Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, the first South African to graduate from Columiba University in 1906. He would later co-found the African National Congress in 1912.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
by Jeff Radebe
9 October 2009
The unity of our movement is our strength
As we approach the centenary of the ANC in 2012 we need to ask ourselves if our organisation has any resemblance to the organisation that was formed nearly a 100 years ago, and if not, what are the changes and lessons that can be derived from such developments.
Reading through various works around the formation of the ANC there is no doubt that Pixely ka Isaka Seme was the originator of the idea to found the ANC and he tirelessly worked to ensure its fruition, arguably more than anyone else. Speaking of the "African in his award winning speech simply entitled "The Regeneration of Africa, Pixely ka Isaka Seme said:
"The ancestral greatness, the unimpaired genius, and the recuperative power of the race, its irrepressibility, which assures its permanence, constitute the African's greatest source of inspiration. He has refused to camp forever on the borders of the industrial world; having learned that knowledge is power, he is educating his children. You find them in Edinburgh, in Cambridge, and in the great schools of Germany. These return to their country like arrows, to drive darkness from the land. I hold that his industrial and educational initiative, and his untiring devotion to these activities, must be regarded as positive evidences of this process of his regeneration.
Isaac Seme, later to be popularly known as Pixely Ka Isaka Seme, was in the US as student in 1906 when he presented this speech. This was the same year as the famous defeat of the Bambatha Rebellion, yet Pixely Ka Isaka Seme had such great hope for the African continent.
The general background to the formation of the ANC was the defeat of the Africans militarily, their subjugation to colonial rule and their gross marginalisation from the mainstream social, economic and political development of our country. The Bambatha Rebellion marked the last of such defeats, and reinforced the calls for unity amongst the African people throughout Southern Africa against the colonial onslaught.
That is why the conference to found the ANC in 1912 was attended by royalties from as far as Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia and those of tribes and kingdoms from within South Africa, and included Kings, Princes, Paramount Chiefs and Chiefs. It is for this reason that unity is the foundation stone of the ANC throughout all its existence. As national conference burst into Enoch Sontonga’s "Nkosi Sikelela I Afrika, that alone amplified the message and call for unity across the continent in the struggle against colonial oppression by the oldest liberation movement in the African continent.
In the first instance they were responding to events that seemed to sideline them in reconstituting of South Africa. Having fought amongst themselves from 1899 to 1902 during the Anglo-Boer war, the colonisers ended their conflicts with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902. Thereafter they set out to unite against the African masses, seeking autonomy from Britain in 1909 which was granted leading to the formation of the exclusively white Union of South Africa in 1910. They went about imposing segregatory tax and other laws, limiting the rights of Africans on their land in order to force their dependency on the mushrooming mining activities following the discovery of gold and diamond in the Witwatersrand and Kimberly.
Africans continued to work towards self emancipation, and Seme led the African Farmers’ Association which bought farms to benefit Africans. However, these efforts and the general dependence of Africans on subsistence farming was dealt a blow by the promulgation of the 1913 Land Act, whose effect was to curtail Africans’ rights to land ownership.
On this matter the leading journalist, RV Selope Thema, wrote:
"Another enterprise undertaken by this man of vision was the establishment of an African Farmers' Association, and an African settlement at Daggakraal in the Eastern Transvaal. The association gave impetus to the purchasing of land by Africans in the Transvaal. The Daggakraal settlement caused consternation among neighbouring farmers, who declared that unless the buying of land by Natives was restricted South Africa would never be a white man's country. Indeed it was no exaggeration that it was the Daggakraal settlement which precipitated the enactment of the Natives Land Act in 1913.
What followed were petitions against the Union Government, which were met with non-responses. As a result, deputations to England were also made, as South Africa, though independent still pledged allegiance to the English Royal family until South Africa was granted the status of "Republic
Even in their petitions, which when they failed were followed by deputations to England, were never meant in the strict Pan Africanist sense of Marcus Garvey of hailing the "white man into the sea. There can be a lot of debate as to why Pixely Ka Isaka Seme adopted the position of fighting what former President Nelson Mandela called "white domination.
A combination of missionary education and the social class of those behind the formation of the ANC in 1912 could have had an impact on the ideological orientation of the organisation. Pixely Ka Isaka Seme was born from a Christian family and so was his cousin the Rev John Langalibalele Dube, the latter who was elected first President of the ANC. This point about the influence of Christianity is further confirmed by a quote in Pixely Ka Isaka Seme’s keynote speech on 8 January 1912 and it reads thus:
"There is to-day among all races and men a general desire for progress, and for co-operation, because co-operation will facilitate and secure that progress. This spirit is due no doubt to the great triumph of Christianity which teaches men everywhere that in this world they have a common duty to perform both towards God and towards one another.
No doubt, the ANC was formed by elite and educated African people who were partly inspired by their Christian faith, nonetheless whose main complaint was the disenfranchisement of the African notably due to the 1910 Union of South Africa dispensation. It was no coincidence that they sang "Lizalise Idinga Lakho, Thixo we Nyaniso! as well as Enoch Sontonga’s "Nkosi Sikelela I Afrika, the latter which became the ANC’s national anthem and informed the composition of our country’s national anthem.
According to the leading African journalist RV Selope Thema:
"When he (Pixely Ka Isaka Seme) was studying at Columbia and Oxford universities and eating his dinners at the Middle Temple, Pixley Seme's mind was wholly occupied with the idea of how to rebuild the broken Zulu nation. But when he saw what was happening to all Africans of all tribes, he changed his mind. Probably he remembered that the ultimate object of Tshaka in building the Zulu nation was to bring all the tribes under Zulu sway so as to eventually create a powerful nation of all the Africans.
'Why should he not undertake this idea of Tshaka to fruition?' he asked himself as he paced to and fro in his office at the corner of Rissik and Marshall Streets. He turned over the idea in his mind and finally came to the conclusion that the scheme was worth while attempting.
From this short passage it is clear that Pixely Ka Isaka Seme’s preoccupation was with the unity of Africans as basic weapon in resisting their own racial discrimination and confronting colonial oppression. As he went about to make consultations amongst fellow Africans, he discovered that his sentiments were echoed by various chiefs, church leaders and other leading personalities amongst the African people. So there was fertile ground for cooperation, and this alone probably owed itself from the defeat of these African kingdoms by the colonial powers and the realisation of the age old wisdom that "unity is strength.
The purpose of the ANC is explained by Seme:
"The South African Native National Congress is the voice in the wilderness bidding all the dark races of this sub-continent to come together once or twice a year in order to review the past and reject therein all those things which have retarded our progress; the things which poison the springs of our national life and virtue; to label and distinguish the sins of civilisation, and as members of one house-hold to talk and think loudly on our home problems and the solution of them.
Again, the purpose of the ANC is well captured in the 1919 preamble of constitution initially adopted in 1914. This succinctly give the indication that the ANC was meant to be the "Parliament of the People:
AND WHEREAS there met at Bloemfontein O.F.S. on the 8th day of January 1912, certain Chiefs, delegates and other leading men in all representing the said Territories, Protectorates, the Provinces and also the aforesaid bodies throughout South Africa; AND the said meeting, there and then, resolved that it was expedient and desirable that a well-digested and accepted native opinion should be ascertainable by the Government and other constituted Authorities with respect to the Native problem in all its various phases and ramifications. And it was then further resolved to invite all aforementioned Associations, Organisations or Vigilant Committees and Councils to unite together and form as affiliated bodies, a Federation of one Pan African Association the name thereof to be "THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS" (hereinafter in these recitals called the "National Congress") and to be composed and consist of two sections or Houses - to wit, one section then to be known as the Upper House and the other the Lower House;
Clearly what showed was the influence of education in America and England on the masterminds behind the formation of the ANC such as Pixely Ka Isaka Seme, Sol Plaatijie who became the first Secretary General and John Langalibalele Dube, who was elected President. They modelled the ANC on the conservative plane of the British parliamentary system, with "Lower and "Upper houses fully fledged with "Speakers. The dominant role of Chiefs was well covered in the constitution adopted in 1919.
They were afforded certain priviledges such specially designated sitting arrangements during national conferences as well as the handling of disputes involving them or amongst them. All these were spelt out in the constitution. Therefore the conservative culture of the early ANC was sculptured through the influence of its dominant leaders who were themselves conservative and opposed to violent protests.
It could be said that the 1912 conference was a convergence of conservatives. They preferred peaceful petitioning and deputations, and by these tactics hoped to appeal to the conscience of their oppressors by proving that they too are civilised beings worth equal treatment as citizens. It can be argued that this was pure idealism as opposed to a dialectical disposition against the observed evidence of the contending forces between the coloniser and the colonised.
Descending in what is today Mangaung on the 8th January 1912 were throngs of various tribal leaders, the clergy, clerks, journalists and others who constituted the elite of African society, dressed in their colourful regalia consistent with the cultural heritages of the various tribes of our people. They had answered the call for unity amongst the African people, and the importance of this point alone cannot be overemphasised. And how would the ANC go about achieving these ideals? Again Seme gives the answer to that question:
"Such National Conferences of the people are bound to give a wide publication of the Natives' own views on the questions which primarily concern him tomorrow and today. Through this Congress the Native Senators in the Union House of Parliament will be able to live in close touch with the Natives of the whole country whose interest each Senator is supposed to represent. The Government also will find a direct and independent channel of informing itself as to the things uppermost in Natives' mind from time to time, and this will make it easier for the Union Government to deal with the Natives of the whole of South Africa. If we wish to convince the Government that it is possible to have a uniform Native policy for the whole of South Africa then let us form this Congress.
From this perspective, it explains why the ANC believed in changing the political and economic systems of the day such that it does not discriminate against any race as opposed to fundamental revolutionary change. In other words, racial domination was the key challenge that was to be eradicated. The ANC was to be the parliament of the "natives, and through this platform feed into the broader national discourse influencing development in favour of the Africans.
In his Keynote Speech in 1912, Pixely Ka Isaka Seme spoke elaborately about unity amongst the oppressed and marginalised Africans. He said;
"Again, it is conclusively urgent that this Congress should meet this year, because a matter which is so vitally important to our progress and welfare should not be unnecessarily postponed by reason of personal differences and selfishness of our leaders. The demon of racialism, the aberrations of the Xhosa-Fingo feud, the animosity that exists between the Zulus and the Tongaas, between the Basutos and every other Native must be buried and forgotten; it has shed among us sufficient blood! We are one people. These divisions, these jealousies, are the cause of all our woes and of all our backwardness and ignorance today. A great Paramount Chief accepting that his name be included in the honourable list of Native princes who endorse and support this movement, writes that "He however wishes to point out that whilst the objects and the aims of a Congress appear to be good and reasonable, much of the success depends upon the attitude of the members. There should be among other things a firm resolve on the part of every member to eliminate factors which have in the past proved fatal to the continued existence of such Societies.
Not only was Pixely Ka Isaka Seme calling for unity, but he was also making a case that this was the view of the people he had consulted prior to the convening of the meeting on January 8 in 1912. Amongst these he specifically quoted a chief whom he did not call by name. What that means, as argued by Pixely Ka Isaka Seme, is that even traditional leaders such as Chiefs were behind the thrust towards the unity of Africans in confronting the challenges of sweeping discrimination against the African natives.
There are several policy issues relevant for us today that we learn from the founding of the ANC in 1912.
Firstly, that the defeat of the Africans required their unity, hence the unity of the ANC is the golden thread for the past nearly 100 years. This required the embrace of the attitude of non tribalism amongst the African people, as argued by the Chief that Seme referred to in his Keynote Address.
Secondly, that non racialism is the broad policy framework within which the ANC aimed to emancipate the disenfranchised African masses.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, was the primary objective of liberating Africans from colonial oppression. Linked to the objective of liberation was the principle of self determination.
Fourthly and also captured in Pixely Ka Isaka Seme’s famous speech "The Regeneration of Africa, where he introduced his oratory by proclaiming that:
"I am an African, and I set my pride in my race over against a hostile public opinion.
It was this overwhelming hostility that Pixely Ka Isaka Seme observed while growing up in rural what today constitutes KwaZulu Natal, and that he also encountered as a student while studying in the US, that prompted Pixely Ka Isaka Seme to thrive for the self determination of the African people. For this reason, the Native’s Union, or in Seme’s words, "the so called African Native National Congress, was to represent the views and interests of African people within the Union of South Africa’s establishment.
We must grapple with the relevance of the "hostility that Pixely Ka Isaka Seme spoke of, and make determination of exactly what are the current forces "hostile to our agenda for change. My perspective is that where idealism prevailed leading to the popular embrace of non racialism as socio-political ethos by the South African and international community, the underlying dialectical dispositions of hostility along race, class and gender lines still persist and must be confronted and defeated.
Very importantly, we must also grapple with the assertion that he made, in the African "has refused to camp forever on the borders of the industrial world; having learned that knowledge is power, he is educating his children.
Are we not found wanting in as far as educating our children? Do we really believe that the future of our country rest on the younger generation? What about teaching our children patriotism, so that after graduating as doctors, as nurses, as engineers etc, they contribute to the "regeneration of Africa instead of heading overseas? Have we not undermined Seme’s assertion that "These (meaning Africa’s children sent to study abroad like himself) return to their country like arrows, to drive darkness from the land? Looking at our skills strategy and its implementation, can we truly share Seme’s sentiments when he declared that:
"I hold that his industrial and educational initiative, and his untiring devotion to these activities, must be regarded as positive evidences of this process of his regeneration?
Of course as the ANC was confronted with other challenges in decades to follow, more policy postures were debated and adopted, but as I have hinted at the beginning, those are beyond the scope of mandate of which I have been requested to make this presentation.
Today’s policy challenges is better illuminated by the mindset and works of Pixely Ka Isaka Seme, arguably the founder of the ANC. History tells of other heroes and heroines of our struggle, but here it suffices to say Pixely Ka Isaka Seme was indeed the foremost leading founder of the ANC, of course working together with other genius of his generation. From his life, we learn that we too can, as individuals working in collectives, contribute into shaping the history of our movement and that of the struggle of our people going into the future.
Jeff Radebe is an ANC NEC member and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development
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