The African National Congress in the Western Transvaal/Northern Cape Platteland, c. 1910–1964: Patterns of Diffusion and Support for Congress in a Rural Setting

Abstract This article examines the nature and trajectory of ANC engagement with the predominantly rural inhabitants of the former western Transvaal/northern Cape, the region of the present-day North-West province. Even before the formal launching of the ANC, a number of influential figures in the region, in particular members of the Molema family in Mafikeng, provided an intellectual framework for the founding of an African nationalist movement. From its inception then the organisation gained significant support in the rural districts, both because the Molema's were an important chiefly family, and because the Batswana rural elites saw in the ANC an instrument for countering the impact of the 1913 Native Land Act. In the 1920s the ANC was able to sustain its initial success by the formation of ANC branches in most of the small dorps (towns) in the western Transvaal platteland. By the end of the decade however, the ANC's influence waned, and the South African Communist Party and the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union of Africa (ICU), were able to mobilise African political opinion and activity more effectively. The situation began to change in the 1950s as the state began increasingly to direct its attention to controlling the lives of rural Africans and taking control of traditional authorities. The 1957 'Hurutshe Revolt' was the catalyst for a wider regional resistance to the carrying of passes for women specifically, and state intervention in general. The article traces the genesis of this resistance, and through the recent availability of source materials, the role of the ANC in the affair. Support for the ANC quickened after this, and the Zeerust became to key to ANC strategy as the period of exile began. Keywords: African National CongressTransvaal Native CongressTswana chiefs (dikgosi)Molema FamilySol PlaatjeIndustrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU)Zeerust RevoltRamotshere MoiloabanishmentMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Notes 1B. Willan, Sol Plaatje, South African Nationalist, 1876–1932 (London: Heinemann, 1984), 140. 2University of Witwatersrand (hereafter UW), William Cullen Library, (hereafter WCL), Historical and Literary Papers Collection (hereafter HLPC), Silas Molema Collection, Microfilm Cc9, P. Ka-Isaka Seme to Silas Molema, 3 November 1911. 3This sketch is taken from the 'Introduction to the Inventory of the Silas T. Molema Collection and the Solomon T. Plaatje Papers', WCL, UW. 4The Notice is contained in UW, WCL, HLPC, Microfilm Cc 9, 'Proclamation in Terms of the Suppression of Communism Act…' Minister of Justice, C.J. Swart, 11 September 1953. 5J. Starfield, 'Dr Modiri S. Molema, (1891–1965), The Making of a Historian', PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008, 43. A complete history of Molema's political life awaits writing. 6P. Walshe, The Rise of African Nationalism in South Africa, 1912–1953, (Los Angeles: C. Hurst, 1970). 7UW, WCL, HLPC, Silas Molema Collection, Cc 9, Dube to Lekoko Montshiwa, 3 November 1911. 8Walshe , Rise of African Nationalism, 210. 9S. Dubow, '"Holding a Just Balance Between Black and White": The Native Affairs Department in South Africa, c1920–1933,' Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 12 (1986), 217–239. 10Secretary for Native Affairs (SNA), vol. 433, NA 1900/09. Native Commissioner, Rustenburg to Secretary for Native Affairs, 17 August 1909. 11See correspondence in SNA 433, NA 1900/09. 12Mission Reports of the Hermansburg Missionary Society, Hermansburger Missionsblatt, (HMB) University of South Africa (hereafter UNISA) Archives, 11 January 1911, no. 1, Reports From Our Bechuana Mission, Saron. 13UNISA Archives, HMB, 1915, Report by Jensen for 1913, p. 83. 16From Native Affairs Files, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria (NTS) vol. 7661, 123/332. Native Unrest, Rustenburg, 1917–1924. Paul Mokgatle, Sworn Statement. 14State Archives Pretoria (hereafter SAP), Native Affairs Files (hereafter NTS), vol. 108, r 897/14/f, NC Rustenburg to Secretary for Native Affairs, 13 October 1914. 15G. Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics in the Western Transvaal, 1920–1940', MA Thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, 1985, 176. 17From Native Affairs Files, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria (NTS) vol. 7661, 123/332. Native Unrest, Rustenburg, 1917–1924. Paul Mokgatle, Sworn Statement. 19Cited in Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 179. 18Cited in Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 178, from SAP, NTS vol. 7661, Native Unrest, Rustenburg. 20SAP, NTS vol. 7661, Native Unrest, Rustenburg, Statement of PC F. Hicks. 21Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 181–182. 22 Sunday Times, 28 October 1917. 23 Sunday Times, 28 October 1917, 184. 24Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 183. 25P. Bonner, 'The Transvaal Native Congress 1917–1920: The Radicalisation of the Black Petit Bourgeoisie on the Rand', in S. Marks and R. Rathbone, Industrialisation and Social Change in South Africa: Class Formation, Culture and Consciousness (New York: Longman, 1982), 113–134. 26Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 183. 27N. Mokgatle, The Autobiography of an Unknown South African (Berkley: University of California Press, 1971). 28Cited in Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 184 from SABAK/26, Penzhorn to Native Economic Commission (NEC). 29Cited in Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 184 from SABAK/26, Penzhorn to Native Economic Commission (NEC). 30Walshe, Rise of African Nationalism, 212, cited in Umteteli, 26 April 1924. 31SAP, NTS vol. 108, r.5211 /12/101/3, SNA to S. M. Magatho, 10 September 1919. 32SAP, NTS vol. 108, r.5211 /12/101/3, SNA to S. M. Magatho, 10 September 1919. 33NTS, vol. 108, r. 5211/12/2. 34NTS vol.3602, r. 942/308. 37NTS vol. 316, 15/55 Daniel Mokgatle versus Hertzog, Evidence of Sol Plaatje, 149–172. 35Cited in Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 202, from NTS 3451, SNC to SNA, 16 August 1922. 36Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 248. 38SAP, NTS vol. 316, 15/55, Judgement of Justice Kotze in the case of Daniel Mokgatle and Others versus Minister of Native Affairs, 29 September 1924. 39NTS, 316, 15/55, Godley, Memo, 31 January 1924. 40SAP, NTS 15/55, Daniel Mokgatle and Others versus J.B.M. Hertzog, Judgement of Justice J. Tindall, p. 13. 41Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 252. 42See NTS 325, Rathibe and others versus J.O.M. Mamogale, February 1926, and Simpson, 'Peasants and Politics', 300–307. 43H. Bradford, 'A Taste of Freedom': The ICU in rural South Africa, 1924–1930 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), 163. 44H. Bradford, 'A Taste of Freedom': The ICU in rural South Africa, 1924–1930 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), 164. 45H. Bradford, 'A Taste of Freedom': The ICU in rural South Africa, 1924–1930 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), 165. 46H. Bradford, 'A Taste of Freedom': The ICU in rural South Africa, 1924–1930 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), 164. 47See J. Wells, We Now Demand: The History of Women's Resistance to Pass Laws in South Africa (Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand Press, 1994). 48T. Karis and G. Gerhart, From Protest to Challenge, A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa, 1882–1990, vol. 2 (Pretoria: UNISA Press, 1997), 81–92. 49Walshe, Rise of African Nationalism, 387. 50HKW 1/1/383, File (32) N1/9/3. NC Mafeking to Chief NC Potchefstroom, 25 September 1952. 51HKW 1/1/383, NC Mafeking to Chief NC Potchefstroom, 14 September 1953. 52HKW 1/1/383 File (32) n1/9/3/1, NC Mafikeng to Chief NC Potchefstroom, 25 April 1952. 53UW, WCL, HLPC, South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) Collection, Molema Microfilms, Report of 45th Annual ANC Conference, 10. 54Interview with Ruth Mompati by Sifiso Ndlovu and Bernard Magubane, Vryburg, 15 August 2001, cited in SADET Oral History Project, in The Road To Democracy: South Africans Telling Their Stories, Vol. I, 1950 – 1970 (Hollywood: South African Democracy Education Trust & Tsei, 1980), 309. 55Interview with Ruth Mompati. 56See J. Drummond and A. Manson, 'The Rise and Demise of African Agriculture in Dinokana, Bophuthatswana, 1918–1992', Canadian Journal of African History, vol. 4 (1994), 84–103. 57See C. Hooper, Brief Authority (London: Penguin, 1960). 58See A. Manson, 'The Hurutshe Resistance in the Zeerust District of the Western Transvaal, 1954–1959, Africa Perspective, 22 (1983), 62–79; J. Yawitch, 'The Zeerust Revolt', unpublished seminar paper, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1982. 59This is drawn from most of the available sources, in particular Hooper's Brief Authority, Fairburn's article in Africa South, South African Institute of Race Relations, Survey of Race Relations, 1957–58, and various newspapers (New Age, Fighting Talk and Drum). 60C. Walker, Women and Resistance in South Africa (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1982). 61See Interview with Mrs M. Keebine, South African Institute of Race Relations Oral Archive, Interview by A. Manson, 4 December 1982. 62 New Age, 28 November 1957, from Evidence given to the Commission of Enquiry. 63 New Age, 13 February 1958. 64G. Bizos, Odyssey to Freedom (New York: Random House, 2007), 113. 65A. Lissoni, 'The Bahurutshe Chieftaincy and Bophuthatswana', unpublished paper, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2010, 8. He remained in exile for 15 years, and died on 28 May 1982. 66This is according to Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa Since 1950 (Johannesburg: Raven, 1983), from the Cape Times, 8 August 1959. 67See Bizos, Odyssey, 117. 68P. Delius, 'A Lion Among the Cattle': Reconstruction and Resistance in the Northern Transvaal, (Johannesburg: Ravan, 1996), 83, 113. 69Cited in Delius. 'A Lion Among the Cattle', 103. 70Interview with Kenneth Mosenyi, with Andrew Manson, 18 January 1983. SAIRR Oral Archive, William Cullen Library, University of Witwatersrand, 18 January 1982, UW, WCL, HLPC, SAIRR Oral Archive Collection. 71SAIRR Oral History Archive interview 18 January 1983. 72See NTS vol. 326, r 40/55, Memorandum: Kenneth Benjamin Mosenyi. 73SAP, NTS, vol. 326, r40/55, Memorandum: Nimrod Moagi. 74NTS vol. 326, r40/55 Memorandum: Nimrod Moagi. 75SAP, NTS, vol. 362, r 71/57, Native Commissioner, Zeerust to Chief Native Commissioner, Potchefstroom, 14 September, 1957, Confidential. 76NTS vol. 326, r 40/55, NC Zeerust to Chief NC, Potchefstroom, 14 September 1957. 77'A named Communist', NTS vol. 326, r 40/55, Senior Investigator, South African Police to Chief NC, Potchefstroom. 78'A named Communist', NTS vol. 326, r 40/55, Senior Investigator, South African Police to Chief NC, Potchefstroom. Memorandum on Mosenye. 79'A named Communist', NTS vol. 326, r 40/55, Senior Investigator, South African Police to Chief NC, Potchefstroom. Memorandum on Mosenye. 80SAIRR Oral History Archive, Interview with Johanna Pule, with Andrew Manson and Tebogo Kubine, 3 March 1983. 81These facts are set out in Manson, 'The Hurutshe Resistance', 72–75. 82Interview with Ruth Mompati. 83Personal communication, Arianna Lissoni. Department of History, History Workshop, University of Witwatersrand, 7 April 2011. Lissoni has interviewed a number of these men. 84J. Drummond and A. Manson, ' The Rise and Demise of African Agricultural Production in Dinokana Village, Canadian Journal of African Affairs, vol. 27, no. 3 (1993), 77–94. 85J. Drummond and A. Manson, ' The Rise and Demise of African Agricultural Production in Dinokana Village, Canadian Journal of African Affairs, vol. 27, no. 3 (1993), 46. 86NTS vol. 8537, NC, Zeerust to Secretary for Lands, Pretoria, 8 July 1932. 87Drummond and Manson, 'The Rise and Demise of African Agriculture', 47. 88W. Beinart and C. Bundy, 'State Intervention and Rural Resistance: The Transkei, 1900–1965', in M. Klein, ed., Peasants in Africa, Historical Contemporary Perspectives (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980), 271–315. 89NTS, vol. 432, NC Zeerust, to Magistrate, Zeerust, 19 May 1956. 90P. Delius, 'A Lion Among the Cattle', 76. 91NTS vol. 326, r40/55 'Memorandum on Kenneth Mosenye' (sic). 92Interview with Kenneth Mosenyi, 9. 93A. Lissoni, 'Married to the ANC: the Tanzanian Women of Lehurutshe and their Experiences as Wives of MK Veterans', paper presented at 'One Hundred Years of the ANC: Debating Liberation Histories and Democracy Today', University of the Witwatersrand, 22 September 2011. 94Interview with Simon Senna, conducted by Sifiso Ndlovu, 10 March 2002, Zeerust, SADET Oral History Project, in The Road To Democracy: South Africans Telling Their Stories, Vol. I, 1950–1970 (Hollywood: South African Democracy Education Trust & Tsehai, 2008), 425. 95Interview with Simon Senna. 96Interview with Simon Senna. 97Interview with Lawrence Phokanoka, conducted by Siphamandla Zondi on 1 July 2001, Ga-Mankopane, SADET Oral History Project, in The Road to Democracy: South Africans Telling, Their Stories Vol. 1, 1950–1970 (Hollywood: South African Democracy Education Trust & Tshai, 2008), 416. 98Interview with Simon Senna. 99Cited in Manson, 'The Hurutshe Resistance', from Society of Young Africa Bulletin (1960), Non-European Unity Movement Collection, SAIRR Archive, Historical and Literary Papers Collection, William CullenLibrary. University of the Witwatersrand. 100See A. Manson and B. Mbenga, 'Bophuthatswana in the 1980s, and the UDF in the western Transvaal', South African Democracy Education Trust, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, vol. 4, (Pretoria: UNISA Press, 2010), 669–706. 101N. Parsons, 'The "Pipeline": Botswana's Reception of Refugees', Social Dynamics, 34 (2008), 17–22.

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