{"id":966,"date":"2019-12-06T18:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marxistworkersparty.org.za\/?page_id=966"},"modified":"2020-04-23T11:43:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T09:43:27","slug":"udf-conference-workers-demand-struggle-for-jobs-homes-and-freedom","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marxistworkersparty.net\/?page_id=966","title":{"rendered":"UDF Conference: Workers Demand Struggle for Jobs, Homes and Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally appeared in Inqaba No. 11 (August-October\n1983)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Inqaba correspondents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Press coverage of the launching of the United\nDemocratic Front at Mitchell’s Plain on 20 August has concentrated on the\ndeclaration of principles adopted and the main platform speeches. Little was\nconveyed, however, of the real life of the conference proceedings or the issues\nthat were discussed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This special report focuses on the topics and demands\nraised by delegates during the conference discussion. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UDF\nconference during the day was attended by some 2,500 delegates and observers.\nIt was opened by Rev. F. Chikane, who described the origins of the UDF. He\nmentioned previous occasions when people in SA had come together to discuss the\nway forward, such as the Kliptown Congress of the People which adopted the\nFreedom Charter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Many workers could not get into the packed hall to attend the rally which concluded the launching conference. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Following this,\nthe chairman called for discussion, particularly on the issues of forced\nremovals, the housing crisis, the cost of living, the condition of workers, the\nCiskei and the Bantustans, the constitutional proposals, and the Koornhof\nBills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A delegate from\nNatal raised the Group Areas Act, a foundation on which apartheid was built.\nThe constitutional proposals gave this a new dimension. The formation of the\nUDF was a sign that enough was enough and that “we will not take it\nanymore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A delegate from\nHuhudi spoke on forced removals. \u201cWe are\nhere believing that this conference is a continuation of Kliptown 1955. On this\nbasis we give our support\u201d,<\/strong> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his area, the\nAdministration Board claimed they had a R6,000 shortfall and could not carry\nout housing repairs. But at the same time they were spending R1.5 million on\nPudomong, the place to which they were to be removed. He asked delegates to\nfocus attention on these removals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Western Cape\ndelegate said that he was “happy to see today that through the UDF we are\nunited and brought closer.” He referred to the so-called “new\nhome” which the government was creating for Africans in the Western Cape\nat Khayelitsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We don’t\nneed a new home: we have one here in the Western Cape. Khayelitsha is a threat\nand we won’t accept it.” But with the UDF to help, “we shall\novercome.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another speaker\nfrom the Western Cape said that not only the government must be held\nresponsible for the removals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We stood\nand watched what happened in District 6. We coloured and Indians must be ready\nto stop removals of our black brothers from Langa and Guguletu, even if it\nmeans going to jail.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next speaker\nsaid that if we understood that forced removals were the denial to 72% of the\npeople of their rights, then we understood it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in\nAfrikaans, a delegate from a housing action committee pointed out that the\ngovernment is absurdly demanding “economic” (i.e. market-level \u2013 Editor<\/em>) rents on\n“sub-economic” housing. The “Coloured Management\nCommittees”, he said, were making matters worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We don’t\nneed them, we can speak for ourselves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A delegate from\nPort Elizabeth argued that the housing shortage was greater than in any other\ncountry in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The\nmatchboxes we live in are now being sold-off at high prices. Some were built in\n1948 and earlier. They can’t maintain them, and black people have no money to\nbuy them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Port\nElizabeth, he continued, the community councils were taking over the houses\nfrom the Department of Community Development, and immediately there were rent\nincreases. But the rents were not matched by the quality of the housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We didn’t\nmove here silently”, said the next speaker, from Mitchell’s Plain. We are\nfurther from our work, and transport costs are going up. The rent is too high\nand there are two or three families in a house to help pay the rent. There is\nonly one clinic for every 20,000 people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, she added,\nwe have the UDF: “Forward to the struggle, united and strong.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Natal delegate\nstated that the housing question was linked to land. “I can own land but\nAfricans can’t.” The UDF must demand that land ownership be open to all\nAfricans and all the people of SA, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next speaker\nexplained how the government’s new housing policy was part of the\nconstitutional proposals. By selling off 500,000 homes they hoped to create an\nAfrican middle class to bring about division within the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big business and\nthe banks, who supported apartheid, had lots of money from the boom years and\nwanted to put it into housing to make more money. Now the government was taking\nresponsibility for housing only those on R150 per month or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who could\nnot afford serviced sites, he continued, get nothing, so that they have to\nbecome sub-tenants, which leads to over-crowding. If you get a serviced site\nbut have a low income, you will have to build substandard housing, in other\nwords, a dehumanising slum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\nhoped, he concluded, that a home- and land-owning middle class will defuse\nmilitancy in the townships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A delegate from\nthe Transvaal described how wages were rising more slowly than prices.\n“The big monopolies”, she said, “always gain by inflation.”\nOld age pensioners were battling to survive, on payments of R88 every second\nmonth for Africans, R88 a month for coloureds and Indians, and R156 a month for\nwhites. “But everyone pays the same for bread,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Members of Parliament have just given themselves\na pay rise of R600 a month \u2013 more than most of us earn.” The President’s\nCouncil members got R3,100 a month, while children were grovelling for bread and\ntheir parents suffering from alcoholism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government,\nshe said, labels protest as “communism”, but in reality it was the\nconditions threatening our children that were creating militancy. “I thank\nGod for the UDF. The UDF Executive must stand up and demand that pensions be\nequalised.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next speaker\nstated that the cost of living resulted from the irresponsibility of the\ngovernment. “Money should be made for men and not men for money.” The\nwage that a person gets does not take into account clothing, education, and all\nother needs: it is an unjust wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation was\ncontinuing while millions were spent on “defence”, and on propaganda\n(as Muldergate had shown). People needed rents they could afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ounce of gold presently sold for R405. “What\ndid a black miner get out of this?” he asked.<\/strong>\nThe UDF must fight this issue and implement a programme to protest the cost of\nliving in SA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We must\naddress ourselves to the wealthy,” he believed. “The flow of profits\nmust benefit those who are poor. Those of us blessed with wealth often pay poorly\nand should pay a good wage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A veteran Natal\ntrade unionist pointed out that “anyone looking at the history of working class\ninvolvement in the struggle in this country will know that the working class\nparticipated for one thing only: decent wages and decent living conditions for\nthemselves and their families”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He first became\ninvolved in the trade union movement in the 1930s. Despite the difficulties\nthen, and being forced into illegal struggle, workers fought to organise and\nwin better conditions right up to 1955, when Sactu was founded. Then the unions\nwent forward under the Sactu banner, until bannings and killings forced a\nreassessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everyone\nhere, every one of you must realise the struggle lies with the working\nclass.” The Wiehahn and Riekert Commissions were trying to create further\ndivisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If we\ndon’t unite now we will lose all our rights. Nothing will fall from\nheaven.” The regime would try to destroy the trade unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe revolution\nis beginning now”, he concluded, \u201cunder the banner of the UDF. The working\nclass \u2013 mine workers, white collar workers, and all workers \u2013 must unite under\nthe UDF banner and work for a system where exploitation of man by man is ended\nand where the means of production will be in the hands of the working class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This rousing speech received the warmest reception of\nany at the conference. It was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation, and five\nminutes mass singing of Hlanganani\nBasebenzi<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was followed\nby a speech in Xhosa from a woman delegate who stressed how rising costs of\nliving were an attack on “us as women”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is difficult\nto feed our children, who get diseases from lack of food. Instead of providing\nsubsidies, the government was “disturbing people who had no place to stay,\noppressing people who are already oppressed. This is a merciless government,\nthat doesn’t care for our demands, but wants to choke us in Khayelitsha.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have no\nmoney for fares, no places to stay, we are appealing to the UDF.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid singing,\nresolutions were passed on removals, housing and the cost of living. Among\nthese was one stating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Workers\nare the producers of wealth in SA; workers have no job security with rising\nunemployment and the threat of retrenchment; workers are being subjected to\nincreasing intimidation and harassment and being jailed in their attempts to\nbuild genuine and democratic trade unions; the President’s Council proposals\nand Koornhof’s Bills are aimed at destroying unity”; and, in the belief\nthat “workers should fully share in the wealth they produce”, it\nresolved “to work for a South Africa where oppression and exploitation of\nworkers was ended, to encourage democratic trade unions”, and to\n“encourage links between democratic trade unions and all patriotic and\nfreedom loving people struggling against the regime”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the\ninsistence of a delegation from the Eastern Cape this resolution from the\nresolutions committee was amended to also “oppose the migrant labour\nsystem and fight influx control”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nresolution opposed the rises in the cost of living, and the placing of the\nburden of inflation on the working people and oppressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nin the course of the re-drafting of this resolution, a critical passage in it\nwas left out, namely that “only when we have control over the riches of\nthe country will we be able to guarantee cheap and nutritional food”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion of\nthe founding declaration and working principles of the UDF followed. In his\nopening remarks the chairman pointed out how the regime’s attempts to sabotage\nthe meeting by preventing delegates from attending had failed. Buses were still\narriving!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Delegates Arriving from Mdantsane<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At this point a\ndelegate, straight from the bus boycott in East London, intervened. Saying that\nthey were not from “Ciskei” but from the “border region”,\nhe explained how in order to come they had had to “escape from the prison\nCiskei”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Gqweta\n(Saawu leader \u2013 Editor<\/em>) is in hiding\n… parents are being shot and killed at stations all over Mdantsane. Students\nsee their parents leave for work and are called to identify them at the morgue.\nThey are walking out of school because of this.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This struggle\nwas, he concluded, “the struggle of all the assembled democrats here”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amendments\nsubmitted to the declaration of aims were ruled out of order on technical\ngrounds, and, to the dissatisfaction of many delegates, discussion of this was\ncurtailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these\namendments, called for extending the aims of the UDF from the specific issues\nof the constitutional proposals and the Koornhof Bills to commit the UDF to\n“fight for democratic rights in SA until full democratic rights have been\nachieved”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a\nrepresentative of the drafting committee opposed this, giving as the reason\nthat “the objectives must be in keeping with our capabilities and what we\nwere set up to do”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions were\nalso raised about what was meant in the declaration of principles by including\ncommercial groups among those whom the UDF would seek to mobilise under its\numbrella. The platform explained that this meant only those groups which\nsupported UDF principles. A Cape delegate stated that he was a businessman and\nthat “we are oppressed too”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another delegate\nrose to say that while he did not doubt that this Cape comrade was oppressed,\n“there were many businessmen who are definitely not oppressed”. He\nwould prefer that the term “small trader” should be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform\nstated that the acceptance of any group, “commercial or otherwise”,\nwould be at the discretion of the elected officers. On this basis commercial\ngroups were retained in the declaration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the\nadoption of the declaration of principles, the conference elected officers and\npatrons. The proposal of Nelson Mandela as first patron was greeted with a\nstanding ovation and singing. A spokesman for the Mandela family said that he\nand his comrades in Pollsmoor Prison were aware of the meeting and gave it\ntheir support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference was followed by a launching rally, with 5,000 people packed in the main hall, and up to 7,000 more listening in a marquee and outside. The rally was addressed, among others, by Samson Ndou of Gawu (standing in for Thozamile Gqweta), Helen Joseph, Aubrey Mokoena and Archie Gumede. The concluding address was given by Rev. A. Boesak, and was followed by thirty minutes of singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Transcribed from the original by the Marxist Workers Party (2019).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue to Part Three<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Interviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Interview with an Unemployed\nWorker from Crossroads<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Q. When last did you work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> My last work stopped in\nAugust 1981. I was working with a construction company building a railway line.\nI was getting R32 a week. I’ve been searching for a job since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I borrow\nmoney to go and look for work. No work. I come back to these shelters. I have\nsix children, they want food. The man wants his money back and I have no money\nto pay him. It’s terrible, man, these whites are killing us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. What did you think of the meeting in Mitchell’s\nPlain?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> Yes, the UDF is a very\ngood thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. What will the UDF do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> The UDF is fighting for\nfreedom, not ‘independence’ like Transkei and Ciskei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How will the UDF bring us freedom?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> They say Mandela will\ncome out, but I don’t know how. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These whites\nare very powerful. Last week they came here with guns and dogs and teargas, and\nbroke all the shelters. I was watching, and they said “show your\npass”. I said, “It’s there at my place.” They said,\n“Kom.” I had to pay R10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been\nin prison five times since 1960 for passes. Now it’s R80. How can I get R80?\nThat’s more than two weeks’ wages for my brother, and how can he feed his\nfamily for those two weeks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How will the UDF fight this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> I don’t know, but they\nwill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. If all the workers were together, we could defeat\nthe government. Do you think that’s possible?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> They give the jobs in\nCape Town to the coloureds. Now they are going to send all blacks from Nyanga,\nLanga and Guguletu to Khayelitsha and give the houses to coloureds. They are\ndividing us. If we all stand together, then the wind cannot blow through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Interview with a Shopfloor\nWorker<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Q. What did you think of the meeting?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> It was great. Things\nare going to change. We live in Guguletu and work at Coca-Cola. They are very\nclever there. They pick the workers, and take older workers from the Ciskei. If\nthey see that you are militant, then they will kick you out. I am only getting\nR55 a week. I’ve come from the Ciskei. It’s terrible, there’s nothing there.\nThe Sebes are bastards. I hope the UDF grows and grows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Interview with Unemployed\nWorker, Aged 26<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Q. When did your work stop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> In April. I was with a\nshelving company getting R59 a week. Before that I was for two months in a food\nstore at R49.50 a week. Then they came and said, “This job is for the\ncoloured chaps”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I\nhave no pass. They came at night and broke our shelters. My pass was lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no\nmoney, my three children are hungry, and I can’t get any work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Did you go to the UDF meeting?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> Many of us went. They\nsay it will stop us going to Khayelitsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. How will it do that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> I don’t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Do you think the UDF will bring freedom?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> Yes. It might take\ntime, but I believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. When you say freedom, what does it mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> It means a job and no\npass, and a house for my wife and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview with a Trade\nUnion Delegate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can the UDF help the workers’ movement?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you\nhear that speech by the old man with the beard from Natal? The UDF can change\nthings for the workers. If we are in trouble in one factory, then the UDF can\nget help for the workers from another area. I feel very happy that things will\nchange. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Trade Union Organiser:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That was\na great speech by the trade unionist from Natal. It brought everybody to their feet.\nI think they should have discussed the aims and put workers’ demands into the\naims. But this will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Johannesburg Shop\nSteward:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That was\na great contribution [by the trade unionist from Natal]. But it is not reflected\nin the resolutions or aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Why do you think that is?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> One of the reasons is\nthat the leadership is not workers. They are talking about ‘the worker’ and\n‘the position of the worker in our society’. But even though they are\nsympathetic, and say that the UDF must be dominated by the working class, it is\nas if it’s because they feel guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of\nthe people here support the workers’ struggle. The UDF will not remain confined\nto the constitutional proposals. It can’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Why do you say workers’ leadership is necessary?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> I was at the Fosatu\nwinter school, attended by nearly 500. A speaker from the Federation of SA\nWomen asked why Fosatu women didn’t join the Federation. A woman worker got up\nand answered her: “We are interested in working women”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of\nthe FOSATU leaders talked about setting up a workers’ association in Benoni. He\nwas asked: “Why another organisation? There are so many already.” A\nworker answered: “We need our own organisations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somebody\nhad mentioned the UDF and the National Forum, and another worker said:\n“Those are organisations of intellectuals.” This was the feeling throughout\nthe hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. Is that why FOSATU didn’t join the UDF?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.<\/strong> It is one of the reasons,\nbut they are giving support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Transcribed from the original by the Marxist Workers Party (2019).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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