Some Thoughts on the National Democratic Revolution: The 1949 Programme of Action
(Extracts from an Article by B.N., Sechaba, October 1982)
The strategic objective of a social revolution is the capture of state political power. The South African revolution is not unique in this. This is how the “Strategy and Tactics” document of the ANC states the latter point: “South Africa’s social and economic structures and the relationships which it generates are perhaps unique. It is not a colony, yet it has, in regard to the overwhelming majority of its people, most of the features of the classical colonial structures.”
It follows from this characterisation of the socio-economic structure of present-day South Africa that our struggle has as one of its main features a deep anti-colonial content. Political and ideological clarity are the prerequisites of correct strategy. The battle for the “hearts and minds” of the people requires from us clear understanding of our goals and perspectives. We cannot assume that the fact of national oppression automatically drives the people to revolutionary positions. Our ideas have to be taken to the people and explained. Only when our ideas “capture the imagination of the masses” can we speak of them as a material force for the revolution.
The 1949 Programme of Action
Our starting point must be that of our movement – with the Programme of Action adopted by the ANC in 1949. Without going into detail we can summarise th
