I have to admit to some astonishment at the
‘Know Your DA’ campaign, which suggests that the Democratic Alliance (DA) was somehow involved in the
struggle against apartheid.
Maybe it is worth repeating that apartheid
was declared by the United Nations to be a crime against humanity. It was not just a mildly aberrant policy that
could be changed as a result of white parliamentary opposition.
As such apartheid needed to be fought
against. And not just ‘fought’ by way of
a few newspaper articles and some opposing voices raised in the illegitimate
parliament of the time, but fought by way of an armed struggle and
international isolation and sanctions.
It should not be necessary to repeat what
this struggle involved and the huge sacrifices made by people across South
Africa. Many thousands of people were
forced into exile and many were away from their homes and families for decades,
while some never came home. Hundreds of
others were imprisoned, again many for decades, tortured and killed in the
apartheid goal. Many were detained
without trial and held in solitary confinement for long periods.
The ultimate price was paid by people of
all races and backgrounds – Bram Fischer, Jeannette Schoon and her daughter Katryn, Ruth First, Solomon Mahlangu, Steve Biko, Neil Aggett, Andrew Zondo,
Chris Hani, Phila Ndwandwe, David Webster, Hector Peterson, and many others,
including of course people protesting against the pass laws at Sharpeville in
1960, and school children shot by police in 1976.
Many thousands more were forcibly removed
from their homes and dumped in so-called homelands – something I covered in an
earlier blogpost dealing with De Klerk’s amnesia.
Many organisations struggling against
apartheid were banned, as were many individuals. Generally, people who did not fit under the
apartheid classification of ‘white’ were required to carry passes and suffer
countless other indignities and bureaucratic abuses simply on the basis of
their skin colour.
Now the DA of course was not in existence
during the apartheid years. But it’s
‘predecessor’ organisations were.
Especially the Progressive Federal Party (PFP), with leaders such as Helen
Suzman and Colin Elgin. The PFP opposed
apartheid policies in the white’s only parliament of the day, as did the
earlier Liberal Party – although the Liberal Party took a decision to disband
after the government passed a law disallowing parties from having a multiracial
membership and it was not a predecessor of the PFP. (although I am not sure if the SA Liberal Party actually ever had any MPs - someone may enlighten me...)
Of course, even earlier, the South African
Labour Party under the leadership of Alex Hepple, who was an MP in the late 40s
and 50s, also spoke out in Parliament against apartheid but failing to win
significant white support closed down in the 1950s (and was also not in any
sense a predecessor of the PFP).
The fact is that, while there were brave
voices who used the white parliament to oppose apartheid, including Helen
Suzman, these white voices were most solitary, and attempts to organise across
colour lines and to make common cause with organisations like the ANC were
mostly doomed.
It was the fate of many white people and
organisations that opposed apartheid to be harassed, imprisoned, banned or
driven into exile. On the liberal side -
Peter Brown, of the Liberal Party, was detained for 98 days after the
Sharpeville massacre and in 1964 was banned for 5 years under the Suppression
of Communism Act.
Peaceful opposition to apartheid did not
work and did not bring about the changes desired by the majority of people. It was this realisation by the PAC and ANC in
the late 50s and early 60s that led to the formation of the PAC’s military wing
Poqo in 1960, the ANC’s military wing Umkhonto weSizwe in 1961, and Mandela
going to Algeria for military training.
Mandela’s words from his speech in the dock:
"At
the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South
African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as
violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for
African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the
government met our peaceful demands with force.
This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961 … we said:
'The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.'”
This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961 … we said:
'The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.'”
The Progressive Federal Party was never
banned and its members were not imprisoned or driven into exile. Nor did the PFP align itself with the
struggle as defined by Mandela. While
some of its members may have spoken out against aspects of apartheid, it was
not involved in the broad sweep of extra-parliamentary struggle against
apartheid, nor in the worldwide opposition to the South African regime, which
was led by the ANC in exile and numerous banned underground organisations,
trade unions and civic organisations inside South Africa.
This is not to minimise the significance of
Helen Zille writing with Allistair Sparks about the death in detention of Steve
Biko, or her membership of the Black Sash, or the individual efforts of a few
other current DA members.
And it is important, now, that the DA plays
its role as a leading opposition political party in a free and democratic South
Africa. As the realignment of opposition
political formations continues, it may well be that the DA is able to make
common cause with others, move beyond its white leadership and support base,
and create new formations that will one day allow it to contest realistically
for political leadership in this country on the basis of winning mass support. It is worth recalling the worlds of Aime
Cesaire:
“For it is not true that the work of man is finished,
That we have nothing more to do in the world,
That we are just parasites in this world,
That it is enough for us to walk in step with the world,
For the work of man is only just beginning and it remains to conquer all,
The violence entrenched in the recess of his passion,
And no race holds a monopoly of beauty, of intelligence, of strength, and,
There is a place for all at the Rendezvous of Victory.”
And so let us not pretend when it comes to
South African history. The struggle
involved killings, torture, detentions, bannings, exile, military training in
camps in the frontline states, parcel bombs, cross-border raids by the SADF,
proxy wars fought in Mozambique and Angola, international sanctions and
boycotts, and much more. It was an armed
struggle that required solidarity. The
DA’s predecessors in parliament were at best minor irritants to the apartheid government
and were not involved. So be it. And now let us move forward, recognising that
there is a place for all.
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