National Congress selves from those solemn demands for people's democracy, is to advocate, at opportunism and, at worst the advocates of the Azanian Manifesto this political stand of the Freedom Charter is not revolu-
THE FOLLOWING are extracts from an article which appeared in the July and August, 1985 issues of Sechaba, the journal of the
ANC. The article is signed by Mzala and is a response to criticism levelled, mainly by AZAPO, a member organisation of the National at the Freedom Charter which is the basic programme of the ANC. The article is entitled "The Freedom Charter is our lodestar'.
Criticism of the Freedom Charter has lately been coming from a Committee calling itself the "National Forum' and launched by certain individuals in South Africa as an organisational opposition to the United Democratic
Front (UDF). At its founding conference, the National Forum adopted a number of resolutions as well as a Manifesto of the Azanian People,'
[see page 23] which is meant to be an alternative document to the Freedom
As reported by the Rand
Daily Mail of June 13, 1983: * separate bid for unity has been started the National Forum Committee, made up largely of Black Conscious-
The National Forum, according to Mr Mkhabela of AZAPO, is not an organisation but only a comdiscussions among Black groups."
Forum Conference (there have been
"Manifesto') the conference adopted the Manifesto of the Azanian People' shall hereafter refer to as the Azanian Manifesto), identifying 'racial capitalism' as the real enemy of the oppressed people of South
Africa, and pledging to work for the establishment socialist republic. Readers of the
South African press will remember how even The Pace magazine issue of September, 1983
(a magazine that does very well in promoting showbiz but to give one a good political portrait of South Africa) commented about adoption of this Azanian Manifesto:
*The oppressed people now have two documents the struggle is all about: the Charter on the one hand, and the Manifesto, which follows the Black Consciousness line, on the other."
One cannot help marvelling at the inability of this magazine to comprehená the significance of the Freedom Charterin the history of South Africa... Forum Conference will most probably organising a forum for discussion and to create unity of the oppressed people against
Constitution Koorhof Genocide Bills. (1)There is not the slightest doubt that the oppressed against the fraudulent constitution and death bills is a good thing. No one is building of unity is and remains the conscious South Africans irrespective of their ideological persuasion. But the banner of 'Unity' must not be a false signboard; the cry for unity must not be made to conceal disuniting activities and intentions, which, it is will not be able to see.
Now, at the height of the efforts to form a united front of lovers of freedom and democracy to oppose the Botha constitutional fraud, when the masses of our people were rallying around the Freedom Charter, when everyone was moved by the desire to preserve people's unity against demonstrate moral prestige of our freedom struggle in the formation of the United Democratic Front - at this very suddenly, apparent need, called for a confereffort be called unity?
As for the critics of the Freedom Charter, for them to flout the decisions of a truly representative historic tionary enough, for they, masters of the theory of socialism, workers' republic in 'Azania"! Says the general secretary of Azapo in the October issue of Drum magazine:
problem with the Charter seems to be that it is co-optable by the capitalist structure. The Manifesto of the Azanian people is socialist. The Charterists have a block ... they get into a dead end street.'
Yes, it is true, as we shall demonstrate in greater detail later, unlike pretends to be socialist), the Freedom Charter is based on the historic realities of our country, and one of those realities is that Black people, workers and non-workers, are nationalin a national democratic asserts the necessity for the creation of a people's as a principled apartheid rule ...
protagonists of the Azanian Manifesto are sincere socialists and not ideologically lost political bandits' as Zinzi Mandela called them - however, their probable sincerity is not the point. We know of a lot of socialists in South Africa who have a great respect for our Freedom Charter, and equally (if not more than anybody else who fight for its
The point is, gentlemen [sic] Azania scorn a democratic programme for a people's republic? Why do they sake of socialism want to skip the national democratic revolution, skipping political interests of the people as a whole? ...
the present our revolution is not winning of socialism, but, as the Freedom people's democracy, a true republic with power to the people, all the
The so-called 'Botha' constitution was by a referendum of the white population. Indian population. Koornhof propoof residence' in white areas (see page 24)
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Procession led by Walter Sisulu of the ANC, 1952 (DR)
International Viewpoint 30 September 1985 people! The drafters of the Azanian Manifesto fail to see the revolutionary significance of this step, that is, the significance of the struggle for true national independence and self-determination. Nelson Mandela said in an article entitled Freedom in our lifetime' and published in June, 1956 in the ANC journal Liberation:
*Whilst the Charter proclaims democratic changes of a far-reaching nature, it is by no means a blueprint for a socialist state but a programme for the unification of various classes and groupings amongst the people on a democratic basis. Under socialism the workers hold state power. They and the peasants own the means of production, the land, the factories, and the mills. All production is for use and not for profit. The Charter does not contemplate such profound economic changes. Its declaration, The People Shall Govern!' power not to any single social class but to all the people of this country, be they peasants, professional men or petty-bourgeoisie.
It is true that in demanding the the gold mines and the land, the Charter strikes a fatal blow at the financial and gold-mining monopolies and farming that have for centuries plundered the country and condemned its people to servitude. But such a step is imperative because the realisation of the Charter is inconceivable, fact impossible, unless and until these monopolies are smashed and the national wealth of the country turned over to the people. To destroy these monopolies means the termination of the exploitation of vast sections of the populace by mining kings and land barons and there will be a general rise in the living standards of precisely because Charter offers immense opportunities an overall improvement in and groups that it attracts such wide
Africa, where national oppression seems to dictate to all oppressed people the inevitable need to unite and agree on what to fight for, there are always remarkably different ideological trends. And our movement owes its present shape and position to the bitter struggle it has fought over the years (even within itself for ideological clarity against narrow national opportunism, liberalism, ultra-left Trotskyist childishness, and so on. It sounds incredible, but our real life and actual history has meant exactly this ideological struggle.
Chief Luthuli once said, in a special presidential message at the end of 1955:
Faced as we are with the battle for freedom it seems a wise stand to say that the African National Congress should not dissipate its energies by indulging in internal ideological feuds — a fight on "isms.' It is not practical and logical, however, to expect Congress to be colourless ideologically. She must in some way define or re-define her stand ... This is exactly how it should be! The struggle against opportunism
It is this political and ideological cohesion of our democratic movement which makes us stand as the leaders of all others, a position which is inconceivable without an irreconcilable struggle against political opportunism. This democratic movement that is developing in South Africa, inspired by the Freedom Charter, will retain and further develop its militant unity by also opposing opportunist ideological trends and correcting political mistakes at the level of the theory of our revolution and at that of practical politics, whether these are committed with
International Viewpoint 30 September 1985 good or ill intentions (it is often said
Broad to hell is paved with good intentions).
"Socialism' is undoubtedly the most period, for even our liberal 'friends,' that it is the position one adopts to socialism, generally speaking, that differentiates a progressive from a reactionary in all countries. But it is very important for our theoreticracy. Such a people's movement is invincible! Such a people cannot be deceived! Such a people cannot be stopped in "inspired by Moscow' scare gimmicks.
Why on earth do our enemies and opponents imagine that they are the only ones who know what Communism really is? Why do they think they are the only ones who store Marxist-Leninist literature on the bookshelves? Why do they imagine that the people of South Africa do not know what the SACP is and what it stands for? Do our enemies and the opportunists alike imagine that the members of the ANC do not understand the basis of the alliance with the SACP?
cally-grounded our people a concrete understanding Freedom Charter of the course our revolution will follow, that is, the stages it will necessarily pass through. It is such an understanding, based on the theory
African revolution, that will make it clear that the political situation in South does not by any means make the question of the socialist revolution the immediate task of the struggle.
It will make clear, instead, that our immediate aim is to win the objectives national revolution expressed in the Freedom Charter, more particuachieve the national emancipation of the Black people and power of the racist ruling class.
Anti-Communist hysteria some strange mechanism in the thinking of the believe that once they have described something as 'Communist' then all members of the human race want to run away from it. The racists of South Africa have always thought like this. When in 1956, the Pretoria government arrested 156 of our leaders and charged them with high treason, arguing that the Freedom
La document inspired by Moscow, they hoped they would scare the masses of our people from the Freedom Charter. being oppressed by imperialism racism, never moved in the for direction; on the contrary, they everything that In the end, the Treason Trial failed
Communism Freedom Charter.
The Communist bogey has never deterred our people from upholding the principles of the Freedom Charter democratic movement led by the ANC and its allies. Contemporary events show irrefutably that, but surely, our politically conscious people are marching the banner of the Freedom Charter held high above their heads - holding high the banner of people's demo18
THE Freedom Charter was adopteu on June 26, 1955 by the People's Congress representing the African National Congress, African Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade
Congress The following consists of major extracts from the Charter.
* * We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: - that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Black and white, and that no government can justly claim unless it is based on the will of all the people:
that our people have been robbirthright to land and inequality; - that our country will never be people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities; - that only based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief; The people shall govern!
woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which
All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country; he same, regardless pe race, colou
All the bodies of minority rule, authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government. All national groups shall have equal rights! There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups
All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;
All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;
The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime.
The people shall share in the country's wealth!
All apartheid laws and practices country's wealth! The national wealth of our country, shall be restored to the people;
The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be ownership of the people as a whole;
other industry shall be controlled
All people shall have equal rights choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, The land shall be shared among Restrictions of land shall be ended, and all the land redivided amongst those who work it, to banish famine All shall enjoy equal human rights! The law shall guarantee to all their rights to speak, to organise, to meet together, to punish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children ... •..
Let all who love their people and their country now say, as "These freedoms we will fight for, until we have won our liberty!'
International Vlewpoint 30 September 1985
SOUTH AFRICA and justify even greater fragmentation of the working people whose unity held within itself the message of doom for the capitalist apartheid system in this country.
The fact of the matter is that the Afrikaner National Party used ethnic the National Forum theories in order to justify Bantustan strategy whereby it created bogus 'nations' and forced them to accept an illusionary independence so that the working class would agitate for political rights in their own so-called