THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY March 14, 1959 From the London End White Supremacy and African Awakening IT was inevitable that the crucial considerations. Ghana has been and for employment in unskilled and more basic issues in the established. Next year the Nigerian occupations in the Rhodesias. This Nyasaland 'disturbances' and the Federation a considerably more was to be continued. and hence 'emergency' in other parts of the powerful African complex of 35 mil­ Nyasaland's place in the Federation. Central African Federation should lion—will come into existence. Politically, the inclusion of Nyasa­ be neatly by-passed in the British The Cameroons, both the British land in the Federation strengthened Commons, and for that matter in and French trust territories, will in­ the buffer between pure Black Afri­ discussion in Britain. The fate of evitably join Nigeria. In French can power in West and Equatorial the British Labour M P, Mr Stone- Equatorial Africa, in spite of the Africa and pure White power in the house and the legal position of equivocal form which the 'French South. British immigrants in the Federa­ African Community' is taking, the 'Partnership' Unworkable tion, which have become the princi­ path of independent political deve­ The present onslaught, with pal point of controversy in Britain lopment is equally inevitable. the full connivance of the British as also the question of 'White To the East, the ever-present eye Government, on African opinion in supremacy' all these have been of the U N Trusteeship Council is the Federation, and in particular effectively scotched by the unveri­ making inevitable the growth on the Nyasaland African Congress fied 'plot' which the British Colonial of an independent Black African involving arrests and killings must, Secretary, in strict accordance with Tanganyika; and so too in the Horn therefore, be seen as a stage in the tradition, found in his arsenal of of Africa where a large independent conspiracy to partition the African ready replies to difficult questions. Somaliland is now on the agenda. continent and secure White power These developments change consi­ Demarcating Black and White on a permanent basis in Central derably the complexion of Africa and South Africa. This conspiracy The basic question in Central and and impart a strong feeling of in­ involved the final changes in the South Africa is the future of White security to the regimes in the Federation's Constitution which Sir settler power in an area with a South whose policies of White supre­ Roy Welensky so successfully can­ preponderent indigenous African macy have up to now been sustain­ vassed in London early this year. population. Soon after the Accra ed by a non-political indigenous Of course, there is much glib talk Conference it was reported that Sir African population at home and by of 'racial partnership' in the Fede­ Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of colonial power to the north. the Federation, was engaged in cer­ ration', but events since 1953 show Ensuring Nyasa Labour Supply tain discussions with South Africa. the cynical unconcern of the White In retrospect the creation of the It was clear from press despat­ settlers for African opinion and the Central African Federation way ches then that the South African hypocrisy of their professions. back in 1953 appears to have been all-White Government of Dr Ver- motivated by considerations of What in fact the White settlers woerd was strongly aware of the partitioning the African Continent and with them the British authori­ changed balance of racial power on along racial lines so as to secure, ties have not understood or had not the African continent and was be­ permanently, White supremacy in bargained for. is the sudden emer­ coming particularly anxious about the South. One seeming incongruity gence of political consciousness its own security in this new balance. was the inclusion of Nyasaland in among the indigenous African popu­ It was in this situation that Sir the Federation. The British Colo­ lation and the striking new ability Roy Welensky was taken into con­ nial Office then argued that Nyasa­ of the African people to undertake fidence by South Africa on a line land was not economically viable political organisation and action of action which had the ultimate by itself and had much to gain by which now makes impossible the aim of partitioning the African con­ being associated with the Rhodesias. complete realisation of final White tinent into areas of pure Black and However, Nyasaland African opi­ hegemony in Southern and Central White power respectively, with the nion argued that they had more in Africa. This certainly is the lesson Belgian Congo and Portuguese An­ common with Tanganyika than in Nyasaland and although the Bri­ gola as effective colonial buffers with Southern Rhodesia but the tish authorities remain committed between these two broad areas. British authorities refused to listen. to establish the Federation, there When Sir Roy Welensky visited Instead they pushed ahead their can be no certainty as to its actual London early this year this scheme plans for integrating Nyasaland in­ realisation now. of things was certainly outlined to to the Federation which, as events the British Authorities, and from Savage Repression have proved, was designed to se­ The crisis for the policy of White the current attitude of the Colonial cure for the White settlers a system Office to the declaration of a state supremacy is nowhere more decisive of constitutional power similar to than in South Africa. There the of emergency in Nyasaland, it is that of the Union of South Africa. clear that the Macmillan Govern­ White electorate, comprising one- ment has acceded to this scheme The inclusion of Nyasaland in fifth of the population, gave in May for Africa. this Federal arrangement was mo­ 1958 another overwhelnning man­ tivated more by two other factors, date for a policy of White domina­ Freedom : West to East one economic and the other politi­ tion and for a more savage repres­ The essential lines of the policy cal. Nyasaland has always been a sion of the African people. This indeed of the South and Central African source of cheap migratory labour is the content of Apartheid, Not nexus arise from the following for the gold mines of South Africa satisfied with the vast and compli- 379 March 14, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY cated network of racial and oppres­ desperate White minority into acts ZAMBIA CONGRESS BANNED sive legislation, adopted and imple­ of violence and oppression. This is THE Government of Northern mented since 1948, the Verwoerd the essence of the conspiracy which Rhodesia banned the Zambia Na­ Government has now announced its takes such brutal forms in Nyasa- tional Congress and arrested all its intention or withdrawing the paltry land and which takes its inexorable leaders on March 12. A state of representation of Africans in Par­ course towards a climax regardless emergency was, however, not de­ liament (3 Whites have represent­ of life and liberty to the African clared. Announcing the ban ed 11 million Africans against 159 people. But the surest guarantee Governor Benson said that the representatives for 2½ million that this conspiracy will not reach Congress was like the notorious Whites in the Legislative Assem­ full realisation is the growth of U. S. racketeer organisation, Murder bly). Simultaneously the plan for determined African political consci­ Incorporated'. He said it terrorised a subordinate African education by ousness. And the events in the Bel­ law abiding Africans to stop them barring admission of African stu­ gian Congo, in Nyasaland as well from using their vote in the election dents in the two remaining non- as the Treason Trials in South due on March 20. The Governor racial universities in the country is Africa reflect this political awaken­ alleged that the Congress used being implemented. ing. witchcraft to achieve its aims. What prompts the South African Government to pursue with such relentless force and vigour a policy which will only hasten the inevit­ able collapse of that policy and with it the whole system of race oppres­ sion and White supremacy? Indeed, long before the party of Dr Ver­ woerd came to power, a sufficiently all-embracing system of race segre­ gation was created, assuring the permanent entry of the non-White peoples into the cheap labour pool to satisfy the requirements of the gold mining monopolies and the White farmers. And yet the con­ siderably more oppressive policy of Apartheid was devised and applied with increasing vigour. Here, are three answers to the question, all of which apply with equal force in the Central African Federation, Growing Political Consciousness In the first place, there has been an immense growth in the political consciousness of the non-White peoples and in the influence of the African National Congress, Thus in South Africa there Is no argu­ ment as to the fact that the politi­ cal opposition to the Verwoerd Government is the Congress move­ ment and not any other party in Parliament. The Treason Trial has been a trial of the Congress and its leaders for having formulated the only alternative to the ruling policy of .Apartheid. Next, there has been the visible growth of a fully inte­ grated African working class, ur­ banised and with a growing trade union consciousness demanding a political place in the rapidly chang­ ing climate of industrialisation. Finally, the growth of national libe­ ration movements and attainment of political independence in the. rest of Black Africa have decisively weak­ ened the relative position of the South African regime. All these factors drive the now 380 .