Because, notes Marais, 'if the rebellion were to spread to the western Hottentots and slaves, the white man's hold on the Colony would be shaken to its foundations'.1 The British intervened to separate the Coloreds from their allies. Under this growing rule of law,' according to Walker, 'most of the Hottentots took service and not only ceased to be a danger to the Colony, but in time became a reinforcement for it against the Kaffirs.'* 2 The remark sums up. the divisive consequences of a strategy that turned the Coloreds away from their African allies and into an assistance of the whites, neatly on.
2 Diamond Diggers and the New Elite
Conditions in the company town made a lasting impression on the white workers of the Wit watersrand. In the same year, after a long and bloody war, the annexation of Transkei began.
3 Gold Miners and Imperialist War
The miners rejected class solidarity with Africans, but collaborated with capitalists to, also on August 20, 1892, V .. establish the Transvaal National Union to fight for equal franchise A . rights for all white men in the Transvaal. They asked that 'their interests should be protected in the granting of the constitution to the New Colonies.
4 White Labour Policies
This, the union said, was tangible proof of its ability to fight the Muslims' battles as well and should win their trust. Most of the higher paid men were white, but they overlapped with people of color in all skilled and semi-skilled grades. The Labor Advance Party, formed in October x9o5 by the Cape Town Board of Trade and the Social Democratic Federation, urged the adoption of a 48-hour work week, universal, free and compulsory education, and adult suffrage for all civilized persons.6 The party's speakers declared that no had to distinguish between white and colored workers.
John Tobin, one of the founders of the African Political Organization (Apo), accused socialists of being rotten with color prejudice. Needham, leader of the short-lived Socialist Democratic Party, claimed that the "issue of color" was irrelevant to socialism. The Cape Federation considered itself an arm of the London SDF, sold its newspaper the Clarion and adopted propaganda techniques suited to the conditions of a multi-racial society.
The barriers were not high or rigid enough at the end of the war to keep all dark people out of skilled work. Landless Africans and unskilled immigrants were available for manual labor at the bottom of the scale. These defined the posts of manager, engine driver, banker and novice in such a way as to reserve them for whites.10 The amended regulations of 19o6 did the same for the jobs of a boilerman, lift operator, shift foreman , surface foreman, mine superintendent and mechanical engineer.1 Discriminations were imposed by an all-powerful British administration, without public pressure, stated reasons or comment from trade unions, mine managements and the legislative council.
Goldman, the member for Newtown, said that Africans should not have the right to strike, since they could virtually
It was left to Wybergh, a leading proponent of white labor policy, to defend, if sideways, the African. This was his main reason, he explained, for wanting Africans to be covered by the law in the same way as whites. It would be a strange thing, says Sampson, if they stayed in the shop while white men were on strike.
Labor leaders were able to strengthen their hand by claiming that the interests of white workers were the same as those of white society as a whole. A strike by white bricklayers, he said, was followed by a successful strike by African railwaymen. The Natal railwaymen's strike that year was a grim reminder, he said, of the disturbing effects of a long strike on African, Indian and other workers.6.
What could be more compelling than sensational revelations of white girls working side by side with Africans and Indians in sweaty food and clothing factories. He spoke of 'Kaffirs molding and kneading the dough in the trough, and the sweat running down the trough'; of laundries where 'you find the Coolies sleeping on the clothes that were sent there'.68 His bill included a clause prohibiting employees of different sexes and different races from working in the same premises at the same time. In the event, many years were to pass before Parliament implemented Haggar's proposal to separate one racial group of factory workers from another.
5 Workers and the Vote
Four stayed in Cape Town with the support of the Labor Political League, an offshoot of the trades council. Jameson, Rhodes' former lieutenant and leader of the Transvaal raid, became prime minister. The new Liberal cabinet scrapped Lyttleton's constitution and, acting on the recommendations of the Ridge Road committee, decided to introduce quasi-responsible government in the Transvaal.
They got 5,216 votes out of the 13,180 that were cast in the thirteen constituencies and won three seats. He settled in Johannesburg in 1903 and became the union's president and also secretary of the trades council. Thompson.2 1 Here it is only necessary to comment on the attitudes of the labor and liberation movements.
None of the delegates to the national convention represented Labor and this was a sore point for Labor leaders. The publication of the draft constitution in February 1909 aroused bitter resentment among Africans and coloreds. Fredericks and Daniels traveled to England to protest the provisions of Ridgeway's constitution.
6 National Liberation
One of the APO's earliest activities was to strengthen and mobilize the voice of color by urging qualified men to register on the electoral roll. Collins, the APO's first president, favored the Progressives, who were also supported by Peregrino and other members of the Colored Peoples' Vigilance Committee. Labor leaders who turned white workers against the dark races played into the hands of the capitalists.
The Worker returned to the attack with a scathing article about the A.P.O.'s alleged encouragement of "cholera" by a colored business enterprise. The objective of the minimum wage requirement was to drive the colored man out of his profession. 53 As A.P.O.54 never tired of explaining, the Labor leaders wanted to price the colored man out of the labor market.
ANC for many years in opposition to the progressive intellectuals of the emerging national bourgeoisie. Rubusana, when he was nominated for the Tembuland seat, declared that his people recognized the superiority of the white race. The Colored races of the Empire may be robbed, pillaged and forcibly enslaved by whites;.
7 Thunder on the Left
Despite their failures, however, the pioneer socialists of the Cape made a significant contribution. Ten years of hard work for Peter and the betrayal of the Workers,' remarked the Voice. Tom Mann made no reference to the position of the darker working man in his public speeches.
Even if Marxists controlled parliament, military and police power would still be on the side of the capitalist class. A high percentage of the white workers were immigrants; many had a background of militant trade unionism. They met in Johannesburg the following Sunday in response to a pamphlet issued by Bain, the secretary of the Federation.
If the Africans joined them, production would stop and control of the mine would pass to the Federation. Both wings of the movement benefited from Smuts' blunders and the arrogance of the mine owners. On the other hand, nothing should be done to attract them at the expense of the party's white ideal.
8 Loyalists and Rebels
Labor councilors had a clear majority of one in the chamber but were unable to gain control of the executive and so were unable to implement their policies. He could claim freedom and justice and the lightening of the black man's burden in so far as he sacrificed for the common cause. Six thousand citizens of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State took up arms against Botha.
The government assured Afrikaner nationalists that "no armed natives or colored persons were employed to assist in suppressing the rebellion". He hoped that Botha would go forward in the path of duty to the king and with a tenderer conscience towards the large colored and African population of the conquered. There was opposition to the war fever only at the highest level of the party leadership.
The general strike of 1914 and the subsequent deportations gave further impetus to the spread of the party's influence among Africans. Harassed by the government press, he wanted to rid the party of the taint of disloyalty. In the end, the right wing probably suffered less from the defections of the radicals than from their growing commitment to Afrikaner nationalism.
9 The New Radicals
He and Gemmill, the secretary of the Chamber of Mines, settled almost all white labor disputes on the mines in this way during the war years.2 The owners showed their goodwill by collecting union dues under a stop-order system; while the unions reciprocated in September 1916 by agreeing to freeze wages for the duration of the war and three months afterwards. An appeal to international unity could never evoke a sincere response from a constituency in such a position.6 The war was waged in the name of freedom, and to get it they had to give it. Like the anti-political faction among the Crawford socialists in 1910, some members of the League argued that "vote hunting" reduced them to the level of the reactionary parties in the public's judgment.
The decision to take the second course marks a major turning point in the development of the labor movement. The Confederation provided the opportunity, but clung to the remnants of the old segregation myth. It blinded them to the nature of the African's problems and to the quality of his resistance to racial discrimination.
The extent of the rift became apparent midway through the year when Andrews and Bunting ran for county council. Vote for Andrews and you are voting for the downfall of the workers and the general or Kaffir vote.” The International Socialists would have their colored brethren compete in trades such as bricklayer, painter, carpenter, and mechanic.31. And, he predicted, "white capitalists and white artisans will unite and fight like demons to keep the native proletariat 'in place.'" The socialists refused to believe that the betrayal of class principles was inevitable.
10 Socialism and Nationalism
