The Natal Indian Congress, the Mass Democratic Movement and the Struggle to Defeat Apartheid: 1980–1994

Abstract

The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) was revived in 1971 in the context of what has become known as the ‘Durban moment’. This period also witnessed the emergence of the Black Consciousness Movement and an independent trade union movement inspired by the 1973 Durban strikes. Despite a government crackdown and opposition from anti-apartheid groups that asserted that ethnic identities were a relic of the past, the NIC attracted younger activists through the 1970s and by the early 1980s, had survived the banning and detention of its leadership to become involved in civic struggles over housing and education, and in mobilizing against government-created political structures. It also played a pivotal role in the United Democratic Front formed in 1983. This did not mean that the NIC was monolithic. The 1980s spawned vibrant and often vicious debates within the NIC over participation in government-created structures, allegations of cabals and, as democracy dawned, differing opinions of the future of an organization that first came into being in the last decade of the nineteenth century. In critically interrogating this crucial period between 1980 and 1994, when mass-based struggle was renewed, two states of emergency were imposed and apartheid eventually ended, this article adds to the growing historiography of the anti-apartheid struggle by focusing on an important but neglected aspect of that story. It focuses on the internal workings of the NIC and the relationship between the NIC, the emergent Mass Democratic Movement and the African National Congress (ANC) in the context of broader political and economic changes.

Notes

1 The executive committee comprised Archie Gumede (President), Jerry Coovadia (Chairperson), Virgil Bonhomme (Vice-Chairperson), Rabbi Bugwandeen and Victoria Mxenge (Treasurers) and Yunus Mahomed (Secretary).

2 The 16 were Mewa Ramgobin, George Sewpersadh, M. Naidoo, Essop Jassat, Aubrey Mokoena, Curtis Nkondo, Archie Gumede, Paul David, Albertina Sisulu, Frank Chikane, Ebrahim Saloojee, Ismail Mohamed, Richard Gqwete, Sisa Njikelana, Samuel Kikine and Isaac Ngcobo. The latter four were members of the South African Allied Workers Union (SAAWU) while the others were members of the UDF/NIC/TIC.

3 As Hassim has counselled, a missing dimension in the historiography of the liberation struggle is the absence of discussion on ‘women's roles in the civics or of women's organisations in alliance with the civics’ and the need for a ‘“gender corrective” to these histories’ (Hassim 2003, 49; see also Patel 1988; Meer 1998). Given its specific focus, this article does not examine this important dimension of the story.

4 The following individuals were identified as part of the Cabal. Natal: Pravin Gordan, Zac Yacoob, Alf Carrim, Yunus Mohammed, Farouk Meer, Jerry Coovadia, Billy Nair, Diliza Mji, Sikhumbuzo Ngwenya, Curnick Ndlovu; Transvaal: Ismail Momoniat, Laloo Chiba, Casim Salojee, Eric Molobi and Amos Masondo; Western Cape: Jonathan de Vries, Hadley King, Cathy Macrae, Ebrahim Patel (‘Dullah Omar is also currently exceeding his vested authority and seems to be part and parcel of the Cabal’); National: Azhar Cachalia, Mohammed Valli, Murphy Morobe and Titus Mafolo. Report and Recommendations of Commission on the Cabal, 14 March 1990, Mac Maharaj Documents and Reports, O'Malley Archives. Available online from http://www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv03445/04lv04015/5lv04154/06lv04181.htm (accessed on 5 March, 2014).

5 When asked to probe this issue further, Professor Coovadia replied by email on 7 April 2014, ‘I neither have the heart or the resilience to overcome my huge disappointment at the opportunism which characterised the years of change from the NIC/UDF to the ANC.’

6 According to Hughes, this violence resulted in 2000 Indian refugees, the death of four Indians, destruction of 44 Indian businesses and many homes. Hughes points out that the casualties would have been much higher were it not for the fact that Indians simply fled the scene of the attacks.

7 A survey in 1992–1993 revealed that Indians were much better placed relative to Africans, as they were concentrated in higher paying jobs. The average household income of Indians in 1991 was R2476, three times that of Africans which was R779 (SAIRR 1993, 192). Further, whereas 49.9% of Indians earned over R2000 per month in 1991, the proportion for Africans was only 6.8% (SAIRR 1993, 192).