•SACP

The South African Communist Party (SACP)

The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was founded in Cape Town, 1921. There are two major reasons behind why the party was a created. The first one being the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia 1917 which caused the formation of many Marxist parties around the world. The second reason was the dramatic growth of South African labour following World War I. Due to a decreased gold price the Smuts government, together with the mining magnates, decided to cut costs by lowering the wages of White workers and by allowing Black workers to be employed in some semi-skilled and supervisory positions. This caused riots amongst white workers and by 1921 production was brought to a virtual stand-still. The CPSA decided to use this anger to gain support amongst the White voters. One of the leading agitators was WH Andrews, or Comrade Bill. This, however, meant that the CPSA found themselves allied with a racist labour movement. Their struggle reached its height in March 1922 with the Rand Revolt which was an armed uprising of 22000 white workers against the state. 200 workers were killed in the Smuts governments try to suppress the revolt. By doing this Smuts and his party the South African Party (SAP) lost power in the 1924 election. They were replaced by the racist South African Labour Party and Hertzog’s nationalists. Their main goal was to gain support by white workers which they did on the expense of black majority. The formation of the ”Pact Government” caused a wave of new racist legislations.

Whit the white workers party in the government the CPSA, under orders from the Commitment (the global organisation of communist parties dominated by Moscow), started focusing on the African proletariat and by the end on 1925 the majority of its members were black. They called for black majority rule of South African in 1928 but the CPSA was still dominated by white intellectuals.

It wasn't until the late 20’s that the CPSA started to cooperate with the ANC. Josh Gumede, a radical, became the leader of the congress in 1928 which caused the party to shift to the left. This caused many black communist to join the ANC and were important members of both parties until the 1930’s when the close relationship between the ANC and CPSA faded as the ANC moved back towards the right. The years following the CPSA struggled with a decreasing membership  however by the end of the 30’s they had regained their influence over the workers.

The success of the CPSA’s non-racial policies before World War II made the NP insecure and worried that they threatened their chance of creating an Afrikaner nationalist movement. The anti-communist fervour reached its peak in the time before the 1948 election and played a significant role in DF Malan’s victory.

The CPSA organised a failed miner’s strike in 1946 that was stopped by police. However as the strike itself was a failure it also brought a new government consciousness about the potential of mass-based protesting. As soon as Malan had won the election the NP cut off all of its ties with the Soviet Union and passed the Communist Act in 1950, a law that could be used against the anti-apartheid movement as a whole. They also believed they could stigmatise the ANC for having had ties with the CPSA as the McCarthyist anti-communist which hunts was going on during this time.

As the CPSA was declared illegal they had to go underground and many of its leaders were banned and later imprisoned. The leader that weren't imprisoned helped organise the Defiance Campaign together with the ANC and SAIC. In 1953 they changed name to the South African Communist Party (SACP), still illegally. The change of name was significant because it signalled that the party was now primary South African rather than a internationalist communist party. Their main goal was to work with other groups against the apartheid system. However they stayed true to their communist ideological ideas and believed capitalism was the main reason as to why the apartheid system had been able to be established. They also believed that communism was the way to solve the racial oppression. The party maintained a high secrecy and it was not until his death in 2013 that it was confirmed that Nelson Mandela had served on the central committee shortly before his arrest in 1962.

As the anti-apartheid struggle grew the ANC and SACP also grew closer. The party played a key role in furthering the anti-apartheid groups through the COP. SACP’s influences can be seen in the freedom charter for example with some heavily socialist principles.

In the Treason Trials (1956-1961) the Freedom Charter was was used against the ANC leaders and the government claimed that the ANC had been infiltrated by the SACP and that both parties were guilty of advocating a socialist revolution. The state however, never managed to prove them guilty so in 1961 they were acquitted.

The Treason Trials brought a new generation of ANC leaders but the government also decided that the repression of peaceful protests might have to become more violent. Following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 the Umhonto we Sizwe (MK) was founded which was heavily influenced by the SACP leader that also were a part of the ANC. Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were both part of the decision to form the MK at a communist party conference in Johannesburg. The SACP helped the MK with funding, training etc. from Moscow. They also paid for Lilisleaf farm, the MK safe house in Rivonia.