TOWARDS
A UNITED FRONT
Source B
(Source: Images of defiance, SAHA Wits University, Historical papers)
Poster produced
during the launch of the UDF
The idea to form
an organisation that would unite Indian, Coloured, and African people
began in the late 1970s and
grew in the
1980s. This organisation would be independent from the banned African
National Congress. During late 1970s and
early 1980s hundreds of political resistance organisations emerged
across all sectors of society. Organisations such as
the Release Nelson Mandela Committee and
the End Conscription Committee dealt with specific political issues.
Others such as trade unions, church, student and womens organisations
mobilised members around the specific impact of apartheid on them
such as labour and
gender issues. An umbrella body was needed for uniting and optimising
the impact of these different efforts to challenge apartheid.
At the Congress of the Transvaal Anti-South African Indian Council
(TASC) held in January
1983, Popo
Molefe and Cas Saloojee raised the idea of a
united front. Some activists within TASC, like Ismail Momoniat
and Valli
Moosa had to be persuaded to accept the proposal. Saloojee
announced the formation of a United Front during a press conference.
Picture by Omar Badsha
Source
C: Annoucement of the formation
of a united
front
One
outstanding question remained: What was the front to be called?
Some participants
in the commission had proposed the
name National Democratic Front (NDF), which was the name of
a communist-led front against dictatorship in the Philippines.
Activists also identified with fronts in Nicaragua and elsewhere
which called themselves ‘nationalist’ fronts. But
Western Cape activists opposed this suggestion because of the
ideological significance of the name. A national front implied
a national struggle, whereas the idea of a united front drew
on a tradition, which saw the struggle in terms of the class
as well. Cape Town activists were wary of any initiative that
smacked of popularism and nationalism. The debate was resolved
almost by accident. Saloojee thought that the commission had
chosen the name NDF for time being, and the typed draft of the
statement referred to the ‘national democratic front’ and
NDF – although some of the references to the NDF were scratched
out, and UDF written in by hand instead! When Saloojee addressed
the meeting the next day, he used, he says, ‘the words
united democratic front’ to describe the movement – united
and hopefully very democratic. The press recorded the call as
being for a United Democratic Front, and the name stuck. A retyped
version of the commission referred to the UDF only. ‘In
the confusion, the name, “united” instead of a “national” took
hold.’ |
Source
D
Extract taken from Seekings, J. The UDF: A History of the United Democratic
Front in South Africa 1983 - 1991
 DID
YOU KNOW
In 1982, prior the new Constitution in 1983, the government introduced
the Koornhof Bills: the Orderly Movement and Settlement of Black Persons
Bills, the Black Community Development Bill and the Black Local Authority
Bill.
Learning Outcome
2 Historical concepts: The learner will
be expected to have an informed understanding of key concepts as
ways of analysing the past. They will be expected to understand and
explain the dynamics of change in the context of power relations
operating in societies. They will also be expected to compare and
contrast points of view/perspectives of the past and draw their own
conclusions based on evidence
 Activity
2
Study sources B,
C and D
-
How
did the idea to form a united front come about?
-
How
does source B illustrate that the UDF consisted of various groups
of people?
-
Do
you think source B is correct to say, “UDF
unites – Apartheid
divides”? Support your answer.
-
In
Source D what was the initial name given to a united
front and how did it change?
-
In
Source D, why was the idea of a national front opposed?
-
Thinking
about racial and gender representation, what is the message
that Source C puts across, how do the other
sources, A and B, support that message?
-
Source
B, says “forward to People’s
Power”, to
whom does this refer ?
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