Recently intrigued by a paper written by a fellow black comrade, China Ngubane in a journal called Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies www.tandfonline.com/loi/cpsa20, titled Occupying Umlazi; Hesitant Steps Towards Political Ideology in a Durban Township; I have been moved to thinking how some Black Radical comrades have already debunked the efficacy of social movement, especially those ideologically 'led' and misled by white liberals.
Here is the link to the article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2014.975930 ...
A recent article written by fellow activist Bandile Mdlalose, also a colleague of comrade China did a lot to deal with this perpetual problem of white do gooders who do their utmost to either police the black voice or to steer our common struggles towards certain ideological or policy directions. Usually it is towards a policy of non-racialism as opposed to anti-racism; towards a cosmetic transformation of social conditions rather than total destruction of the very system that they thrive on. The do gooders tend to steer the landless and oppressed ones towards whatever dominant ideology that they find lucrative, especially in lieu with their academic interests.
I don't remember who said the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, the class that is the ruling material force of society ( read White society in the context of RSA), is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.
So Comrade China's paper made me really anxious to find out exactly which Ideology he was referring to. But even though his paper is a good or accurate portrayal of what transpired when a community rose up against authority, I was still left wondering just what kind of political ideology the author had in mind.
But my focus is not really the matter of white liberals determining the trajectory of black struggles per se, what concerns me most is the shortcomings of black activists and leaders of movements to convince the masses of oppressed and landless people to make that final push to really effective revolution, by any means necessary.
Yes, I am part of those movements too, I have been part of the September National Imbizo since the year 2011, and i have agitated within Economic Freedom Fighters and now I have committed myself to the Black First Land First movement.
Yet each time I am confronted with the "lived experiences" of the my people, the 'wretched of the Earth', it becomes increasingly difficult to keep asking them to THINK. Think and break the mental chains so that we can all take that great leap towards liberation and achieve Biko's vision of a True Humanity.
To convince the hungry and unemployed and vulnerable to think beyond their service delivery concerns, their joblessness and the state of crime, and work collectively to banish the forces that perpetuate their desperate conditions is no easy task. It may be easy for one to sit at the computer typing up 'social commentary', writing to the newspapers, and urging thousands of listeners on radio to revive Steve Biko's Black Consciousness, to think and act on Robert Sobukwe's pan-Afrikan ideals and to bravely rage against imperialism in the indomitable spirit of Thomas Sankara.
But striving to do these things in a society which is constructed on apartheid divisions, class hierarchies and white monopoly capitalism makes it ever more difficult. But as I said to the people of Illovu this weekend, "Change may be very difficult, but it is not impossible, especially once you have had enough of abuse."
Let us now turn to ideology before we take a closer look at comrade China's well researched paper which still somehow fails to display the authors ideological standpoint. Perhaps he did this on purpose, as am activist who refuses to pick a side in the name of intellectual objectivity, I may not know his motivation, but I will soon find out.
In his monumental work of selected essays,African Sociology,Towards A Critical African Sociology: Selected Works, Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane has a chapter titled Ideological And Theoretical Problems In The Study Of Modernization In Africa. In this chapter Magubane intricately gives an proper perspective of how various political and economic theories and ideologies have altered the destinies of African people through-out the 20th and 21st century.
It is not difficult to tell that Magubane writes from a Socialist and Marxist ideological foundation, even though he does not shy away from sharp yet well apportioned criticism of the limits of cut-and paste socialism in Africa and the rest of the "third world". He quotes C/L.R. James in the beginning of this chapter: "The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression." ( From the Black Jacobins)
Such are the pearls of Black intellectual wisdom I often wish to drop (in my Mother tongue) whenever I am called to speak on Community and National radio stations, but, we are often subjected to mundane questions and time constraints.
Magubane adds this:
"To break the neo-colonial noose, Nkrumah was forced to adopt a socialist strategy, "capitalism had already had its turn in Africa, for 50 years, 100 years or more, and Africa [ was still ] underdeveloped. In other words, capitalism, as far as development [was] concerned, [was] seen as having failed." (p.205). It goes without saying that for leaders like Nkrumah, Nyerere, Sekou Toure and others, the choice of a socialist road of economics is dictated by historical necessity. Their policies confirm Fanon's (1967:78) observation that:
The concrete problem we find ourselves up against is not that of a choice, cost what it may, between socialism and capitalism as they have been defined by men of other continents and other ages. Of course we know that the capitalist regime ... cannot leave us free to perform our work at home, nor our duty in the world. Capitalist exploitation and cartels and monopolies are the enemies of underdeveloped countries. On the other hand the choice of a socialist regime, a regime which is completely oriented towards the people as a whole and based on the principle that man is the most precious of all possessions, will allow us to go forward more quickly and more harmoniously, and thus make impossible that caricature of society where all economic and political power is held in the hands of a few who regard the nation as a whole with scorn and contempt."
Reading this makes me think that Comrade China Ngubane and many other activists was mainly highlighting a specific node of hopeful community solidarity. The matter of whether the occupation of a Councillors office was effective or whether their demands were met is neither here nor there, especially when one considers the fact that the whole country is under the control of a government that is both gullible and contemptuous.
I say gullible because it is really difficult to ascertain exactly what ideological foundation the African National Congress acts from. Even though its Freedom Charter is said to have been penned by Communists who had 'consulted with the oppressed people". The truth remains that this vainglorious organisation has thrived on the 'willful ignorance' of the masses.
Comrade China notes that "Ward 88's Community Crisis Committee included members from the ruling ANC, as well as from the main opposition political parties such as the DA, IFP and NFP. Those not politically affiliated included activists from faith-based organisations. ...they agreed to actively participate in this process to resist authority, even to the extent of using civil disobedience, in the face of the states willingness to use violence. Ideological development occurred during this period, as some ANC members threatened to withdraw their membership and the majority withdrew their allegiance to authority."
This is very interesting and it makes so much sense why the populist commander of the Economic Freedom Charter strove so hard to garner a following in this large township of Umlazi, surely he was aware of this gap or opportunity to win over disgruntled voters. Due to the EFF's own lack of ideological clarity and genuine concern for the fate of the black oppressed, the problems plaguing all townships still continue and there is no political education programs currently in place to equip the people with the right tools to build themselves out of the mire of liberalism and exploitation by black askaris or petit bourgeoisie.
One shining example of sound ideological clarity in this article comes via Black Conscious and socialist activist Bheki Buthelezi, who is quoted as saying: "We are doing this as residents, not political parties. There are four political parties in the ward - the ANC, Black Consciousness Party, National Freedom Party and Inkatha Freedom Party - and we have all come together to raise issues of unemployment, housing, the landless and informal settlements.
Let me close with a quotation that appears at the beginning of this paper: " The ideological deficiency, not to say the total lack of ideology, within the national liberation movements - which is basically due to ignorance of the historical reality which these movements claim to transform - constitutes one of the greatest weaknesses of our struggle against imperialism, of not the greatest weakness of all."
Yet somehow I am still compelled to re-investigate Fanon's statement that as Africans we find ourselves warming up theories and ideologies that emanate from another era and from another continent, yet he also adds in a sort of admission that as black people we are in a Catch 22 situation where we ought to choose the best of two evils. The other evil seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing, but what choice do we have? Choose we must.
But the wisened professor Magubane cautions: "The socialist solution is a historic necessity; necessitated as much by the historic facts that underdevelopment in the former colonies begins with the intervention of the colonial factor as by the advances made by socialist countries and those former colonies that chose a socialist path. The transformation of countries along socialist lines has been prompted not by subjective decisions of isolated personalities, but by historical necessity." (p.143, Ideological and Theoretical Problems In the Study of Modernization I Africa.
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