Black Viewpoint: Stephen Bantu BIKO 1972

8/7/2019 Black Viewpoint: Stephen Bantu BIKO 1972

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BLACK VIEWPOINT

Contents

Introduction

Black Development

The New Day

Kwa-ZuluDevelopment

The New Black

INTRODUCTIONEditor

B.S. Biko (1972)

IT IS SIGNIFICANT that in a country peopled to the extent of 75% by blacks

and whose entire economic structure is supported and maintained, willingly or

unwillingly, mainly by blacks, we find very few publications that are directed at,

manned by and produced by black people.

Black Viewpoint is a happy addition by the Black Community Programmes to all

those publications that are of great relevance to the black people. Our relevance

is meant to be in the sense that we communicate to blacks things said by blacks in

the various situations in which they find themselves in this country of ours. We havefelt and observed in the past, the existence of a great vacuum in our literary and

newspaper world. So many things are said so often us, about us and for us but very

seldom by us.

This has created a dependency mood amongst us which has given rise to the

present tendency to look at ourselves in terms of how we are interpreted by the

white press. In the process, a lot of us have forgotten that the values and attitudes

of newspapers are governed largely by the values and attitudes of both their

readership and of their financial supporters - who in the case of the white press

in South Africa, are whites. Therefore, when we read of a report of any speech or

incident which focuses on blacks, we usually find it accompanied by interpretative

connotations in terms of stress, headlines, quotations and other journalistic

nuances, that are calculated to put the report in a particular setting for either

consumption or re-jection by the reader.

One must quickly add that the moral of the story is not that we must therefore

castigate white society and its newspapers. Any group of people who identify as
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a unit through shared interests and aspirations necessarily need to protect those

interests they share. The white press is therefore regarded by whites as doing a

good service when it sensitises its own community to the 'dangers' of Black Power.

After all no white man is wanted outside the laager when the rest of the whitesociety is facing the illusionary swaart gevaar that only exists in the minds of the

guilt-stricken whites. Perhaps only very few whites would not want to be in the

laager.

No, the real moral of the story therefore can only be that we blacks must on our own

develop those agencies that we need, and not look up to unsympathetic and often

hostile quarters to offer these to us.

In terms of this thinking, therefore, Black Viewpoint is meant to protect and further

the interests of black people. We do not intend to venture beyond this. We shall not

serve as an exclusive mouth-piece for any particular section of the black community

but merely to pick up topics as they come and as they are dealt with by blacks in

various situations.

In the present issue we focus attention on four addresses delivered by blacks in

different situations. By juxtaposing these articles in this issue we hope to reflect the

broad spectrum now to be found in our society both in terms of the different stresses

we lay in the definition of our problem - the white problem - and in the mooted

solutions that all four speakers touch briefly on.

We hope this will generate a good response amongst those who read it.

BLACK DEVELOPMENT

Njabulo Ndebele

Njabulo Ndebele is a final year B.A. student at the University of Lesotho, Botswana

and Swaziland. He is also the SRC President of UBLS

I. THE PROBLEM

There are three kinds of socially significant groups in South Africa. There is

ethnic group, the racial group and the broad national group. The national group

the combination of the racial and the ethnic groups, that is to say, it is the natio

group which, for purposes of international identification, can also be known as

people of South Africa, or simply as South Africans. The racial group, on the othand, is a combination of ethnic groups. Thus, the black racial group is made

of Zulus, Basotho, Pedis etc. and the white racial group is made up of Afrikane

English people, Portuguese etc. The national group, we shall note, is fragmen

by the institutionalised racial conflicts, that is to say in fact the national group

formed when the racial groups begin to interact. This means implicitly that the m


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is to say, there is no human being who can willingly accept a status of political

servitude. It is self-evident therefore, that the white race in our country seeks to

perpetuate and unnatural condition. It is important, therefore, to realise that nature

is on the side of the blacks. It is important, furthermore, that the blacks cultivateand develop a philosophy of nature and of life that will centre around the concept of

human worth and human dignity for only when we value our own selves do we find it

necessary to struggle for the preservation and the assertion of that which is valuable

in us.

A paper for the Symposium on CREATIVITY AND BLACK DEVELOPMENT

organised by the South African Students' Organisation (SA SO).

II. SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Politics is the quest for and the use of power; and society is the interaction of

various power-groups. This view of politics and society is what I may describe as a

functional view in terms of our human circumstances in this country. It is functional

in the sense that it is a necessary view to hold in the creation of a practical attitude

towards the assessment of our condition. We blacks must sit down to examine the

various power-groups in our midst, with a view to finding out which of these groups

can be most effective and relevant towards our necessary, and hence natural,

struggle for a more meaningful participation in the shaping of our country's destiny.

It goes without saying, therefore, that there is a hierarchy of power-groups in a

political structure. But all these groups have one thing in common - the desire

to propagate a point of view which must be acceptable to a great number of

individuals. The highest power-group is that which has been granted the right and,at the same time, the privilege to rule a people. In seeking the greatest power that

man can ever wield, this group is conventionally referred to as the political group

or party. There are other power-groups which are normally referred to as social

groups, that is to say, smaller groups which by virtue of their existence, natural

necessity and interaction determine the nature of a community of people i.e. cultural

groups, educational groups, religious groups, industrial groups, sports groups

and others. An important characteristic of these social groups is that they may not

necessarily be in conflict with one another, for each seeks to assert itself in its own

field of interest.

III. POWER-GROUP AMONG BLACKS (a) The Peasant and Semi-PeasantThere are social divisions among the blacks, which are of a universal nature. Such

are those which exist between rural and urban blacks. The former, who in the

history of many social and political revolutions have often been regarded as having

the greatest potential as an agent or as an instrument for the mobilisation of human

forces towards social, political and economic reforms, are virtually a dormant group


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in South Africa. This group, whose members are known as peasants, is mostly to

be found in small rural ethnic concentrations either in reserves or in the small towns

bordering the reserves. Where the towns are far from the reserves but not very

far from the big towns, the peasants of a particular rural area may be made up ofseveral ethnic groups living together and working for the same white farmer. The

existence of these people has more often than not been an embarrassment to the

urban blacks whose relative social advancement has tended to make them wish to

forget their wretched past, constantly being brought to life by the peasant and his

companion, the migrant labourer.

The peasants on the white farms have almost no political consciousness. Their

day is rigidly scheduled according to some form of compulsory routine. They have

accepted, either consciously or sub-consciously, the fact that they are not working

for their own betterment; rather, they are working for a white master who seems

to have a right to benefit from their labours. They have no social security. They do

not own land. They can be driven away from the farms almost at the whim of their

white master. Even their very survival is not as important as the survival of their

master. Theirs is the life of insignificance, of diseases, of ignorance. Their whole

personal orientation is geared towards serving their master. They are grateful that

their master allows them to build their rusted zinc lean-to's half a mile away from the

master's mansion. They are human possessions which the white master does not

value.

Indeed, he does not even value their labour, as such, for he accepts their labour as

much as he accepts the fact of breathing. You only value the process of breathingwhen your lungs are in trouble. Before then, your lungs are some aspect of yourself

that you seldom think of in your life. That is the extent to which human beings have

been reduced - mere insignificance.

Yet, in spite of all his apparent degradation, we would be wrong to suppose that

there is no vital part of the peasant's personality which does not secretly abhor the

degrading agent and the inhuman physical conditions to which the agent subjects

him. An intuitive knowledge of natural justice tells the peasant that the life he is

leading is far from ideal; that he is insecure; that he wishes to own property and

work for his livelihood as any person proud of his physical strength, would wish.

However, to wish for something is an indication that you do not have it at themoment of wishing. Thus, the next step is to try to find ways and means of acquiring

the object of your wishes. What, therefore, can the peasant do? Nothing. It is a

fact that on their own, they cannot do much. They are weakened, as a group, by

ignorance; by lack of political awareness; by immediate ethnic differences which to

them are still the determinants of the basic conflicts in life. This peasant group is,


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indeed, a good example of a power-group that has no actual power. However, their

potential power is immense indeed. It is this potential power that should interest us,

for indeed, real social and political change, if it is to be a goal for all black people,

can only be realised in the mobilisation of all possible human resources.Closely related to the peasant group, is a group that has become semi-peasant and

semi-urban. This is the group of migrant labourers, most of whom work in the mines.

A good number of these come from neighbouring black countries. These migrant

labourers suddenly find themselves uprooted from a rural life which they find

uninspiring when compared with the stories of a glamorous life in the big cities. They

come to the town and frequently mix with the urban blacks. Again, the tendency of

the urban blacks has been to look down upon these labourers on account of their

untutored ways.

Having been in contact with the life of the towns, they have some measure of

political awareness. It is also important to realise that when they get back to their

homes, they come with an enhanced social status. They become interpreters of the

fast-moving world outside. Some of them become fairly literate. Thus, they realise,

with some articulation, that there is a lot they do not have which the better members

of their country, the white masters, have. They can do more for themselves than

their completely peasant companions. We must realise, therefore, that this group

can be a very important agent for social change in the rural areas.

(b) The Urban Blacks

The urban blacks are the most socio-politically aware among the black groups. This

is because the urban black is more advanced socially, politically, economically,educationally and in many other ways that make life in the urban areas supposedly

more meaningful. That is one of the unexpressed, main political reasons behind the

policy of the Bantustans. The urban blacks, because they know too much (much

more than the lower classes among the whites) must be divided into ethnic groups

and sent to their homelands. There, they shall become a semi-peasant group,

because basically the homelands are intended to be labour reservoirs of migrant

labourers. In the homelands, they can be very easy to control; easy to convince

that they are inferior, and easy to convince that they have political power when in

actual fact that political power is only the freedom to organise effectively, through a

government machinery, migrant labour, as some black neighbouring countries aredoing. The black governments in the homelands are going to do the white man's

dirty job.

However, in his relative advancement, the urban black still feels backward in

relation to his white counterpart. He works in the same factory as the white worker;

diagnoses the same diseases with the white doctor after having written the same


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examination; worships the same God as the white churchgoer and generally does

many other jobs which the whites do, yet, in a state which, by virtue of his colour,

discriminates against him, he is unable to participate in any decision-making

processes affecting him and his work.He has repeatedly compared his skills with those of his white counterpart and

has not found his skills wanting. There are two social evils which beset the life of

the urban black. He suffers primarily because of the black colour of his skin; and

secondarily as a member of the exploited class in a capitalist economy.

One of the most shattering characteristics of an advanced capitalist economy is

that it tends to be extremely acquisitive. People want to lay their hands on almost

anything that is brought to their notice by cunning advertisements. The urban blacks

have joined this acquisitive world, and the life of this world is characterised by

extreme alienation from oneself. Each person tends to move away from himself in

a bid to acquire things external to his own person. Thus, the acquisition and the

hoarding of material things is responsible for a proportional rise in social status. That

is to say, people do not matter; it is things that matter. Things make people; people

no longer make things, that is to say, people no longer approach work and matter

with a creative bent, because their handling of matter is no longer a means of self-

expression, it is now a barren conformity to an impersonal acquisitive norm. An

acquisitive society is also characterised by its purposelessness. There is no intrinsic

purpose behind this blind acquisition of material things; indeed, acquisition is an end

in itself. That is why after having acquired out of conformity, one has no value for

that which one has acquired, because it has no intrinsic value for one.A casual and brief look at the history of racism in South Africa shows that the early

white settlers were sincere in their belief in the inferiority of the black man. They

were driven by deep-seated religious beliefs. Now, it is no longer that way. There

are very few whites now religiously committed. Let us not be deceived, the Afrikaner

is no longer as deeply religious as he was in the nineteenth century. Today, he has

tasted of the material fruits of modern society and is determined to enjoy them for

as long as he can. The effect of religion is only powerful immediately after human

appeals to it have been successful. After that, that influence and power wane with

each passing generation. That is why today, the Afrikaner speaks of ideologies,

because an ideology is a rational product of the mind.That is why he now speaks of 'youth preparedness', because he cannot now rely

on irrational and mystical religious appeals. The capitalist society has removed

all the mysticism and seeks to be enjoyed on its own terms - rationality and

indoctrination. That is why rational justifications for apartheid only succeed in being

feeble. The true foundations of apartheid are irrational and that irrationality has now


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disappeared. Indeed, the effect of apartheid today lies in the statute books - laws

long written, and laws being written. The latest laws are now written with a view to

the benefit of the economy and not of religion.

This fact leads us to a very important conclusion. We have seen how a fast-movingcapitalist economy advances with a proportional increase in alienation. The white

South African does not know himself; he knows only that he is white, but of the

collective humanity of whites he has a vague knowledge because they have lost it.

The capitalist society has had its toll of self-alienation; and the laws passed to the

capitalist's benefit have helped him along by providing him with the maximum

opportunity for hoarding wealth. The black person has ceased to be just a person

who is black, he has now become a vital tool in the hoarding race; the acquisitive

marathon race. The black person has been reduced to a thing. There is no

difference between the machine and the black person. The money he earns is the

oil that serves to keep him running. The blacks have been relegated to a vague

generality in terms of human dimensions, and to a specific generality in terms of

exploitative and quantitative economic productivity. They have been reduced to a

mere racial concept of labour by all the sections of the white community. Blacks are

known as: labour in the factory; labour in the mines; anonymous labour in the

essential services; labour in the Kitchen. 'Labour' and 'black person' in South Africa

are synonymous. In changing such concepts about them, the blacks can cripple the

evil reality such concepts serve. They must realise that the whites cannot help but

acquire, and in doing so, these whites may be ignorant of the injustices they

perpetrate, having been rendered feeling less by the blind urge to acquire. Theblacks must assert their human dignity and rebel against an institution which

relegates them to the status of things.

By what has just been said, it should not be understood that the implication made is

that there are no racial conflicts. Among the whites, the fanaticism about race has

simply watered down to negative attitudes springing from a self-inflicted ignorance.

That is why apartheid has all in all become 'petty'. Apartheid is no longer a pseudo-

ideology; it has become an economic principle. This is an important development

for the black person. It means that the black man must be careful of concentrating

on the racial struggle, to the detriment of the economic struggle, because the latter

may have become more important than the former. The whites continue to makedeclarations about white superiority and Western Civilisation. These declarations

seemingly seek to underline racial conflicts; they are in essence intended to

hoodwink the black man into believing that his only problem is the racial one. This is

clearly brought out by the liberal elements among the whites. The liberal cry against

the oppression of the black man is essentially ethical. They do not want a politically


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free black man, they simply want a happy labour force. They have publicly declared

that the happier the blacks, the more they can produce economically. To the liberal,

the black person is still a thing, only the thing must be given more oil to function with

better efficiency. Let us look closely now, at the urban blacks.The black person has in the past tended to demonstrate to the whites that he was

also capable of being a professor, an engineer, a businessman, a technician and

other highly professional persons. So his whole personal orientation became geared

towards this personal display. Little did he realise that in trying to prove himself he

was doing so not on his own terms, but on the terms of the whites. He had to prove

himself within standards of life which had in themselves the capacity to oppress

him, not within the standards of his own indigenous civilisation. Thus today he is still

crying for education, sacrificing for it to the extent of starvation because the game of

personal display is still being played. There is a vague notion of what education is,

and what it is for. We have all heard at some stage in our life the distraught old lady

saying: My child, what can we do in this world without education? This question is

still being asked. But it is the wrong question. The correct question should be: When

we have education, what do we do with it?

What is happening now is that the blacks acquire education with only a vague aim

for its utilisation. The real shocking tragedy comes when the black man realises that

even with his education, he is still not really accepted by whites. He is still given

lower wages; he cannot do some jobs because of job reservations.

This struggle for education created social problems within the urban black

population. Those who struggled for this education for personal display tended,psychologically, to dissociate themselves from their ignorant lot. In this way a

black middle class, the darlings of the white liberals, was formed, that is to say,

class divisions were formed among the blacks. Some of the members of this

class due to their political perspicacity decided to seek the political kingdom on

behalf of their people. This group reigned during the time when the teacher and

the priest were highly respected members of the black community. Because they

brought themselves close to the people, their political influence lay in the fact

that they were the few whom the people could present to the world as symbols

of success. The influence of this group reached both its zenith and its downfall at

Sharpeville. Sharpeville indicated that the intelligentsia had failed. At that time, thefactory worker was just beginning to earn more than the priest and the teacher.

The ordinary, uneducated man could buy a car and even run a business. This new

economic power, insignificant though it was, gave the ordinary man confidence and

an increased self-reliance. But it was a self-reliance that had no political direction. It

was a self-reliance commanded more by a mere instinct for survival. When, under


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oppressive conditions, the group has failed, each person goes at it alone. Thus, any

collective racial feeling against the whites was greatly diminished, because each

person felt he was suffering as an individual.

When the struggle seemed to be that of individuals, the decadent values so typicalof capitalist economies set in. When there is excessive individuality, objective

morality ceases to have any meaning at all. Rapidly, the blacks were absorbed

into the stream of acquisitiveness. The moral effect this had on the social life of the

blacks was phenomenal. The appeal of the mass media became irresistible. Black

people began taking to fashions; buying cars, generally developing a compulsive

urge to seek entertainment. Thus their lives began to revolve around money and

the accumulation of wealth. How else do you explain the actions of a man who buys

a pair of shoes worth about thirty rands, when his family is starving? It is the same

with liquor, where the more expensive brands are preferred.

(i) The Black Middle Class

This class was referred to earlier on as the darlings of the white liberals. It is

made up of doctors, businessmen, lawyers, journalists, and other professional

people. Most of them have become obsessed with capitalist values. They have

the shared characteristic of indulging in the exploitation of their own people. This

is because, although they are politically aware, they have no political commitment.

There is also the added vice of individuality. Because Africans can own no land

in the urban areas, the white liberals were heard to speak on behalf of this black

middle class. It was argued that if they were given land, hence security, they would

work for the maintenance of law and order. This invariably means that they wouldassist in the oppression of the blacks. The womenfolk of this class have formed

ineffective social groups such as Women's Leagues where table manners, recipes,

and darning methods are discussed. The journalists are worse. There is no black

press in South Africa. The few black papers are white-owned. It follows, therefore,

that their editorial policies as decided by the whites are geared towards financial

gains, and the black editors seem to agree to be used as direct instruments for the

exploitation of their own people. The strategy of this press is to make feeble attacks

on apartheid as an indication to blacks that it is on their side. An indication that they

are not interested in the political education of the blacks is the space they give to

gory murders, rapes, sports, adultery and other sensational events. They justify theiractions by making false claims that blacks are keenly interested in such things.

The black middle class is also characterised by a general lack of creative

imagination. There seems to be endless imitation and very little innovation.

Scientists will complain about a lack of research facilities - what is there to prevent

them from building a small back-yard laboratory? Similarly teachers will complain


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about a lack of teaching aids - what is there to prevent them from making some?

Accomplished musicians will continue playing classicial music and American Jazz

without researching or experimenting with a wealth of musical forms and rhythms

around them. There is a general frustration from self-pity which does not seem tostruggle to find outlets. This is a group that should be in the forefront of a black

renaissance in South Africa. This class must wake up and review its position in the

black community. It should come nearer to the ordinary workers for it is the latter

who can give them a genuine support towards the realisation of healthy dreams,

and not the white liberals.

(ii) The Workers

The workers are by far the greatest number of urban dwellers. Like the peasants,

the urban workers have a great potential for effecting social change; but they have

had no effective leadership. But unlike their rural companions, the workers are

to some extent conscious of their political position, even if their dissatisfaction is

only feebly and vaguely expressed. The workers are very active in their urban

social setting. They have shown great initiative and creativity. From them we get

mbaqanga musicians, actors, beauty queens, soccerites, soul musicians, gangsters.

The middle class seldom, if ever, takes the challenge that the creativity of the

workers present. The middle class never develops on the crude initiative of the

workers precisely because it despises the workers' efforts. They forget that the

mainsprings of a true cultural identity come from below.

It has been mentioned that the workers lack effective leadership. Like most workers

throughout the world, the black urban workers are caught up in the webs of a socio-political environment they cannot fully comprehend. It is the educated middle class

who can explain to the workers the workings of the system they live in, in order to

channel this vast wealth of initiative towards the destruction of the system. There

is a group in black urban society which can be regarded as a sub-group of the

workers.

(iii) The Black Religious Sects

There are more than three thousand religious groups in South Africa. A number

of theories have been advanced to account for this occurrence. The generally

accepted theory is that because black people could not hope to participate

legitimately in the exercise of national political expression, they sought thisexpression in religion. Most of these groups broke away from the main white-

dominated denominations.

(iv) The Basis for a Black Socio-Political Change

We have seen what I consider the most important groups in the black community

and we have noticed that under over-bearing oppressive socio-political conditions,


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the more aware, by virtue of their education, tend towards a frustrated and apathetic

acceptance of the situation, whereas the less aware show a great zest for life.

Society cannot change significantly unless the crude initiative and creativity of the

less aware are crystallized into comprehensive gems of thought by the educated.If this does not happen, society as a whole lives by intuitions, and intuitions have

never been clear agents for purposeful collective and effective action.

(a) The Blacks and the Philosophy of Life

Life is there to be lived, and lived fully. To live life fully means putting into practice

as far as possible the life of the rational imagination. An essential characteristic

of the imagination is that it varies in direct proportion to the availability of physical

circumstances conducive to emotional self-expression. The emotional and spiritual

states of our being enlist the assistance and co-operation of the mind towards

their expression. It is the mind that examines physical possibilities of emotional

expression. If the mind cannot manipulate physical reality, imaginative reality soars

to great heights. If the latter does not find physical expression frustration sets in.

Frustration can be passive and it can be active. The former is that which seeks

no outlet; it simply forces the victim into a world of dreams only. Active frustration

searches for outlets for relief. It enlists another faculty of the human being - the will.

Active frustration, however, puts great reliability on the rational faculty. The mind is

forced and pressurised into seeking practical solutions.

We can see, therefore, that the essential duality of mind and matter is an ever-

present reality. The mind seeks to manipulate matter to the benefit of a third human

dimension - man's spiritual being which is the seat of morality. While nature tendsto be arranged in a dialectical pattern, it is also true that in the dialectical opposition

between good and evil, man tends to wish for the perpetuation of the good.

If man tends towards this desire, then it is only because nature wills it so. The

spiritual being in man determines the good to be pursued. Thus, when man handles

matter, he does so with the aim of doing something good with it. Having considered

these factors very briefly we can see that without man, matter is valueless; and

without matter, man has nothing with which to express himself. The purpose of man

is self-expression, in the manipulation of matter. When man has transformed matter

into an object of inner expression, he is magnified and made valuable because

he has created something of value. The aim of society therefore is to create anorder in which individuals can create, and politics is nothing but the quest for the

power to create maximum opportunity for man to create. Thus politics, properly

conceived, is also a creative occupation. The creation of society, for the purposes

mentioned, is a collective activity, that is to say society is for man. Any society will

tend to develop a culture peculiar to it. Thus, culture, in its broadest meaning, is a


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shared characteristic among members of a particular society of tending to seek self-

expression in a defined pattern of activities. But there is such a thing as universal

culture, such as the world objective knowledge, science, mathematics, technology

etc. These are not the monopoly of any one society; it is simply that some societiesacquired them before others.

The black man must begin to see life, his life in particular, in terms of the above

thesis. There are certain basic moral tenets which are essential prerequisites in the

quest for a creative society. The black man must believe that it is both good and

right for him, so long deprived of human worth, to seek the freedom to give ex-

pression to his humanity; he must believe that it is both good and right for him, so

long degraded, to reassert his human dignity, he must believe that it is good and

right for all citizens of South Africa to share equally in the creation of the means of

self-expression; he must believe that it is both good and right to believe that he

holds the right view because it is not in conflict with universal objective morality; he

must believe that a system that relegates humans to the status of feelingless things

is both wrong and evil not only because it degrades man, but also because it

desecrates those values and beliefs which man holds most dear. (We cannot talk

about man without in the same breath talking about the purpose of his life as is

indicated by his values). The black man must believe that it is both good and right

that if he lets such a system continue to degrade him, he is contributing to the

desecration of his own beliefs; he must believe that it is both good and right that

human beings are more than just labour entities; that the black man's mind and

being, if given free expression, can create great works of art; great music; greatphilosophical thought; great scientific contributions all of which can make South

Africa a great country. If the black man can see himself as such, he has already

begun the journey towards freedom; he has begun to turn the heaven of his

thoughts and beliefs into a physical reality on earth, and in South Africa.

(b) The Blacks and Indigenous Culture

Culture includes customs, traditions and beliefs. But customs and traditions are

man-made, therefore they can be changed according to whether man continues

to find value in them. No sooner has man created something than he either wants

to improve on what he has made or create something else. Culture therefore is

essentially dynamic. That is why the blacks must set about destroying the old andstatic customs and traditions that have over the past decades made Africa the

world's human zoo and museum of human evolution. When customs no longer

cater for the proper develop-ment of adequate human expression, they should be

removed. Almost all the so-called tribal customs must be destroyed, because they

cannot even do so little as to help the black man get food for the day.


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(c) The Blacks and Art

Today, the black man plays music with new musical instruments; he uses paints and

the chisel, and he writes. The black man must use new instruments without shame,

for science and technology are the rightful inheritance of all men on earth. But theuse to which the blacks put these things is their peculiarity. The blacks can develop

their own universal standards of artistic excellence. They must ignore the white critic

who, in reviewing a black art exhibition, says the black artist has not progressed

beyond the township themes. Such critics do not appreciate the paradox in the fact

that there is universality in parochiality. Black music must become more reflective.

The present state of music is chaotic.

Mbaqanga cannot make one think seriously about life: the same applies to soul

music as it is played by South African blacks. Black musicians must study the

kind of music we have and improve on it. Drama, that great art form of human

expression, is still very poor. It portrays the trivial aspirations of frustrated people

without making the people want to outlive such trivialities. The blacks must ignore

the white critic who says that drama is not a black art form. Drama is a universal art

form, and the black playwright must develop on the dramatic events peculiar to his

environment. The blacks must ignore the frustrated black journalist who says that

South African blacks must win the political kingdom first before they begin to create

artistic works of any meaning and merit. Indeed, it is the great art works that inspire

a bondaged people towards seeking freedom. An imaginative exploration of the

miserable human conditions in which people live, touches the fibre of revolt in them;

the fibre that seeks to reassert human dignity. Indeed, an intellectual awakening is avital prerequisite to any significant social change.

(d) The Blacks and Religion

Religion is a very important and highly effective form of social control. A wrong

religion can influence people towards wrong and irrelevant values and aspirations.

We have seen how religion has seemingly been used as a substitute for political

expression. In being thus, religion in the black community has become barren,

because it has no intellectual content to it. Thus, the many sects we see are a

perpetuation of bondage. The blacks must obliterate all these sects. On the other

hand, the blacks must turn their backs on all the Western Churches; they have been

shorn of all emotional content. A genuine religion will spring out of the blacks' owncircumstances, just as a genuine philosophy of life should. It should be a religion

that will find God through man; and not man through God. Man must understand

himself first before he can relate himself to God. A religion of today must be like a

true work of art: it must rationally centre in man and yet be rooted in an inexplicable

mystery, the appeal of which is emotional. Religion is man-made, and because it is


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man-made it is also subject to the forces of change. A strong religion is one which,

over the ages, has continued to be an accepted determinant of social morality. If

and when it fails something else must be devised to keep society's confidence in

accepted moral codes.We have looked at the various aspects of the socio-political situation of the black

community in South Africa. It is now for the black man to begin to work. It is work

that involves a whole human re-orientation. The blacks must awaken intellectually,

spiritually, socially, morally, culturally and in many other ways that make life worth

living. If the whites do not want to change their attitudes, let the blacks advance

and leave them behind; and when they have been left behind, let them be waited

for on the day they realise the value of change. The important thing to realise is

that what the blacks are striving for is more valuable than racial hatred. The blacks

must know what they want when they cry for freedom. They should not be put in

the situation whereby when they get this freedom they do not know what to do with

it. The struggle is more than a racial one; it is also a human one; a human struggle

involves development in all human activities that are the marks of true civilisation.

THE NEW DAY

C.M.C. Ndamse

C.M.C. Ndamse is a distinguished educationist and former lecturer at the University

of Fort Hare.

PRINCE BISMARCK once said that one-third of German university students broke

down from overwork, another third broke down from dissipation, while the other third

ruled Germany, I do not know which third of the student body is here tonight, but I

am confident that I am talking to the future rulers of this country, and also of the free

countries who may have come to this centre of freedom.

It is my belief that this institution is not only interested in turning out mere

corporation lawyers, skilled accountans or entomologists. What it is interested in,

and this I hope is true of every university, is in turning out citizens of the world, men

who comprehend the difficult, sensitive tasks that lie before them as free men and

women, men who are willing to commit their energies to the advancement of a free

society. That is why you are here.Dr Brookes is still alive. My remarks on and references to him must naturally be

limited. Here we have a statesman who eloquently proved the difference between a

statesman and a politician. A statesman thinks and prepares for the next generation.

The politician thinks and prepares for the next general election. Here we have a

politician who has eschewed mud-slinging, and always fought with clean hands.


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Here we have an educationist whose name has been a password from generation

to generation. He is one of the most distinguished scholars in South Africa, who

does not believe that knowledge is merely for study, but that it is also for the market

place. We are talking about Brookes the Christian whose deeds and activities are atestimony to the soldiers of the Cross. But above all we are talking about Brookes

the man. I shall not be so naive as to suggest a fitting epitaph for him when he

reports for higher service, but I do suggest that when he gets to the pearly gates of

heaven and Gabriel and Michael demand an account of his activities, the answer

should be straight and simple I am Brookes'. Believe me, the gates will open on

their own accord.

That is why, Mr. President, your invitation was accepted with trepidation. And yet

to stand before you I count as a priceless privilege. To stand before you as a Dr

E.H. Brookes lecturer means to link arms with those men who have previously

demarcated, at your request, the irreducible line of academic freedom. This is a

momentous task, to be assumed with all humility, and demands from each of us a

statement as to where he stands and who he is. It is my heartfelt delight to remind

this august gathering that my fore-bears stalked these hills in days of yore. My

great-grandfather fought side-by-side with Shaka, and when Disraeli said: 'What!

these Zulus, they beat our soldiers and convert our bishops', he was referring to the

prowess and valour of the Zulus which has never been surpassed. This is the day

gone by. I am looking for the new day. This city is named after two Voortrekkers

leaders, reminding us of the carnage and bloodletting that took place in these parts.

These vales and valleys were filled with bellowing of beast and moaning of dyingmen. Human wreckage lay scattered, and the birds of the air fed with glee to their

satisfaction. The bullet penetrated man's skull, and the assegais kissed man's heart.

Man fought with alacrity to grab and usurp. Man fought with valour and honour

to hold. God's children were at one another's throat. Hell was let loose. That day

passed and gave way to another day. Black hands joined to build the city. Time

marched on.

We are all immersed in the stream of time. As day succeeds day and history bears

us onward over its cataracts of change, we cannot be certain where we are or

where we are tending. I am sure that Charlemagne's followers never thought of

themselves as 'coming out of the dark ages'. The men of the Middle Ages didn'tknow their period was giving way to the Renaissance. In fact, as far as they were

concerned, their age was not in the middle but right in front, like every real degree

of doubt about any attempt to appreciate changing circumstances and to define

historical epochs. One may believe that a momentous period in human history has

come to an end. I may say that I fully agree with Paul Sauer, when after SharpeVille


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he said: The old book has closed and a new one has begun'. So profound are

the changes and upheavals. But I fully realise that there is nothing more difficult

to share and perhaps easier to refute, than a particular angle of vision on human

affairs. Historical change and changes in the circumstances in and of man have away of deluding the observers.

It may be that the complexity of our times comes from the fact that many processes

are going on simultaneously. There is a definite setback in the political control

exercised by the peoples of Western Europe for centuries. The people of Western

Europe committed the fatal mistake of associating political control with the 'white

colour'. The black world has been asserting its rights with ever-increasing

determination. The Declaration of Human Rights means more to the blacks than

many people realise or care to know. The blacks are now aware of their numerical

superiority. They have watched with glee the struggle between the United States

and Russia - the Colossus of Europe, in Smuts's words. They have evolved the

doctrine of non-alliance. They have used the United Nations Organisation to good

advantage. There is above all the dramatic phenomenon, the new discovery by

the black peoples: Black Consciousness. May I in passing sound this warning that

wise men ignore this new development at their own peril. Another process was a

world-wide expansion of the technological and egalitarian revolution which Western

Europe set in motion - the West Europeans have changed everything because

as their dominion grew, they invented and carried through the decisive modern

revolutions based on the drives of equality, science, technology and fair play. The

white man's transformation affected everybody else. They began, perhaps notwithout cause, to think well of themselves. They forgot the cardinal lesson. They are

no exception. They foamed dry about their civilising mission. Had they not rescued

peoples from barbarism, converted the heathen, whatever that meant, and made

three blades of grass grow where none grew before? They even claimed some

special endowment and privilege for the colour of their skin. Western civilisation

and Christianity were synonymous. The converted were, however, not allowed to

discuss the ills of this world. Golden seats awaited them in the world to come.

This did not go on without being noticed. Cetwayo, the Zulu King, expressed himself

succinctly. Referring to the activities of the white people, he said, 'First come

missionary, then come rum, then come traders, then come army'. But Cecil Rhodesexpressed himself more clearly, 'I would rather have more land than niggers'.

Conquest and power do not confer intrinsic value. That lies in Man's being alone,

the humanity he shares with all God's creatures. The fact that the two world wars

were conducted by men of white skin tells only that during that period, they had the

edge in strength, weaponry and new techniques. Indeed, if at time, to be in terms of


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superiority, we would all be living in a well-ordered Utopia. Our world is still largely

what they made it to be. The confusion and violence in which our planet is now

immersed suggests that the Europeans are not supermen. They are men, and so

are all the in-habitants of this globe. Mankind, I believe, will have a special chapterfor the period in history when a leading nation in the west dropped the hydrogen

bomb on Hiroshima.

The new day we crave for replaces the old day. We choose to forgive and forget the

past. Let us close the old books. Let us search ourselves. Let us find out who the

real lovers of our land are. Let us be clear as to who the enemies of our land are.

Where do you place those who even in spite of themselves, are prepared to spend

and to be spent to improve race relations? Where do you place those who boast?

May I crave for indulgence in my plea for the consideration of the black worker!!

The black people are forced to labour under circumstances which are calculated not

to inspire them with love and respect for labour. This constitutes a part of the reason

why it is necessary to emphasise the matter of industrial education as a means of

giving the black man the foundation of a civilisation upon which he will grow and

prosper. Mere training of the hand without the culture of brain and heart would mean

little. The effort must be to make the millions of blacks self-supporting, intelligent,

economical and valuable citizens as well as to bring about the proper relations

between them and the white citizens among whom they will continue to live.

With proper preparation and with sufficient foundation, the black man possesses

the elements out of which men of the highest character and usefulness can be

developed.Lessons shall be applied honestly, bravely, in laying the foundation upon which

the black man can stand in the future and make himself a useful, honourable

and desirable citizen, whether he has his residence in the urban areas or in the

homelands. I am black. I know the black man pretty well - him and his needs, his

failures and his success, his desires and the likelihood of their fulfillment - I have

studied the relations with our white neighbours, and striven to find how these

relations may be more conducive to the general peace and welfare of both the black

man and of the country at large.

I am not minimising the attempts that are being made. But the truth must be given in

no uncertain terms that these attempts are too little, too slow, too niggardly and toogrudgingly given.

The creation of nationalities and separate states within the ambit of South Africa has

reached the point of no return. We leave this to time and the safe lap of history. Let

me say, however, that the three million whites are bound to the twenty million blacks

by ties which neither can tear asunder even if they would. The most intelligent in


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the University of Natal campus community has his intelligence darkened by the

ignorance of a fellow citizen in the backveld of KwaZulu. The most wealthy in Park

town would be more wealthy but for the poverty of a fellow being in the shackles of

a Free State small dorp. The most moral and religious men (in human terms) in atheological seminary have their religion and morality modified by the degradation

of the man living in squalor. Therefore, when the black man is ignorant, the white

man is ignorant, when the black man is poor, the white man is poor, when the black

man is in rags, the white man is in rags or at best, his soul is in rags. When the

black man is the victim of countless diseases, because of the squalor and abject

conditions under which he lives, the white man is in danger for epidemics and germs

defy divisions of colour and creed. When the black man's crime-wave increases,

the whole nation commits crime. For the white citizens of South Africa there is no

escape. They must help raise the character of the civilisation of the black man or

theirs is lowered.

No member of the white community in any part of South Africa can harm the

weakest or meanest member of the black race without the proudest and the bluest

blood of the nation being degraded.

It seems to me that there never was a time in the history of our country when those

interested in education in this audience should the more earnestly consider to what

extent the mere acquisition of the degree, the mere acquisition of a knowledge of

literature and science makes men producers, lovers of labour, independent, honest,

unselfish and, above all, good.

Call education by whatever name you please, if it fails to bring about these resultsamong the people, it falls short of the highest end. The science, the art, the literature

that fails to reach down and bring the humblest up to the enjoyment of the fullest

blessings of our land, is weak, no matter how costly the building or apparatus

used, or how modern the methods of instruction employed. The study of applied

mathematics and statistics on poverty and disease and illiteracy that does not result

in making men conscientious in alleviating the lot and plight of their fellow-men is

faulty. The study of art and social sciences that does not result in making the strong

less willing to oppress the weak means little.

How I wish that from the corridors and campus of such a university to the humblest

mud-hut primary school among the kraals of the Transkei wild coast, we couldburn, as it were, into the hearts and heads of all, that usefulness, that service to our

brother, is the supreme end of education.

We have had quack ideas repeated ad nauseum that the black man is an innocent

child of nature who needs the perpetual protection of the white man. It has been

asserted that education helps the black man, and that education hurts him, that he


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is fast leaving the rural areas and taking up work and residence in white areas, and

that this justifies strict influx control measures. It has been asserted that education

unfits the black man for work and that education makes him more valuable as a

labourer, that he is the greatest criminal or thief and that he is our most law-abidingcitizen.

The black man has been told to acquaint himself with the modern scientific methods

in farming; in the same breath he has been told to perpetuate and cherish his

custom and traditions. The black man has been told about diet and about the

vitamins. He is told about the traditional food and to plant and eat mealies to

maintain identity. The black man is told to love his mother tongue which he learnt

from his mother's lap and that mother tongue instruction or medium in schools is the

best educational communication known and yet he is told that to get a decent job he

must prove proficiency in English or Afrikaans or both.

In the midst of these conflicting opinions, it is hard to hit upon the truth. But also

in the midst of this confusion, there are a few things of which I am certain - things

which furnish a basis for thought and action. I know that whether the blacks are

inferior or not inferior, whether they are growing better or worse, whether they are

valuable or valueless, a few years ago there were few Coloureds, fewer Indians

and not so many Africans and now these number millions. I know that whether

oppressed or free, the black people have always been loyal to the South African

flag, that no school house has been opened for them that has not been filled, that

the statements and pronouncements issued by black leaders are as potent for

weal or woe as those from the wisest and most influential men in the Republic.I know that wherever the black man's life touches the life of the nation, it helps

or hinders, that wherever the life of the white race touches the black, it makes it

stronger or weaker. I know that only a few centuries ago, soldiers and missionaries

alike felt themselves crusaders to save the pagans, that the blacks came out

better Christians. The blacks went to school with a foreign language as medium of

instruction, they came out speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. Today many

blacks speak more idiomatic English than many Afrikaners.

They speak better Afrikaans than many English-speaking South Africans. Indeed

many blacks are thoroughly proficient in English, Afrikaans and vernacular. A few

years ago, the Coloured especially in the Western Cape was left to the fate of theslow paralysis of the tot system. That today they are a potential force admits of no

debate. A few years ago, the Indians came to South Africa on invitation. Under the

blazing sun their sweat soaked the soil along the Natal coast.

They would, it was thought, multiply with untold prolificacy, fill the gutters and if it

must needs be, they would be repatriated. At the time South Africa did not know that


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these people had an 'eastern secret'. They have the ability to bear and endure. With

their indomitable spirit, they have moved from strength to strength, defying 'ghetto

laws' and paralysing restrictions. I am inviting the 'doubting Thomas' to accompany

me to Grey Street. Indeed let him open his radio set on Saturday or Sunday morningand listen to the wonderful music with an eastern setting. Much credit goes to the

present government for its wisdom to see the need for change of attitude.

The African tribesmen from all the corners of Southern Africa, moved in ant-

like formations to the mines. From the bowels of the earth, where many of them

have died unwept and unsung they brought gold and diamonds, which precious

stones have made South Africa the white man's 'haven' and the envy of many. For

these humble and innocent children of nature the habitat was the vermin-infested

compound or sack hovel. But I know, who does not, that their descendants are the

commercial tycoons in Soweto. From the backyards of garages and hovels the black

muscles carry South Africa unflinchingly. Yes, the hand and muscle of men and

women happy in distress and rich in poverty. The world has been twice faced with

devastating wars, and twice the black man has answered the clarion call to fight for

king and country. The wreckage at the bottom of the sea near France includes the

pieces of the Mendi. The story is told that as the ship was slowly and surely sinking,

a faint voice was heard saying, 'Abantwana bam, Abantwana bam'. 'Oh, my children

- my children'! We have reason to believe that this cry was a testimony of hope that

the men had fought a good fight for a good cause and better things awaited their

children. In the second world war the black hands waved knob-kieries and rusted

assegais at Marshall Goering's mechanised units. And day and night, the BritishBroadcasting' Corporation, echoing the declaration of the Atlantic Charter, beamed

in constant refrains 'we fight for freedom'.

On the frontline the black man did all to save a white brother. At home the wheels

of progress rolled on and there is not a single attempt to sabotage the war effort

reported on the part of a black man.

I submit it to the candid and sober judgment of all men, are not a people capable

of such a taste, such transformation, such endurance, such long-suffering not

worth recognising? We crave for recognition and not tolerance. We call upon South

Africa to help us to help them. One of the clarion calls we are called upon to make

is that our nation with might and main should open the floodgates of educationalopportunities.

For this we need honest men who will face the stark realities of the situation. There

are those among both black and white who assert with a good deal of earnestness,

that there is no difference between the white man and the black man. This sounds

very pleasant and tickles the fancy. But when the test of hard, cold logic is applied


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to it, it must be acknowledged that there is a difference - not an in-herent one, not a

racial one, but a difference growing out of unequal opportunities in the past and at

present.

Of course these days it is common knowledge that there is no inherent inferiority onthe part of the black man. Some years ago the black man foamed dry trying to prove

that he had as much brain and intelligence as the white man. If I were provoked, I

would be inclined to say that under given circumstances, the black child has better

brains than the white child.

Consider the prenatal care that is given to an average white child, how the mother

is fed, cared for, and nursed. Consider the care taken in a nursing home or hospital.

Consider the nursing the baby is given. A balanced diet awaits the baby. Hygienic

conditions surround both mother and baby.

On the other hand the black child is born of an ill-fed mother. Often the black child

is born in a thatched rondavel kitchen filled with smoke. At times the rondavel is

infested with vermin. Almost all the facilities and amenities taken for granted for

the white child are conspicuous by their absence. As he grows he hardly has toys.

There is no children's literature.

There is no radio. The black child and the white child go to school. It has happened

that these have found themselves on the campus of Natal University. At some stage

the two write the same examination and obtain the same grade. The question may

be asked, if the conditions were the same from the beginning, what would be the

position? The highest test of civilisation of any nation is its willingness to extend

a helping hand to the less fortunate. A nation, like an individual, lifts itself up bylifting others up. Surely no people ever had a greater chance to exhibit the fortitude

and magnanimity than is now presented to the people of South Africa. It requires

little wisdom or statesmanship to repress, to crush out, to retard the hopes and

aspirations of a people.

But the highest and most profound statesmanship is shown in guiding and

stimulating a people so that every fibre in the body and soul shall be made to

contribute in the highest degree to the usefulness and ability of the nation. It is along

this line that I pray God the thoughts and activities of this audience may be guided.

We must all recognise the world-wide fact that the black man must be led to see and

feel that he must make every effort possible in every way possible, to secure thefriendship, the confidence, the co-operation of his white neighbour in South Africa.

However, I am aware that the white man has no respect for a black man who does

not act from principle. In some way the white man must be led to see that it is to his

interest to turn his attention more and more to the making of laws that will, in the

truest sense, elevate the black man. One of the greatest questions which our youth


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must face in South Africa is the proper adjustment of the new relations of the races.

It is a question which must be faced calmly, quietly, dispassionately and the new

day has dawned to rise above party, above race, above colour, above sectionalism,

into the region of duty of man to man, of South African to South African, of Christianto Christian.

The black people will fight for the maintenance of their identity. Yet we should surely

admit that we are one in this country. The question of the highest citizenship and

the complete education of all, concerns all people in South Africa. When one race is

strong the other is strong. When one is weak, the other is weak.

There is no power that can separate our destiny. Indignities and petty practices

which exist in many places injure the white man and inconvenience the black

man. No race can wrong another race, simply because it has the power to do so,

without being permanently injured in its own morals. The black man can, as he has

often done, endure the temporary inconvenience, but the injury to the white man is

permanent. It is for the white man to save himself from this degradation that I plead.

If a white man insults a black man, ill-treats him, despises him, it is the white man

who is permanently injured. Vexation of spirit comes to the black man discriminated

against or hurt, but death of morals - death of the soul - comes to those responsible

for discrimination.

In the economy of God there is but one standard by which an individual can

succeed. There is but one for a race. This country, which we all love and for which

we shall pay any price, for its own sake, expects that every race shall respect the

dignity of man.During the next decade, the black man must continue passing through the severe

South African crucible. He is to be tested in his patience, for his forbearance, his

perseverance, his power to endure -to withstand temptations, to economise, to

acquire and use skill - his ability to compete, to succeed in commerce, to disregard

the superficial for the real, the appearance for the substance, to be great and yet

small, learned and yet simple, high and yet the servant of all. This is the passport

to all that is best in the life of our South Africa and the black man must possess it

or be barred out. It is this discovery that has given birth to Black Consciousness.

Moreover it is with a people as it is with an individual. It must respect itself if it

would win the respect of others. There must be a certain amount of pride about arace. There must be a great deal of faith on the part of a race in itself. An individual

cannot succeed unless he has about him a certain amount of pride - enough pride

to make him aspire to the highest and best things in life. Wherever you find an

individual who is ashamed of his race trying to get away from his race, apologising

for being a member of his race, then you find a weak individual. And such a race is


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weak and vacillating. The apostles of Black Consciousness adhere to this and are

prepared to pay any price to go it alone. I am not going to call upon liberals to shed

tears, if they have any.

Some of us are convinced that the sponsors of Black Consciousness hate nobodyand bear malice to none. They have discovered, and just in time, that they

are 'children of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; they have a right

to be here'. And we are all convinced that in working out his own destiny, while the

main burden of activity must be with the black man, he will need, as he has done in

the past, the help, encouragement and guidance the strong can give the weak. Thus

helped, those of all races in South Africa will soon throw off the shackles of racial

and sectional prejudice and rise above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness and

selfishness into that atmosphere, that pure sunshine, where it will be the highest

ambition to serve man, our brother, regardless of race or previous condition. We

should hear less nonsense about Dutchmen, Rooineks, and Coolies and Kaffirs. We

should realise that every man, woman and child, no matter what colour or creed,

is a vital component of a tremendous nation-in-being, a momentous experiment in

history, of which we are a part. As South Africans we are committed to the arduous

task of building a great society, - not just a strong one, not just a rich one, but a

great society. This is a pact we make with ourselves. We should remember that the

bastion for South Africa is not a particular section of the population, indeed neither

is it an increased defence budget or more information offices, as necessary as these

may be. The bastion for this country is the great society of great men and women

dedicated to their mother-land not by ties of master and servant, but by mutualrespect. Let us remember what Thomas Jefferson said, borrowing a vivid phrase

from an English Revolutionary, ... 'the mass of mankind has not been born with

saddles on their backs, nor a favoured few booted and spurred, ready to ride them

legitimately by the grace of God'.

The effect of discrimination on the human mind has an affinity with the mental

condition we call arrested development; an historian whose task it is to record

the deeds of the perpetrators of discrimination towards the blacks, finds himself

embarrassed by what he knows will be the contemptuous astonishment of posterity.

He feels he is being invited to chronicle the mischief and snivelling of schoolboys

who should be birched and sent to bed in eternal oblivion. But they have a place inhistory. It is a humiliation of the Muse of History.

The new day has come for every lover of South Africa to set the might of angered

and resolute manhood against the shame and peril of discrimination. These

perpetrators of discrimination whose glee taunts their victim as he is bundled

out through the front door of a restaurant, or is thrown headlong into the police


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van for failure to produce a pass, do not represent the best among the whites in

South Africa. And I plead for the masterful sway of a righteous and exalted public

sentiment that shall condemn discrimination to high heaven. Let us remember that

there is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitable:The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor with oppressed. And, close as sin

and suffering joined, we march to fate'.

Mr President, let me say that millions of black hands will aid you in pulling the load

upward, or they will pull against you the load downwards. The blacks will constitute

a fraction and more of the ignorance and crime in South Africa or a fraction of

its intelligence and progress. They shall contribute to the business and industrial

prosperity of South Africa, or they shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating,

depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. The United States and

Russia choose to make amends in space. We choose to make amends on mother

earth.

My friends, this is our task. It is not an easy one. At present great gaps in culture,

understanding, education and income hold the races apart. It is not simply a

question of white and black. It is all round the world. The 'new day' may be too

imperceptible for our eyes. The atmosphere may be more congenial than we

imagine. Let me remind the youth in this hall that the temptation, is naturally to want

no change. Idealism ends with the attainment of a degree. It is very comfortable

to be at the top of a heap, to live in a clean home with all the amenities, not filthy

backyards; to see your children grow up well fed, with adequate provision for

education, to have no experience of hunger; to be literate and skilled, to knownothing of human contempt.

Somebody has said that this lulls the conscience, dulls the mind and narrows the

heart. As Robert Kennedy once said: 'For the fortunate among us the danger is

comfort; the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition

and financial success so grandly spread before those who have the privilege of

education. But that is not the road that history has marked out for us. There is a

Chinese curse which says: 'May he live in interesting times'. Like it or not we live in

interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty, but they are also more

open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone

here will ultimately be judged - will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he hascontributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and

goals have shaped that effort'.

We are called to duty in good weather and in bad. Let us take heart from the

certainty that we are united by hope and purpose. For we know now that freedom is

more than the rejection of discrimination, that prosperity is more than escape from


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want, that good race relations is more than the sharing of power. These are, above

all, the human adventures. They must have meaning, conviction and purpose and

because they do, the new day calls us to a great new mission. The mission is to

create a new social order, founded on liberty, justice and fair play, in which all menand women can share a better life for themselves and their children.

So we are idealists. We are all visionaries. Let it not be said of you and of me

that we left ideals and visions to the past, nor purpose and determination to our

adversaries.

And we shall ever remember what Goethe once said:

The highest wisdom, the best that mankind ever knew, was the realisation that he

only earns his freedom and existence who daily conquers them anew'.

Delivered at Edgar Brookes Academic and Human Freedom Lecture for 1972 at

University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, on Friday May 5th, 1972.

KWA-ZULU DEVELOPMENT

Chief M.G. Buthelezi

Chief M.G. Buthelezi is the Chief Executive Councillor of the KwaZulu Legislative

Assembly.

In South Africa, this is one of those rare occasions where people meet across the

colour line not as masters and servants but as fellow compatriot to communicate.

This is not deny the fact that I came here as a representative of the underdogs of

this land who are the servants-class of South Africa, and whether we like this or not

you represent the master-class of this land on whom my people depend for a living.

It was suggested that I should in my short talk deal with The Current Economic

Situation and it Affects the Zulu Homeland. I must say that with all due respect for

this suggestion, I am no economist. I will, however, do my best to present in as few

words as possible the picture as I see it from the point of view of a black man in the

street.

As a historian I will be excused of reading a bit of well-known history of our land,

because I believe that no one can never see things in their proper perspective,

save against the wider canvas of the history of the land. This is regardless ofwhatever one wants to look at, be it political issues, cultural or social problems. This

applies equally to our economic ills. As a layman I cannot make presentations that

I can offer a diagnosis or even a hazard guess at any cures for our economic ill in

KwaZulu.

However, being a representative of the patient, I can at least describe the pains

particularly the very sharp ones around the tummy which are so excruciatingly


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painfully! Even the doctor needs this is to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.

As early as 1880 The Natal Witness disputed the suggestion that Africans had any

right to consider Natal as their country: They are here as immigrants on sufferance,

and not as citizens'. This was after the Zulu War, when even Zulu territory north ofthe Thukela was fragmented deliberately in order 'to break the Zulu power once

and for all', in the words of Sir Bartle Frere and Zulu Territory was opened up by

the conquerors for white occupation. This was not peculiar to Natal, but happened

throughout this southern-most point of Africa.

My people were at first self-sufficient because there was enough to eat and no

problems of population explosion. This too was soon brought to an end by the new

conquerors who called upon Chiefs to supply young men to work on what was then

known as Isibhalo. They were in other words forced to sign contracts to come to

places like Johannesburg and Kimberley and other industrial areas to build the white

industrial empires that we see in full bloom in all the metropolitan areas of South

Africa. Taxation was one of the methods used to force Africans to move into urban

areas to work.

The tragedy deepened when even in the urban areas my people found themselves

regarded as temporary sojourners who were there on sufferance, only to minister

to the reasonable wants of whites. According to the 1852-1853 Commission Report

it was recommended that 'All kaffirs should be ordered to go decently clothed. This

measure would at once tend to increase the number of labourers because, as they

would be obliged to work to procure the means of buying clothing, it would also add

to the general revenue of the Colony through Customs Duties'.Coming to the question of the so-called Homelands, as early as 1849 Earl Grey

agreed that it would be 'difficult or impossible' to assign to Africans reserves of such

a size that they could continue to be economically self-sufficient. He added that it

was desirable that Africans should 'be placed in circumstances in which they should

find regular industry necessary for their subsistence' 1.

Not all Africans could be accommodated on the reserves, and the remainder

continued to occupy crown lands and colonist owned farms. Africans ultimately

spilled over into the white farms as squatters. The reserves were made up of the

worst farming lands in the Colony. According to G.R. Peppercorne, most of the

land in the Impofana reserve is 'as worthless as the sands of Arabia' (2). Only thirtypercent of KwaZulu is arable land.

According to Brookes and Hurwitz there was no increase in land provision

for Africans between 1864 and 1913(3). The promises made by the Hertzog

Government under the Native Trust and Land Act of 1936 for an additional quota

of land to my people and other ethnic groups was a recognition of this fact. Little
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wonder that whereas other people improve with times, my people have sunk lower

and lower into poverty over the years because they are caught between two devils.

When the Zulu Territorial Authority was inaugurated in 1970 I made it clear that

without consolidation of land, the present Government's policy would not make anysense. There has been very little done or said about this aspect of government

policy until last year when the Prime Minister promised to consolidate the Zulu

Homeland only to the extent of the 1936 land quota. I pointed out to him then that

consolidating in terms of that quota could hardly be adequate in terms of setting us

up as a separate independent State in terms of his government's policy.

What happened last week has been merely confirmation of what the Prime Minister

said last year and also a few weeks ago in Parliament. I refer here to the so-called

draft map for the consolidation of KwaZulu. This is a question which is crucial to

the whole exercise of setting up KwaZulu as a country and on it hangs the issue of

whether we can ever be economically viable or not. I wish also to submit that the

whole question of our economic potential depends on it.

Earlier this year I opened a conference at the University of Natal's Institute for

Social Research on Towards Comprehensive Development in Zululand'. This

Conference was interesting in so far as we did not try to find cures for KwaZulu's

economic ills, but managed to assess the complexity of KwaZulu's economic ills.

We found that there are two issues closely interlinked, the problems relevant to the

development of the Zulu homeland territories, on the one hand, and those relevant

to the development of the Zulu people on the other. Although the two issues are

closely interlinked, the problems facing the development of the Zulu people, theAmaZulu, relate not only to the Zulu Homeland Areas, but more directly to the entire

economic, social and political structure of South Africa. The development of the

AmaZulu (or that of other blacks for that matter) is much more closely interlinked

with change and progress in the common economy and common area of South

Africa, than is the development of KwaZulu (4).

To me the most important area which concerns all of us is that of the development

of my people. At present we have hardly any employment opportunities for the

KwaZulu citizens, no wonder we have only about a third of citizens in KwaZulu at

any time. More than sixty percent of our able-bodied males are away most of the

time.We have at present no industrial growth points except Sithebe which has few Zulus

at present, who are paid very low wages. The specious argument used by the Bantu

Investment Corporation is that although Sithebe has low wage levels and ample

supply of labour on the credit side, the relatively low level of training is ranking high

on the debit side and it is, therefore, not strange to find that an unskilled worker is
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Documents

Black Viewpoint: Stephen Bantu BIKO 1972