UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Social Mobilization and Racial Capitalism in South Africa, 1928-1960 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Allison Drew 1991 The dissertation of Allison Drew is approved. ______________________________ Edward A. Alpers ______________________________ Edmund Keller ______________________________ Roy Pateman, Committee Co-chair _______________________________ E. Victor Wolfenstein, Committee Co-chair University of California, Los Angeles 1991 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS ............... vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .......................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................... viii PART I .............................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................ 2 1. APPROACHES TO RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND WORKING CLASS DIVISION IN SOUTH AFRICA............ South African socialists and South African political economy ............................. Functionalist approaches to racial discrimination ................................ Alternative perspectives on working class division ...................................... An historical analysis of South African political economy ............................. 2. RACIAL CAPITALISM AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WORKING CLASS .................................... A. The development of a racially-divided working class ................................. The origins and development of racial capitalism .................................... Imperialist industrial development and the land question ............................. "Poor whites" and the development of a white proletariat ............................. Black cultivators and black proletarianization in the countryside ......... The creation of a migrant proletariat ......... The cheap labor thesis ........................ The entrenchment of a racial hierarchy in industry ...................................... Working class competition in the industrial era ................................ B. Political consciousness in a racially-divided working class ................................. The beginnings of collective black working class protest ......................... From white labor to white working class ....... 3 The 1922 Rand Revolt .......................... C. Socialist mobilization and the racially-divided working class ................ PART II ............................................. 3. THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE CLASS NATURE OF THE NATIVE REPUBLIC .......... On the right of nations to self-determination . National self-determination in Africa ......... The Native Republic thesis and the right to national self-determination ................ The Sixth Comintern Congress and the Native Republic thesis .................... The debate within the CPSA .................... The Native Republic thesis and the national ... democratic struggle ........................... Rural movements and Communist practice in the countryside ............................ The ©Native Republic© as a mobilizing slogan .. Conclusion .................................... 4. THE ORIGINS OF TROTSKYISM IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE ATTEMPT TO BUILD A WORKING CLASS PARTY ....... Socialists and the organizational question .... The origins of Trotskyism in South Africa ..... Organizational development of Trotskyism ...... The theoretical basis of organizational splits ........................................ The Workers© Party and the land question ...... The Communist League: fighting the color bar... Trotsky©s letter: uniting the land and national struggles ............................ The international Left Opposition ............. The response of South African Trotskyists ..... Practical efforts at unity .................... Tactical unity in black united fronts ......... Propaganda and trade union work ............... Conclusion .................................... 5. BLACK UNITED FRONTS, PEOPLE©S FRONTS AND NON-COLLABORATION ............................ The foundations of black unity ................ The Comintern and the People©s Front .......... 4 The People©s Front in South Africa ............ Socialists and black united fronts ............ The non-collaboration movement ................ Conclusion .................................... 6. THE CONGRESS MOVEMENT AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION .. The ANC Youth League and the national question. The development of the Africanist tendency .... Social mobilization through defiance .......... The Freedom Charter and multinationalism ...... The left and the national question ............ The Africanist critique of multinationalism ... The PAC and the national question ............. The PAC and social mobilization ............... Conclusion .................................... 7. THE NON-EUROPEAN UNITY MOVEMENT AND 5 THE LAND QUESTION ................................ Building a political vanguard ................. Integrating the vanguard into the democratic struggle ...................................... The Anti-CAD and social mobilization in the Western Cape .................................. TARC: the attempt at tactical unity ........... FRAC: the breakdown of tactical unity ......... The AAC and social mobilization in the reserves ............................... Teachers as a vanguard in the Transkei ........ Social pressure from the countryside .......... The youth and social mobilization in townships. Conclusion .................................... CONCLUSION .......................................... APPENDIXES .......................................... BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS 1 The Bolshevik, May 1920 ..................... 2 "A Mass Meeting, League of Native Rights," August 25, 1929 ............................. 3 The Liberator, September 1937 ............... 4 Fifth Annual Conference of the National Liberation League of South Africa, officials for 1940-1941 ..................... 5 African National Congress, Cape Town region, c. 1937 ..................................... 6 Workers© Voice, January 1936 ................ 7 A meeting with Native Representatives in the Ciskei, c. 1937 ...................... 8 One conception of Non-European Unity, Spark, June 6, 1952 ......................... 9 A mass meeting of the Cape Anti-Cad, early 1940s ................................. 10 Leading members of the Franchise Action Council, c. 1951 ............................ 11 A meeting for the boycott of the Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Celebrations, 1952 ............. 12 Dr. Goolam Gool, c. 1952 .................... 6 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 Distribution of African population, 1936 ..... 2 African occupational structure by gender, 1936 .............................. 3 Breakdown of professionals by racial classification, 1936 ......................... 4 Occupational structure by racial category, 1951 ......................................... 5 Number and racial classification of teachers in state and state-aided schools, 1946 ....... Figure 1 The left in South Africa: organizational structure .................................... 2 Number of strikes, all workers ............... 3 Africans in urban areas ...................... 4 Percentage of people by racial classification to total employed in private manufacturing ... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Below is a list of commonly used abbreviations for political organizations and institutions mentioned in the text. AAC All African Convention ANC African National Congress ANCYL African National Congress Youth League Anti-CAD Anti-Coloured Affairs Department APDUSA African Peoples© Democratic Union of Southern Africa APO African People©s Organization CATA Cape African Teachers© Association CLSA Communist League of South Africa CNETU Council of Non-European Trade Unions COD Congress of Democrats CPSA Communist Party of South Africa FIOSA Fourth International Organisation of South Africa FRAC Franchise Action Committee ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers© Union IS International Secretariat (Left Opposition) NEF New Era Fellowship NEUF Non-European United Front NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NLL National Liberation League NRC Native Representative Council PAC Pan Africanist Congress PF Progressive Forum SACPO South African Coloured Peoples© Organization SAIC South African Indian Congress SOYA Society of Young Africa SWL Socialist Workers League TLSA Teachers© League of South Africa TARC Train Apartheid Resistance Campaign WIL Workers© International League WPSA Workers© Party of South Africa 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing is both a solitary and a social act. Many people have helped me in this task. To all those who spoke with me about South Africa, showed me parts of their country and gave me their hospitality, thank you, you have made this a collective work. In particular, I would like to thank my doctoral committee, whose efforts helped to bring this project to completion. 9 VITA 1976 B. A., Economics New York University New York, New York 1977-1978 Peace Corps, Ghana 1981 Research Intern American Committee on Africa New York, New York 1982 M. A., African Area Studies University of California, Los Angeles 1982 U. S. Department of Education-sponsored intensive Hausa language training program Kano, Nigeria 1982 & 1984 Research Assistant Department of Political Science University of California, Los Angeles 1984 Mabel Wilson Richards Scholarship University of California, Los Angeles 1984 M. A., Political