Mr. P. ka I. Seme, of "culpable inertia." At the Kimberley meeting a telegram from the president was read in which he declared his intention to summon a general conference at Bloemfontein on August 1. The special meeting thereupon passed the following resolution:--

Whereas the President General had failed to convene the Annual General or ordinary Convention of the African National Congress for the last two years; whereas many things have happened in the meantime which are detrimental to the moral, economic, industrial and political welfare of the African people;
whereas the organisation of the African National Congress is in a state of chaos and confusion, this meeting directs the chairman thereof to approach the President General by respectful address not to summon the general conference in August but to prepare for the annual convention in Easter so that any alteration or change to and in the constitution of the Congress may be considered, if need be, by the duly elected representatives of the people; and that this conference appoints two officers to assist the General Secretary to bring about a thorough reorganisation of the Congress.

The two officers appointed to assist the general secretary (Mr. D. T. Mweli Skota) were Messrs. R. V. Selope-Thema and H. Selby Msimang.

The following manifesto was adopted:

"The special emergency convention of the African National Congress held at Kimberley this 2nd day of July, 1932, convened under a resolution of a meeting of some members of the National Executive Council held at Johannesburg on the 26th April, 1932, for the purpose of devising ways and means of reorganising same, views with grave concern the state of disorganisation not only of the Congress, but also of all other kindred organisations of the African peoples, more particularly rival factions in some Provinces which tend to stultify the cause of unity among the African peoples.

"Never was there the time, the need and the necessity for the existence of a powerful organisation representing the African people of the Union more than the present, in view of the increasing burdens and disabilities inflicted upon the race by retrograde and medieval laws aggravated by the economic depression and other causes the majority of which would have been obviated had a liberal policy been the keystone of the administration of African affairs.

"This special convention deplores the fact that the voice of the African people, which has been conspicuous by its absence in the following among other matters, has lent colour to a silent acquiescence thereto:

"That the African people raised no united protest against (a) the Service Contract Bill when it passed through Parliament last session, (b) The Government took no measures to combat malaria when it swept off more than four thousand of our people in Zululand. (c) 150 African families have been evicted at a Lydenburg farm, because the land is wanted for forests. No provision has been made for their settlement. Besides, thousands living near the towns in Natal are also notified to leave, without any provision being made for their settlement.

(d) The country being under an unparal­leled depression, the Africans are left destitute owing to their displacement from work by the whites in accordance with the Government policy and the non-development of reserves (e) while all the authorities pursue this policy they make no provision for relief work for Africans despite the £4,000,000 they contribute to the National Treasury. The arbitrary cuts in the teachers' salaries and inadequate Parliamentary grants have reduced the standard of education among Africans, (f) While appreciating the Government's efforts to relieve starvation in Zululand, Northern Transvaal and other famine areas, there is a fear that with the expiration of the credit period, the people will be compelled to pay despite their hardships -- and there is no organisation to plead for them.

(g) The African people have been consid­erably alarmed at the trend of legislation which undermines their confidence in the white man's rule besides penalising them for their loyalty to the British throne.

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