1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:04,800 Speaker 1: All the media. 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 2: Welcome to grappen Here. I'm Andrew SI to a future 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 2: channel Andreism. I'm joined by Mia Wong. 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: Did not miss your que this time. 5 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 2: This will not make any sense to you unless you've 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 2: heard the previous episode in which I missed by you. 7 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 2: But hello, indeed, indeed welcome, did missic you. So recently 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 2: I read Born a Crime by Trevoroah. It was his 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 2: memoir of his childhood in South Africa and politics society. 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 2: Is a decent comedian and had me laughing out loud 11 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 2: and thinking a lot as well, and it really reignited 12 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 2: my long pass and interest in South African history because 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 2: he's given a lot of context when sharing his stories. 14 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 2: So I decided to look into the history of anarchism 15 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 2: in So Africa and that's what we will be exploring today. 16 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 2: Much of the information I gathered is thanks to the 17 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 2: scholarship of Lucian van der Walt, a South African anarchist 18 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 2: and professor of sociology. Particularly, I'll be looking at the 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 2: work on anarchism and Cynicalism Southern Africa from the International 20 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 2: Encyclopedia Revolution and Protest and Anarchism and cynical in the 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 2: Colonial and post colonial world. Without getting into the lengthy 22 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 2: and storied history of the region, I do need to 23 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 2: provide some context, so we'll start in the mid nineteenth century, 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 2: where the region that became South Africa was considered marginal 25 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 2: to the world economy. You had the Port of the 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 2: Cape of Good Hope and Port Elizabeth, which handled me 27 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 2: in the agricultural exports. And this was during the second 28 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 2: period of the British Cape Colony's existence, after it had 29 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 2: briefly fallen into the hands of the Batavia and Republic 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 2: during the Napoleonic Wars. None of that is particularly necessary 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 2: to know for our sake, but you know a little 32 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 2: fun fact at this point, once again under the British, 33 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 2: the land was broadly agrarian, and Britain's farms were worked 34 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 2: by colored and African workers. The neighboring Natal Colony, also 35 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 2: under British rule, had its plantations worked by indentured Indians. 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 2: The rest of the interior was under various Africana republics 37 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 2: and African kingdoms. For those not in the know, so 38 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 2: African in this context refers to obviously Africans, Black Africans, 39 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 2: to be specific, Indians referring to the indentured laborers from 40 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 2: the Indian subcontinent, Africanas referring to the Afrikaans or Dutch 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 2: speaking white South Africans. And then we have of course 42 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 2: the British, which are you know, white British people, and 43 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 2: the colored as a designation as a group as a 44 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 2: self identified ethnic group referred to the people of mixed 45 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 2: European and African heritage that had begun to develop their 46 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 2: own identity in their own community. Because the settlement of 47 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 2: South Africa had started centuries before, so other than the 48 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 2: agricultural export and ports providing a respite for trade between 49 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 2: the West and the East, the Southern African colonies weren't 50 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 2: particularly high up on anyone's list of priorities. But then 51 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 2: the economic landscape of the region transformed with the discovery 52 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 2: of diamonds in Kimberlee in eighteen sixty seven and gold 53 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 2: in Woodwater surround in eighteen eighty six. To make a 54 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 2: very long story short, this led to the rapid centralization 55 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 2: of mining activities and the growth of towns like Johannesburg, 56 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 2: one of the most well known towns in South Africa. 57 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 2: Imperial interests intensified, resultant in the British Wars and Africans 58 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 2: and Africanas and the establishment of the Union of South 59 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: Africa in nineteen ten an extremely diverse and polygoth society 60 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 2: under British rule. By nineteen thirteen, almost half of the 61 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 2: world's gold output came from with waters Round Aeriel and 62 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 2: with waters Rand Minds employed one hundred and ninety five 63 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 2: thousand Africans and twenty two thousand white workers. The working 64 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 2: class clearly faced many racial and ethnic divisions. It was 65 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 2: primarily composed of various Africans, which had their own divisions 66 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 2: between them, and there were also divisions between the largely 67 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: skilled white immigrants from Europe and the largely unskilled local 68 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 2: white africaners. The marginalized African and colored middle classes that 69 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 2: began to form from the few free laborers involved in 70 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 2: various grown industries would come to lead early nationalist movements 71 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: while grappling with segregation, discrimination, and linguistic challenges. As Van 72 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 2: der Wald said and a Coote, they lived in a 73 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 2: situation where a cheap African labor formed the bedrock of 74 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 2: the mine as well as state industry and the growing 75 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 2: commercial farming and manufacturing sectors, and where the cheapness of 76 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 2: African labor was primarily a function of the black's historic 77 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 2: incorporation into the country as a subject to people. In 78 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 2: this sense, local capitalist relations of exploitation were constructed upon 79 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 2: colonial relations of domination. Fast forward to the eve of 80 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 2: apartheid in nineteen forty eight, when Africana nationalists took power 81 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 2: and extended the segregation policies in the first four decades 82 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 2: of the Union even further, you get two responses to 83 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 2: the national question preceding the development of apartheid from the 84 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 2: organized labor crowd at the time. The first response, known 85 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 2: as white laborism, was associated with the mainstream white labor 86 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 2: movement leading back to the nineteenth century. The South African 87 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: Labor Party and South African Industrial Federation were key proponents 88 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 2: of white labourism, and both organizations were born from the 89 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 2: exclusiveness of early craft unions that later evolved into more 90 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 2: pronounced racial exclusiveness. This white laborism approach combined social democracy 91 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 2: with segregation, promoting job reservation and preferential employment for whites, 92 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 2: urban segregation and Asian repatriation white power for white workers. Basically, 93 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 2: the other races can figure out their own deal. Of course, 94 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 2: on the reservations that we put them in. So it's 95 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 2: no surprise that the apartheid government in part mainstreamed this 96 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 2: white laborism movement. But the second response to the national 97 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 2: question was linked to the Communist Party of South Africa 98 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 2: the CPSA from nineteen twenty eight, when it adopted the 99 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 2: Native Republic thesis under pressure from the Communist International. This 100 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 2: approach advocate of the establishment of an independent South African 101 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 2: Native Republic as a precursor to the Workers and Peasants Republic, 102 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 2: separating national liberation specifically in the form of nationalism and 103 00:06:54,839 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 2: then socialism into distinct stages. The CPSA initially considered leading 104 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 2: both of these stages, but later abandoned this idea and 105 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 2: opted for a united front with the African National Congress, 106 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 2: even for a unitary, democratic and capitalist state with land 107 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 2: reform and partial nationalization. But there's a hidden history that 108 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 2: goes unnoticed prior to the rise of apartheid and the CPSA. 109 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 2: All the way back in the eighteen eighties, Henry Glass 110 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 2: played a pivotal role in establishing the local anarchist tradition 111 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 2: in South Africa. He was an Englishman born in India 112 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 2: with a background in radical London circles. He moved to 113 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 2: Port Elizabeth in the eighteen eighties and engaged in various jobs, 114 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 2: including working on the Witwatersrand mines among African people. He 115 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 2: contributed to the Cape Labor Press, translated key works by 116 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 2: Kropotkin into English, and distributed anarchist materials through various organizations. 117 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 2: Glass seems to have taken a good look at Cloud 118 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 2: saw how Africans were treated, and didn't shy away from 119 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 2: calling it out now self is writing did idealize pre 120 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 2: capitalist cultures, for example, pointing out in a letter to 121 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 2: Kropotkin that you can still find amongst them the principle 122 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 2: of communism, but his main focus was on pointing fingers 123 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 2: at an order that treated Africans like second class citizens, 124 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 2: and going even further to champion the idea of a 125 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 2: working class movement that bridged racial divides. He understood the 126 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 2: foolishness of white workers to try and pursue their liberation 127 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 2: alone while sidelining their colored comrades, and though Glass spent 128 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 2: his time agitating in Port Elizabeth, this was also a 129 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 2: perspective shared by the Social Democratic Federation or SDF, based 130 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 2: in Cape Town, which despite its name, was all about 131 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:54,079 Speaker 2: pushing anarchism and syndicalism. Actually, the maybe more precise there 132 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 2: was a dominant wing within the SDF of Cape Town 133 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 2: that emphasized anarchism and syndicalism. There will also moderate and 134 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 2: status elements in the SDF as well. Cape Town was 135 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 2: quite different at that time from Port Elizabeth. Port Elizabeth 136 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 2: was mostly African and white, but Cape Town had a 137 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 2: significant colored population, which created a situation where much of 138 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: Cape Town's working class was free labor rather than bound 139 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 2: to some form of slavery or dansure. Coloreds were facing 140 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 2: growing official segregation and popular discrimination from the late nineteenth 141 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 2: century onwards, though, so there was a growing discontent as 142 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 2: the working class fractured even further. But there was a 143 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 2: key figure in the Cape Town SDF that pushed anarchism 144 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 2: and cynicalism, and that was Wilfred Harrison, another friend of Kropotkin. 145 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 2: A carpenter, a trade unionist, and an ex soldier, he 146 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 2: was known as a very dynamic speaker and a staunch 147 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 2: anarchist communist who pushed for a future where workers owned 148 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 2: and controlled everything. With Harrison at the Helm, the SDF 149 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 2: set up shop in Adelaide Street, where they were allizing talks, events, 150 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 2: and even standing in elections for propaganda purposes. The sdf's 151 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 2: events attracted thousands, creating truly uniquely integrated public spheres that 152 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 2: would bring colors, whites, and Africans in some of the 153 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 2: same spaces. They were holding speeches in Afrikaans, which was 154 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 2: the most popular language of the colors, and in Eating Closer, 155 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 2: the language of the closer people. They had bookshops, reading rooms, 156 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 2: refreshment bars, beach trips, choirs, and even a few socialist 157 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 2: christ Nets. At the various talks, they welcomed controversial figures, 158 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 2: including a young Gandhi. Harrison's wing of the SDF further 159 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 2: sought to remove union colour bars, unionize colors, secure equal pay, 160 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 2: and build unions that would unite all workers, regardless of race. 161 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 2: In the early nineteen hundreds, Socialists with Waters Round launched 162 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 2: the Weekly Voice of Labor, led by Archie Crawford and 163 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 2: Mary Fitzgerald. The People served to connect socialists across cities 164 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 2: from Duban to Kimberley, to Cape Town to Johannesburg. Archie 165 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 2: Crawford was a staunch anti segregationist, pushing back against the 166 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 2: South African Labor Party for its policies and organized in 167 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 2: the neglected colored workers. In nineteen ten, the SDF hosted 168 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 2: British Synicolas tom Mann, whose tours the region would inspire 169 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 2: the founding of the Socialist Labor Party or SLP. In Johannesburg. 170 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 2: They adopted the ideas of Daniel de Leon, the American 171 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 2: leader of the International Workers of the World, and were 172 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: followed by the Industrial Workers' Union, which linked with the 173 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 2: IWW in Chicago. The IWW's ideas spread to Duban and Pretoria, 174 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 2: but it was Johannesburg where they flexed their muscles with 175 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 2: successful strikes and challenges to labor laws. The IWW's position 176 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 2: carried the same as its forebears, fight the class war 177 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 2: with the aid of all workers, whether efficient or inefficient, 178 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 2: skilled or unskilled, white or black. IWW organizer Jock Campbell 179 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,719 Speaker 2: would be the first to specifically make propaganda amongst the 180 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:19,839 Speaker 2: African workers in which waters Rand. But don't get me wrong, 181 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 2: these efforts do not mean that they necessarily succeeded. The 182 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,559 Speaker 2: IWW and SLP's struggle to recruit to cross racial lines 183 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 2: stems not primarily from prejudice, but from their overall weakness 184 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 2: as union organizers outside the tram sector where they saw 185 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 2: the most successes, and of course the practical challenges of 186 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 2: organizing the predominantly unfree African workforce Underwitwater's Rand. So they 187 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 2: talked a good talk about reaching across racial lines, but 188 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 2: not a massive success because they didn't have a strategy 189 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 2: in place to actually establish those connections between Africans, colored 190 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 2: and Indian workers in this regard. Actually, the SDF in 191 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 2: Cape Town was a lot more successful. However, something did 192 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 2: happen in witwaters Rand. In May nineteen thirteen, a significant 193 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 2: general strike erupted on the witwaters Rand, initiated by white 194 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 2: miners and quickly spread in across industries. The strike was 195 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 2: marked by riots and gun battles and escalated on what's 196 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 2: called Black Saturday, July fifth, resulting in twenty five deaths 197 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 2: at the hands of the imperial troops. Subsequent strikes by 198 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: African miners and Indian passive resistance campaigns further intensified the 199 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 2: social unrest, with the failure of a compromise in the 200 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,839 Speaker 2: aftermath of the nineteen thirteen strike led to a second 201 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 2: general strike in January nineteen fourteen. The State responded swiftly, 202 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 2: declaring martial law, mobilizing forces and suppress in the unions, 203 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 2: resulting the arrest and deportation of key activists, including Archie Crawford. 204 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 2: Then World War One further disrupted things, with the U 205 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 2: s Country joining the British side. While some organizations suspended 206 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 2: activities to support the war efforts, hardline African and nationalists 207 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 2: launched an armed rebellion, leading to split within the SDF 208 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 2: and the South African Labor Party. Although anarchism and syndicalism 209 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 2: played a role in these turbulent events, the actual syndicalist 210 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: movement on the Witwater Strand was weak and divided. By 211 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 2: nineteen thirteen, despite attempts to forge unity through the United 212 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 2: Socialist Party, the USP it fell apart due to existing 213 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 2: divisions and ideological differences among the constituent groups. While organized 214 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 2: syndicalism struggled to lead the strikes, syndicalist ideas and sloguans 215 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 2: gained considerable traction in labor circles. The strikes and war 216 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 2: issues reinvigorated existing anarchists and syndicalists, radicalized new activists, and 217 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 2: sparked widespread interest in radical ideas, which would lead to 218 00:14:55,120 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: a new development. In September nineteen fifteen, the Industrial Socialists 219 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 2: League the ISL emerged as a prominent syndicalist formation. Comprising 220 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 2: of the syndicalist veterans and anti war South African Labor 221 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 2: Party activists, the ISL quickly became the largest left political 222 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 2: group before the Communist Party of South Africa. The ISL 223 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 2: rooted in theww tradition, advocated for the organization of workers 224 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 2: on industrial alliance irrespective of race, and envisioned an integrated 225 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 2: revolutionary one big union for national liberation and class struggle. 226 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 2: The ISL criticized whitecraft unions for the divisive practices and 227 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 2: advocated fundictrial unions to confront the challenges posed by jant 228 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 2: corporations and trusts. Racial prejudice, according to the ISL, served 229 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 2: the ruling class's interests insuring a study supply of cheap, 230 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 2: unorganized African labor at the same time that the ISL 231 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 2: was actively opposing discriminatory laws. The ISSL also doubted the 232 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 2: efficacy of African nationalist programs in genuinely emancipating the black masses. 233 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 2: It contended that national oppression was rooted in capitalism, making 234 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 2: national liberation unlikely under the prevalent system. The ISL aimed 235 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 2: to reform white unions, but while leading efforts to organize 236 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 2: people of color, they faced challenges, of course, in the 237 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 2: form of opposition from white workers, electoral defeats, and hostility 238 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 2: from established unions. They were evicted from Trades Hall in 239 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 2: nineteen seventeen for resistant discriminatory policies, but continued the activities 240 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: cultivating links with people of color, particularly through its passionately 241 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 2: anti Zionist Yiddish speaking branch. The ISL played a pivotal 242 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 2: role in establishing unions among people of color, launching the 243 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 2: Indian Workers Industrial Union in Durban in nineteen seventeen, and 244 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 2: later through night schools for Africans initiating the Industrial Workers 245 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 2: of Africa in the same year, both of which would 246 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 2: be led by their own constituents. By nineteen eighteen, there 247 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 2: would be another general strike, this time primarily by Africans. 248 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 2: Earlier that year, one hundred and fifty two African municipal 249 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 2: workers were sentenced to hard labor for striking, leading to 250 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 2: protests organized by the Industrial Workers of Africa, the International 251 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 2: Socialist League and the South African Native National Congress and 252 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 2: the South Africa Native National Congress. The SANNC, which was 253 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 2: the precursor to the currently ruled in African National Congress 254 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 2: the ANC. The Joint Action Committee proposed a general strike 255 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 2: on the Witwatersrand for the release of the sentenced workers 256 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 2: and better pay for African workers. Although the strike was 257 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 2: canceled last minute, several thousand African miners participated anyway, resulting 258 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 2: in arrests for incitement to public violence. The rested individuals 259 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 2: included ISL members and a member of both the Industrial 260 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 2: Workers of Africa and the SANNC. A year later, in 261 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 2: March nineteen nineteen, ISL members played a role in their 262 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 2: civil disobedience campaign against past lords, which required non whites 263 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 2: in South Africa to carry documents authorizing their presence in 264 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 2: restricted white areas. That resistance campaign led to nearly seven 265 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 2: hundred arrests. That same year, in Kimberley, the ISSL established 266 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 2: syndicalist unions among colored workers, such as the Clothing Workers 267 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 2: Industrial Union and the host Drivers Union. These unions achieved 268 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:34,959 Speaker 2: significant successes, including wage increases in Cape Town. ISL members 269 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 2: City Way and CRY aimed to organize the Industrial Workers 270 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,879 Speaker 2: of Africa on the docks. They collaborated with the Industrial 271 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 2: Socialist League, the ind sl a syndicalist breakaway from the SDF, 272 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 2: and played a role in the major strike on the 273 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 2: docks in December nineteen nineteen. Now, the strike ultimately disintegrated, 274 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 2: but it still marked a significant event. All in all, 275 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 2: the ISL, heavily influenced by syndicalism, would play a major 276 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 2: role in the strikes of the late nineteen tenths. The 277 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 2: ISL's influence extended to the formation of the Communist Party 278 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 2: of South Africa CPS alongside the SDF and the INDs 279 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 2: CEL and a few other groups in the nineteen twenties. 280 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 2: That party would go underground after the Anti Communists Act 281 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 2: of the fifties and re emerge as the South African 282 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 2: Communist Party the SAACP. For most of its history, it 283 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 2: has been explicitly Marxist Leninist, heavily influenced by the Bolsheviks. However, 284 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 2: when it first started, syndicalist concepts still lingered within the 285 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 2: party for many years before was eventually excised. The internationalist 286 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,360 Speaker 2: and multi racial vision of the syndicalist movement was later 287 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 2: taken over by the two stage strategy of the cpsa 288 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 2: slash SACP, which sought to establish an independent, democratic, capitalist 289 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 2: republic as a precursor to a socialist order. This, of course, 290 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 2: diverges from the earth anarchist and syndicalist strategy, which viewed 291 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 2: the anti colonial independence and class struggles as interconnected and 292 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 2: didn't see national liberation as solely the purview of nationalism, 293 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 2: a view which to me is more sophisticated and revolutionary 294 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 2: than this one track status view that Marxist tend to 295 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 2: adopt contrary to the organizing efforts of actual working class people. Interestingly, 296 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 2: Van der Walt argues that while CPSA undeniably contributed to 297 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 2: working class struggles since the nineteen forties, a critical look 298 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 2: reveals that they made consistent cricketures of the pre CPSA left. 299 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 2: They sort of established themselves as the true vanguard in 300 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 2: the fight for South Africa's liberation. So they portrayed the 301 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 2: pre CPSA left in two main currents. The Proto Bolsheviks 302 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 2: considered true socialists and everyone else. The pre CPSA left 303 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 2: was deemed a failure, with the Proto Bolsheviks credited for 304 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 2: pioneering socialist work among black workers. According to their narrative, 305 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 2: it was only in the nineteen twenties the cpsa's adoption 306 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 2: of the native republic thesis and Marxistleninist ideas that the 307 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 2: national question was adequately addressed. Anarchism and syndicalism are portrayed 308 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 2: as marginal and bothersome predominantly white movements that at best 309 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 2: underestimated the significance of national oppression or at worst endorsed 310 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 2: white supremacy and segregation. This interpretation, of course, positions a 311 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 2: CPSA slash SACP as the sole bearers of revolutionary socialist 312 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 2: solution to the national question, while ironically erasing the history 313 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 2: of early African socialist and syndicalist radicalism. So wrapping up 314 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 2: a bit here, we delved into the intricate history of 315 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 2: anarchism and syndicalism in South Africa, uncovering a movement that 316 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 2: played a significant role in Southern Africa from the eighteen 317 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 2: eighties to the nineteen twenties and consistently grappled with the 318 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 2: complexities of the national question. We've seen a multi racial 319 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 2: and internationalist movement marked by a step fast opposition to 320 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 2: racial discrimination and a commitment to interracial labor organization and 321 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 2: the unity of the working class. They had a vision 322 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 2: of a society rooted in class solidarity of an industrial 323 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 2: republic distinct from the conventional nation state and in lockstep 324 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 2: with an international industrial republic. Now, despite the decline of 325 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 2: anarchism and cynicalism in the years following the founding of 326 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 2: the CPSA slash SACP anarchism is still alive today in 327 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 2: South Africa. The Zaba Laza Anarchist Communist Front or ZACF 328 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 2: is a specific anarchist political organization based in Johannesburg, South 329 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 2: Africa and founded on May Day in two thousand and three. 330 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 2: The organization operates on an individual membership basis by invitation only, 331 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,959 Speaker 2: emphasising theoretical and strategic unity among members. The Zaba Lazas 332 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 2: align with the anarchist, communist, platformist and a specifistic traditions 333 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 2: within anarchism, subscribe to the idea of an active minority 334 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 2: pushing anarchist ideas within larger movements. In fact, unlike the anarchisynicalists, 335 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 2: the Zablazas don't aim to build mass anarchist movements, but 336 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 2: rather to participate in existing social movements, spreading anarchist principles 337 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 2: within heterogeneous organizations. Zablaza advocates for direct democracy mutual aid, horizontalism, 338 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 2: class combativeness, direct action, and class independence. It emerged during 339 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 2: a time of political closure within trade unions which were 340 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 2: controlled by the African National Congress government. It oriented itself 341 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 2: towards emergent social movements such as the Anti Privatization Forum 342 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 2: and the Landless People's Movement, aim into advance anarchist principles 343 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 2: within these movements. Sablas's work includes popular political education, combatant 344 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 2: reformists and authoritarian tendencies, and advocating for the independence of 345 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 2: social movements from political parties and electoral politics. So that's 346 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 2: the story the history of anarchism and cynicalism and South Africa. 347 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 2: Obviously this is a summary, but it goes to show 348 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 2: the influence that these movements have had in shaping the 349 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 2: history of that often forgotten region of the world. Thanks 350 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 2: for joining me once again or power to all the people. 351 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: Thanks. It could Happen here as a production of cool 352 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit 353 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: our website cool Zonemedia dot com or check us out 354 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 355 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,360 Speaker 1: to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here. 356 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: Updated monthly at cool zonemedia dot com. Slash Sources thanks 357 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:49,920 Speaker 1: for listening.