Oliver Tambo: A Transfer of Political and Economic Power

Oliver Tambo: A Transfer of Political and Economic Power

(Sechaba Interviews Oliver Tambo, Acting President-General of the African National Congress of South Africa, on Southern Africa, South Africa and the ANC – 27 March 1968)

Question: Mr Tambo, you have just completed a tour of some African countries; what was the aim of this tour and what are its results?

“Our delegation has been to Algeria and Tunisia. Other ANC delegations have visited other States. The need for the delegations to undertake these missions arises directly from the unfolding crisis in Southern Africa. After all, we are not fighting an individual cause. Africa has committed herself to the total liberation of the Continent before any individual independent state can consider itself truly independent. At the moment the greatest problem facing Africa in terms of liberation is Southern Africa. And within Southern Africa itself the hardest core of reaction is the South African regime. It has always been clear to us that an armed struggle against South Africa poses immediate dangers and threats to the entire continent of Africa, if it supports that struggle.

“We have always warned that South Africa’s annual military budget which now stands at £128,000,000 has designs not only to the ruthless suppression of the Liberation Movement in South Africa, but also for the support of all reaction in the rest of Southern Africa and for the invasion of the African continent itself. We think it is dangerous to minimise the threat to the independence of the African states. And as it is part of our plan to intensify the revolution, we feel it incumbent on us as leaders to discuss the implications of the revolution with African leaders.

“… These missions have been most successful and we feel they will serve to guide us in our conduct of the revolution which we have taken upon ourselves not only for the freedom of our people, but for the whole of Africa and as contribution to the victories of the peoples in the international struggle against racism, colonialism and imperialism.”

Question: At what stage is the ANC? What are its real perspectives and prospects?

“For a long time the ANC has been conducting militant struggle relying on non-violent methods. This became particularly intense during the 50s and gradually led to a stage at which the Movement switched over from non-violence to the phase of armed struggle. During 1967 the first armed clashes occurred between on the one hand the combined forces of the (Ian) Smith and (John) Vorster regimes, and on the other the united guerillas of the ANC and ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People’s Union). It can be said that for the ANC this is the beginning of the armed struggle for which we have been preparing since the early 60s.

“It is a phase in which we can rightly claim to have scored victories by virtue of the superiority which our fighters demonstrated over the racist forces sending a wave of panic throughout the area dominated by the racist regimes and arousing the masses to a new revolutionary mood. This is, however, only a small beginning in terms of the bitterness and magnitude of the revolution which is unfolding and which embraces the whole of Southern Africa. But it is an impressive and effective beginning providing what I consider a guarantee for the success of our armed struggle.

“Although the armed conflicts to which I have referred to took place in Rhodesia, it involved South Africa because South African troops, personnel and finance were already involved in maintaining and sustaining the Smith regime. And the problems of the oppressed peoples of Zimbabwe and South Africa were becoming progressively identical. An armed struggle in Rhodesia is an armed struggle against part of the racists combined, which is the Rhodesia-South Africa axis. This explains why the South African regime was rocked by the striking power of the guerrillas in Rhodesia as violently as if these battles had taken place within the borders of South Africa. And this explains why we regard the clash between the people’s guerrillas and the racists as the beginning of the armed struggle for which the masses of our people have been looking forward to.”

Question: What is your programme of action?

“… Our programme of struggle is geared to what is known as the Freedom Charter, which is a statement of the objectives of our political struggle. It sets out the kind of South Africa we shall establish upon taking over power. In terms of that programme: we fight for a South Africa in which there will be no racial discrimination, no inequalities based on colour, creed or race; a non-racial democracy which recognises the essential quality between man and man.

“We shall abolish all the machinery whereby a few live and thrive on the exploitation of the many. The wealth of our country, which is abundant, will accrue to the equal benefit of all the people of South Africa. The power of government will rest in the hands of the majority of the people regardless of considerations of race. But our first and immediate task is to win over the power to rule our country as it should be ruled, that is, to replace the regime which consists of a White minority with a people’s government enjoying the mandate from all the people. It is the people who will then decide on the methods and the techniques for putting into effect the principles set out in the Freedom Charter.”

Question: What are the liberation movements that support the ANC? Is there co-ordination between the ANC and these movements, especially regarding the armed struggle?

“It has been a cardinal feature of the policy of the ANC from its very inception, to work for the unity of the people engaged in the common struggle for attainment of common objectives. In pursuance of this policy, within South Africa the ANC has rallied with the liberation movement, all organisations and parties opposed to the South African racist regime and prepared to struggle for its total overthrow. Thus it is that the ANC embraces within itself a number of progressive and militant organisations who accept its leadership and programme of action; outside South Africa, it has sought to pursue the same policy of unity and co-ordination of activities among liberation movements and has established very close working relationships with the fighting movements of Southern Africa and with the majority parties in other parts of Africa.

“An example of what the ANC understands by unity and co-ordination is the co-operation between itself and ZAPU (Zimbabwe African Peoples Union) – co-operation which culminated in joint operations involving these parties in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). This is a level of unity and mutual understanding which is possible among all liberation movements and which is to be found in varying degrees among those movements with which the ANC is known to have close relations.”

Question: Is there a chance of the revolution breaking out inside South Africa?

“There is more than a chance of the revolution spreading on an extensive scale in South Africa. This is a question which of course does not depend only on our will and determination to wage revolution. It also depends on the existence of objective conditions which taken together with the determination of the people make it inevitable. The political struggle in Africa has not been stagnant nor has it been so in the rest of the former colonial world. The defeat of forces of colonialism and imperialism is a process that is going on, and has been dramatically demonstrated in the victories of the peoples of Africa over colonial rule in the past decade.

“The rise and emergence of armed guerrillas in Southern Africa is further evidence of this process. Only a few months ago, as I have said earlier, South Africa which has been professing perfect peace within its borders has been drawn fully into armed confrontation with our revolutionary forces. It is clearly only a matter of time before this confrontation spreads itself to the valleys, mountains and bush of South Africa. There is nothing whatever that can halt the spread of the revolution in every part of Southern Africa still under colonialist domination.

“In saying this one is not blind to what constitutes the greatest source of strength for the racists and colonialists of Southern Africa, that is, the material and practical backing of international finance flowing from imperialist countries. Nor is one unmindful of the military power of the South African regime built with the active support and co-operation of some Western powers. These are factors which relate not to the question whether the revolution will grow in scope and magnitude but rather to the scale of bitterness and duration of the armed struggle. It has, however, no bearing on the ultimate result which can only be victory for the oppressed people of Southern Africa, and for the complete independence of the Continent of Africa.”

Question: How do you see the end of apartheid?

“Apartheid is a scheme, a device and a machinery for keeping a White minority in political and economic power in South Africa. It is also a machinery which serves the interests of international big business. It hinges on the colour of the skin and has placed the entire African population at the economic beck and call of this White minority which in turn, by holding the reins of exploitation, becomes the agent of colonial and imperial interests. On the African continent, the concentration in South Africa of 3½ million Whites holding 15 million Africans in subjugation makes that part of Africa a big prize for overseas investors.

“The end of apartheid therefore must mean the dismantling of this machinery – the elimination of the agents which the White minority are, and the destruction of the means of exploitation of the African people. This is how I see the end of apartheid. It will therefore represent a transfer of political and economic power from the minority of Whites to the majority of peoples of all colours. There will be no racial discrimination because it will have ceased to serve the cause of exploitation. The bountiful wealth of our country will be shared by all its citizens.

“Here again the detailed process by which these ultimate objectives will be achieved must be left for the decision by the masses after victory. But it is important to emphasize that not even victory in the battlefield represents the end of the struggle for the true independence of the people. It is therefore not possible to spell out how the total and final end of apartheid and all that it means and has meant will be attained. BUT THAT THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA WILL ATTAIN IT IS HISTORICALLY CERTAIN.”

Oliver Tambo: “Southern Africa, South Africa and the ANC”, Sechaba, Vol. 2 No. 4, April 1968.

Castro Khwela
Good evening fellow Compatriots!