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Black Consciousness Thoughts Volume One
Black Consciousness Thoughts Volume One
“We need to take bold steps that will transform our economy,
including land ownership, very fast...We are busy amending (laws)
to enable faster land reform, including land expropriation without
compensation as provided for in the Constitution."
Zuma turned this RET call into the policy battle towards the 2017
ANC Elective Conference. Ideologically it meant once again that
on the one hand, there was the white agenda politically
represented by the Ramaphosa faction and, on the other hand, an
attempt to reinstate a black agenda in the ANC represented by Dr.
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (NDZ). This became the CR17 versus
NDZ battle. The first battlefront of these contending agendas was
the ANC Policy Conference, which was held from June 30 to July
5, 2017. The RET forces decisively won the policy conference,
thereby signaling the real possibility of victory in the Elective
Conference scheduled for 16 to 20 December 2017. The defeat of
the white agenda was so bad that white liberals inside the ANC
dropped the mask of being part of the black agenda and openly
opposed the land expropriation without compensation policy. In
order to police the implementation of the Freedom Charter Derek
Hanekom, one of the leading Afrikaners inside the ANC, stood in
the Conference of over two thousand predominately black
delegates and said that land expropriation without compensation
was nonsense. Later he told the media that land expropriation
without compensation “…will do severe damage to our economy and
is seriously unjust.”
“A central issue which led some members of the ANC at the time to
break away and form the PAC was their objection to the idea stated
in the Freedom Charter in these words – ‘South Africa belongs to
all who live in it, black and white’, as well as everything else which
derived from this principle. This break-away group considered this
a betrayal of the national liberation struggle and countered with the
slogan – Africa for the Africans! However, the ANC and the broad
democratic movement defended the positions stated in the Freedom
Charter as the correct and progressive posture to take in the context
of our national reality.“
“In this regard, as reported by the newspaper, City Press, when ANC
President Zuma addressed the National House of Traditional
Leaders on March 3, 2017 he called on “black parties”, including the
ANC, to unite to get the two-thirds majority to amend the
Constitution to allow for land expropriation without
compensation!“
Shock and horror! Mbeki believes that calling for black unity is a
bad thing and not in line with the ANC character. He rebukes
Zuma for daring to call on blacks to unite. He wrote:
There you have it! Calling for black unity to return the land to
blacks is an unacceptable sin for the ANC. Mbeki is evidently
horrified by the call to expropriate land without compensation
because he considers such a move contrary to non-racialism and
the Freedom Charter. He is correct that black nationalism was
defeated in the ANC. What he is not telling his readers is that this
defeat of black nationalism has compromised the interests of black
people. Mbeki had 25 years to inquire and establish what the
position of the black is. It is clear that the attempt by Zuma to unify
blacks to attain the envisaged land redistribution was also an
admission that the white agenda doesn’t solve the historical
injustices suffered by blacks. The debate on land expropriation has
indeed exposed once more that the character of the ANC is
essentially anti-black. The ANC is driven by a white agenda. It’s
clear that the defeat of the black agenda has had massive negative
consequences for black people. There is a need to understand
better why black leaders in the ANC would be so adamant to
defend something so harmful to black people. There is little doubt
that Mbeki is correct to accuse Zuma of trying to blacken the ANC
again; to almost take it back to its roots before its capture by whites.
To serve black people, the ANC would have to abandon the white
agenda as framed in the Freedom Charter and the South African
Constitution. Perhaps it’s time to go back to making the ANC a
parliament of black people again. It remains to be seen if this can
be achieved, given the hegemony of white thinking that drives the
ANC today.
About the Author
fricans are the only race who have had a warfare waged
against their Blackness. Africans are the only race who have
had to arrive at the table in costumes, while other races arrive
as themselves. It is Africans who have had to change their
blackness to be allowed a seat at a sophisticated table. It is Africans
who are made to feel like animals and who must change form and
behaviour to appease the master’s eye. We live in a world where
systems have been designed to deny us the experience of our own
identity as Africans. We are excluded from the economic system;
should we not conform to a western standard of beauty and
etiquette. Throughout our lives, we are inundated with the western
experience of life to a point where we think it is by choice that we
do the things we do.
t was on the 6th of April in the year 1652, about 368 years ago,
when a Dutch descendant in the person of Jan Van Riebeek
arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. That very day has had a
significant impact in the entire history of South Africa. The
arrival of that European crackhead has compromised the
thriving Mapungubye civilization amongst others. However, the
generally accepted account rigorously privileges the notion that
Europe Civilized Africa – an ahistorical illusion. In as much as
Europe’s falsification of South Africa’s history is concerned, the
misrepresentation and mistelling of these elements of our very
truth remain secreted amidst the colonizer’s quest to justify
Colonization, Apartheid, and Slavery in South Africa and to further
repel the psychological existence of black people. By the year 1989,
South Africa was headed towards an economic collapse after 338
years of colonial rule. This, of course, was a result of various beasts
of burden. Amongst them was the Guerilla Wars waged by
liberation groups like the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, Poqo
and Umkhonto We Sizwe (Amongst others); also, the sanctions by
the United States Congress and various Superpower countries
around the world played a fundamental role. Upon the realization
of this sudden devastation, the National Party government
announced the unbanning of political parties/leaders and the
release of political prisoners/exiles. By 1990 the situation had
severely degenerated, forcing the NP government to negotiate with
various liberation groups to discuss the country’s way forward
which was a strategic move to have the sanctions lifted since the
sanctions reciprocated preconditions to be honored before they
could be lifted – a hegemonic practice that was inherent in the
Colonial government/s politics of “self-preservation.” So, in short,
the defeat of Apartheid was already inevitable. But economic
Hitmen in the form of European Descendants who were already
foregrounded on the politics of racialism were not that oblivious
to perceive this basic pattern from a far-reaching distance. So in
this regard, the Convention for a Democratic South Africa
(CODESA) was their very last hope at retaining the upper-class
privileges for their future descendants after 389 years (1990) of
slogging tooth and nail for the bastardization, dehumanization,
enslavement and the extermination of the “Kaffir” in order to
copyright South Africa for the benefit of their future generations
and not those of the “Kaffir” (Black people in their definition). The
very first CODESA meeting took place in the year 1991. Present
was the African National Congress, Inkatha Freedom Party, the
National Party, the South African Communist Party, amongst
others; this very session was considered the plenary session.
CODESA’s negotiations remain a determining factor in
today’s window dressing democracy. This is because the
negotiation inputs were never made public – and thus, the
liberation project was compromised although publicly inscribed as
the peacemaking settlement. As I was going through a document
published on the government website in 2012, I came across a
report on Reparations and Rehabilitation from the Government’s
justice.gov website (I suspect the content is now detached). One of
the points on the report pointed out that “The Incoming
government has accepted the responsibility for reparations.” As
much as I recognized the fact that the ANC conceded a great deal
during CODESA’s negotiations, there was no way I would have
imagined that they would in their right mind, not only inherit the
Apartheid monetary debt across the globe but most importantly –
to accept the responsibility for the damage in which they were a
victim of. For almost 400 years, European nations, mainly Dutch
Descendants and Britain; have enslaved, incarcerated, mass
murdered, dehumanized, economically exploited, and raped
Africans in this part of the world and in return, instead of repair
the unparalleled damage of that gradation, they instead – protected
those ills perpetually. And to this day, Black people are still being
held economically hostage under the guise of a free market
capitalist system, whereas that’s nothing but the continued
bloodsucking of black people.
And as the saying goes, those who controls the money controls the
Government; so this means, whatever they say goes – and these
politicians on our screens are nothing but puppets. The circulation
of the South African currency doesn’t happen without the
knowledge of the aforementioned banks, and none of them is State
nor Black-owned. In March 2019, I visited Lilongwe, Malawi. I still
remember the events of my first day in the country vividly. As I
was hungry and wanted to get something to eat after travelling for
about 3 days by bus with little to eat during my journey, I then
asked the owner of the B&B that I rented for the duration of my
stay to take me around so that I could get something to eat,
possibly a South African equivalent of Pap and beef stew. The
owner of the B&B was a 65-year-old retired IT specialist who
instead offered to give me a mini-tour, although it was about 9 pm.
As he was taking me to the nearest hotel to get something to eat,
we passed via an ATM so that I could withdraw some Malawian
Kwacha just in case I could experience issues with my South
African VISA bank card at the hotel.
The nearest ATM, about 7 minutes drive from the B&B, was
by a bank named NBS Bank limited. At first, I never really paid
attention to the bank ownership because we in South Africa have
many banks, with none of them owned by Black people. But out of
curiosity, I so happened to ask about the ownership of the bank,
and the gentleman, my host, advised that it was owned by a
Blackman named Vizenge Kumwenda. I was shocked for a moment,
considering the fact that Malawi is a landlocked country with
limited economic activities but a Blackman in that country was
owning a bank, which is doing good by the way – this was
interesting because it meant that, even though they are having
economic difficulties, they still had a say in the circulation of their
currency. Well as if that was not enough, the following day I
withdrew money from a bank named Eco bank, which I was told,
although not owned by a Malawian National, it was definitely
owned by a Blackman named Emanuel Ikazoboh. It is a Pan-
African bank for that matter – okay, this to me was fascinating. On
my third day, again, I withdrew money in area 6, Lilongwe from a
bank named FDH bank Limited, this time around, I was moving
round Lilongwe with a driver who hardly understood English and
I never really bordered to ask a thing to avoid the perpetuation of
an already existing language barrier. So, unfortunately, my bank
card was swallowed by the ATM. At this point I’m frustrated
because I hadn’t bought my bus ticket home, and I still had about
seven more days to stay, and that was my only South African bank
account. So we informed the security of the challenge at hand, and
they requested for my passport, I gave it to them – and 10 minutes
later they came back with my card, this was amazing. And again, I
was prompted to ask about the ownership of the bank, and I was
told that it belonged to a Blackman by named Mark Mikwamba. I
was never this impressed by Black nationalist thinking of this
magnitude ever. And the following morning, I came to learn that
almost 70% of Malawian Petrol stations were owned and controlled
by black people, and so, I was profoundly troubled.
Should we then boycott all products and stop trade with the
West? Remember, a similar question came up during the dialogue
after my lecture, and I responded that I don’t understand why
THAT is your burning question when whatever you do or think
about, it does not really affect the macro-economic realities. At the
same token, I do believe that since we are now in a period of
reclaiming, rethinking and repositioning ourselves (away from
powerlessness), we don’t have so much of a choice. We need to use
the technology, machinery and products available to us. But, we
must use it with a conscious mind, knowing that we are working
towards self-determination. For now, we need to self-produce, spy
a lot on what others are doing and reproduce our own – so that we
can create an economic basis. At the same time, we need to slowly
work towards a bold sense of independence and self-sufficiency
through limitless innovation. Until we reach a certain power level
and renegotiate terms in our favour; insist on justice or no deal.
Terminate the contracts of multi-nationals, break oppressive
relations and teach the outside world how to treat us. Or lose out.
“In 1955 the Kilptown Charter was adopted, which according to us,
is an irreconcilable conflict with the 1949 Programme seeing that it
claims that the land is no longer for Africans, but is auctioned for
sale to all who live in this country. We have come to the parting of
the ways, and we are here and now giving notice that we are
disassociating ourselves from the ANC as it is constituted at present.”
Sobukwe and the Afrikanists within the ANC called this document
the ‘Freedom Cheater”. Certain elements of the ‘Freedom Cheater’
were incorporated into the preamble of the new South African
constitution in 1996. The preamble to the South African
constitution reads: “We, the people of South Africa, believe that
South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity”.
Whilst on Robben Island Sobukwe was poisoned and fed food with
glass. He subsequently fell ill. His wife, Mama Zondeni Sobukwe,
engaged the state through a number of combative letters
challenging Sobukwe’s incarceration. She demanded several
meetings with the government leaders, none of which were
honoured. When all her requests for meetings failed she asked the
state for permission to become a voluntary prisoner and stay with
Sobukwe on Robben Island to oversee his health. This request too
was denied. The state was determined to deny any form of justice
on Sobukwe and his family. Their aim was to kill him.
On the 12th September 1977 (the day Steve Biko was killed),
Dr Christiaan Barnard and his team, including cardiothoracic
surgeon Dr Jose de Nobrega, secretly operated Sobukwe for an
alleged removal of a cancerous lung without the knowledge or
consent of his wife, or any member of his family. The racist courts,
parliament and the medical establishment all collaborated in
creating unjust and inhumane conditions that resulted in
Sobukwe’s untimely death under detention.
19 organizations participated:
a. National Party,
b. African National Congress,
c. Inkatha Freedom Party,
d. Democratic Party,
e. South African Communist Party,
f. South African Indian Congress,
g. Coloured Labour Party,
h. Indian National People's Party and Solidarity Party,
i. leaders of the nominally
j. Iindependent bantustans of Transkei, Ciskei, Bophutha
tswana, and Venda.
k. And others
Results
Votes %
No 875,619 31.27%
8.
)
On 18 November 1993, the MPNF ratified the interim
Constitution (without a mandate from Black South Africans)
Thereafter, the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) oversaw
the run-up to a democratic election.
Look closely at the signatories & who they
were representing:
1. Constand Viljoen (Freedom Front)
2.Thabo Mbeki (African National Congress
3.Roelf Meyer (Government and National Party
Whites were represented by the Government.
The ANC represented the ANC. No one
represented black people.
Here there are many signatures, but there are When the Constitution was adopted in
also two significant signatures. had the Self Determination clause 235
1. US Ambassador P.N. Lyman
2. UK Ambassador A. Reeve
• Housing
• Clean water
• Electrification
• Land reform
• Healthcare
• Public works