Mandela Reports to Luthuli on his Trip Abroad

Mandela Reports to Luthuli on his Trip Abroad

On 1 August 1962, Nelson Mandela met with the President of the African National Congress (ANC), Inkosi Albert Luthuli, in a house in Tongaat, to tell him about his trip abroad. He was first taken to Groutville, where Inkosi Luthuli resided, but they then decided to meet at a house of an Indian lady in Tongaat. Mandela briefed Luthuli about his trip and explained the situation to a full extent.

When Mandela was done, Luthuli informed Mandela that he didn’t like the idea of foreign politicians dictating ANC policy, mainly relating to Mandela’s proposal of reshaping the Congress Alliance to ensure that the ANC was clearly seen to be the leader on issues affecting Africans directly. This was in response to the Zambian and other African leaders’ concerns that they understood the PAC’s (the Pan-Africanist Congress) pure African nationalism, but were bewildered by the ANC’s non-racialism and cooperation with communists. For Luthuli, the ANC had developed its policy of non-racialism for good reasons, and that should not be changed because it didn’t suit a few foreign leaders.

According to Luthuli, “How easy it would have been in South Africa for the natural feelings of resentment at white domination to have been turned into feelings of hatred and a desire for revenge against the white community … It is because, deliberately and advisedly, African leadership for the past 50 years, with the inspiration of the African National Congress … had set itself steadfastly against racial vain gloriousness. We knew that in so doing we passed up opportunities for easy demagogic appeal to the natural passions of a people denied freedom and liberty; we discarded the chance of an easy and expedient emotional appeal.”

Luthuli emphasised that, “Our vision has always been that of a non-racial democratic South Africa which upholds the rights of all who live in our country to remain there as full citizens with equal rights and responsibilities with all others. For the consummation of this ideal we have laboured unflinchingly. We shall continue to labour unflinchingly.” Luthuli’s response to Mandela was actually that the ANC would not discard its non-racial policy in order to please foreign politicians.

Mandela then explained that it was not necessarily that foreign politicians were dictating policy, but it was because they did not understand it. He further went on to explain that he would like to make cosmetic changes that would render the policy more comprehensible to them. This, according to Mandela, was necessary because if the African states opted to support the PAC, an insignificant organisation could become a force to be reckoned with.

Luthuli did not provide a decision on the matter at that moment, as he wanted to think and talk about it to some of his comrades. He then advised Mandela to be careful wherever he went, as he was wanted by the racist regime’s security forces. Mandela then said farewell and proceeded to the city and townships of Durban where he was supposed to meet with members of the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Regional Command.

The meeting of the Natal Regional Command was held in a house in Reservoir Hills, Durban, where comrades were driven to the venue by Billy Nair. Present in the meeting was Curnick Ndlovu, the Chairperson of the Regional Command, Bruno Mtolo, who was introduced as a sabotage expert, and several others. When the members of the Regional Command were seated, Mandela entered the room, clad in a traditional Arabic gown, where he greeted them in the Moslem tradition, “Salaam Alaikum”.

Mandela then informed them about his trip abroad, where he met leaders of African states who all expressed sympathetic feelings towards the South African people. He then also briefed them on the offers of training particularly on the need to take MK from sabotage to the guerrilla warfare phase if the sabotage campaign did not have the desired effect. Accordingly, MK needed young men to undertake this phase of the struggle and the international leaders saluted Umkhonto and had pledged thousands of pounds sterling for the efforts to be undertaken.

Regarding the second phase of guerrilla warfare, Mandela said it would not be a campaign to take lives, nor would it be a war against whites. Rather it was a stage that would be aimed at overthrowing the regime. Cadres trained abroad would have to undergo political training, since a first-class military man who was politically unconscious could end up launching indiscriminate attacks. His emphasis was that cadres in the rural areas had to proclaim to the farmworkers that the struggle was not racial, but was against the apartheid regime.

With respect to the controversial issue that he had to discuss with the ANC President Luthuli, Mandela related to them the nature of the debate, especially with reference to Tanzania and Zambia refusing to train White or even Indian communists. For example, one of the cadres from Natal, Eric Mtshali had irritated their Tanzanian patron Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and some of the African leaders by stating that his first allegiance was to the Communist Party. For Mandela, this was “dangerous”, as it could lead to the alienation of the ANC. When they were in any of the recently liberated African states, such as Tanzania, they had to conceal their Communist Party membership, and be only members of the ANC or Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

Sources:
Pages from History, “What is PAC?”, Sechaba, November 1981.
Paul S. Landau, “Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries”, Jacana, 2022.
Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom”, Abacus, 1994.
Thula Simpson, “Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle”, Penguin, 2016.
Luli Callinicos, “Oliver Tambo: Beyond the Engeli Mountains”, David Philip, 2004.
Stephen Ellis, “External Mission: The ANC in Exile, 1960–1990”, Jacana, 2013.

Castro Khwela
Good day fellow Compatriots!