COMING REVOLUTION
IN SOUTH AFRICA THE appointment of Malcolm MacDonald as
Governor of Kenya, the visit of Premier Obote of Uganda and President Nycrore of Tanganyika to London to urge a speed-up of Kenyan Independence, the visit of Duncan Sandys to Kenya all will tend to bring forward the date of Independence to around the end of 1963, with elections and full internal self-government in May or June 1963.
However the past months have seen a new political situation develop. The reactionary KADU, with the full support of the settlers, has succeeded in playing on tribal differences and has been able to turn the Kenyan political situation around those
The question of regionalism, ceded by KANU and even though KANU had the intention of severely restricting the powers of the
Assemblies, inevitably the question of division of the country into basically tribal units roused all the old tribal loyalties, including inside KANU itself. KANU has seen continual splinterings in these months, and now faces the coming elections a much weaker force than before, and will not succeed in achieving the overwhelming majority
KANU has always been a broad front organisation with the sole unitary objective of Independence. y getting involved in the colonial governmenta apparatus, it has already begun Besides tribal divisions, the division into roughly Right and Left, which has always existed in KANU has led to a further break-up: But though confusion may seem supreme, the basic difference lies on the question of the land, on the attitude to the British settlers, and of the form of Independence
British Imperialism has been quite satisfied to allow the situation to drift, content that the tribal passions would do no harm to its interests, and that
"governmental experience" by former KANU militants would also benefit it. . But now it is seen necessary to move to Independence, in the fear that the confusion and impatience of the masses may lead to an explosion. Meanwhile it has sought to remove the most explosive factor from the Kenyan political scene: the land hunger of the African peasants. Thus one million acres of formerly Europeanowned land in the White Highlands is to be settled by 20,000 African families, 12,000 of these in the first year. But even such a crash programme is insufficient to cope with the land hunger particularly of the 2 million Kikuyu, who will in fact see very few of their number given land, and that the scheme itself is aimed at setting up an African 'Kulak" class, and has nothing in common with a genuine land reform. Moreover, the plan aims at arousing tribal jealousies and at setting African against African.
The Right wing of KANU around Tom Mboya, have continued to play a confusionist and reactionary role in the past months. It has been due to their compromising tactics that the KADU has been able to take the initiative and raise reactionary tribal issues to the fore. It is due to them, that KANU now agrees to transfer to Duncan Sandys for his final decision all undecided issues between KADU and KANU, and to abide by his decision. It is due to the right-wing that the constitutional boundaries have been accepted, even though those favour KADU and tribalism in a monstrous way. (For instance, in the Baringo East electorate there are 749 voters, While in
This is an extreme Tanganyika's exports, equalled only by Israel and
Nakuru East there are 47,017;
but it is estimated (MANCHESTER GUARcase, DIAN, February 20th, 1963) that 3 KANU votes will be worth 2 KADU) It is due to the rightwing that the KANU has capitulated on Regionalism, and where it is even possible that the jurisdiction over land might well be in the hands of the Regional Assemblies, depending on the whim of Sandys.
The left-wing is lacking in clarity on all these issues and it is necessary that they must seek to find the way out of the present confusion and reactionary atmosphere in Kenyan politics. They must base themselves upon one thing-the tremendous militancy of the African masses, and above all the desire of the peasant masses for land. It is impossible for the mass militancy to be sidetracked into tribalist channels for long, for despite whatever reactionary constitutions are worked out, the elementary demands of the masses will burst through. The Land Freedom Army is a guarantee that corrupted politicians will not be able to have everything their own way.
The need is for a strong, clear-minded revolutionary Socialist party in Kenya. That does not mean that a struggle should not be waged within KANU, for it would be wrong to hand the mass loyalties to that organisation over to the right-wing, lock-stockand-barrel. But equally it is impossible to see the continuation of betrayals without reply and without an alternative being created. Task number one is to break out of the confusion that reigns in Kenyan left wing circles, with concrete policies. Meanwhile the orientation of those who are corrupted and on the right in Kenyan politics will become clearer, and the Left more and more seemingly isolated. But from such isolation the real test of a new orientation will come.
• With the question of Kenyan Independence comes the question of the East African Federation. The former "East African High Commission" of British colonialism created a Common Market from the *territories"of Uganda, Tanganyika, Kenya, and Zanzibar. This Common Market was for the benefit of the Kenyan settlers who thus had a market of over 20 million at their disposal, and by taxation manipulation were able to use almost all revenues for the development of Kenya itself, and also ensure that almost all industry was concentrated there. The governments of Uganda and Tanganyika now seek to extend this to an East African Federation with a central government with particular powers over development to see that revenue is equally distributed throughout East Africa. The desperate poverty of the new nations in East Africa make them eager for such a solution. But of course, without socialist measures such a Common Market cannot have a really decisive effect on the situation. Socialists must stand for an East African Federal Socialist Republic, with all the natural and mineral wealth nationalised, the land to the people, and a National Plan of economic development, particularly of industry and of the modernisation of agriculture.
Such a programme would provide an interesting upon the co-operative movement, and the movement of "self-help" : The co-operative movement in all fields in Tanganyika has reached a significant. size and now. for instance exports over one quarter of
Denmark. But this co-operative movement which is still expanding lacks even the material base it has in these countries, and starts from an abysmally low standard of living and technique. The only real solution would be massive state aid, the rapid industrialisation of the country etc. still carries on with basically the old colonial apparatus, all imperialist holdings are untouched, the governmental income is meagre, and the amount alotted to state aid of agriculture lower still. In fact "African Socialism" takes the incidentals of Socialism and of the methods of the Workers' States, and ignores its essentials: the expropriation of capitalism. is above all true of the "self-help" movement which seeks to channel the enthusiasm for Independence and the massive support for TANU, the Government party, into voluntary labour for building wells, football fields, houses, etc... It seeks to mobilise the under-employed in the villages to help themselves. But again it can achieve little: the level of technique remains untouched, there is no real improvement in revolutionary mass mobilisation, achieved by the expropriation of Capitalism, and a final definitive attack on feudalism and Socialism. For Socialists in East Africa, it is nevertheless necessary to take cognisance of the reality of co-operativism and put forward demands which would mean the translation of the aspirations the masses have in this movement into reality.
Any East African Federation must overcome the obstacles of reactionary interests, of tribalism, feudalism (in Uganda), and the European Settler interests. More and more it will have to face the obstacles of the nascent African bourgeoisie in East Africa, which will seek to concentrate more and more on its own "nation-building" , of ensuring its own profits remain
It remains for those who are genuinely concerned with the interests of the masses, in all the nationalist parties of East Africa and outside them, the problem from the Marxist point-of-view, for only a revolutionary Marxist understanding can provide the necessary programme tor a march to an East African Federal Socialist Republic
One last note: it is necessary to break through the conspiracy of silence that has been tactfully placed around the repression of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party leadership by British Imperialism. For some 16 months now without trial, 15 of the leaders of the ZNP have been jailed by the British Imperialists on faked charges, even though the ZNP was the party which received most votes in the last elections. The ZNP is well-known to be the most Left of all East African parties, and because of this fact, its repression has been hidden by even those on the "Left". It is time the truth was known and a campaign launched for their liberation, particularly Britain. The repression continues against the ZNP youth organisation, and the Progressive Unions. Free Abdul (Babu) Rahman Mohammed! Free all political Prisoners in Zanzibar!
1962 was a decisive year for South Africa: 1963 will be even more decisive.: In 1962 there were oyer 40 acts of sabotage throughout South Africa. The
9 Sabotage Bill provided the Death Penalty for sabolist Government presses ahead with its plan for first of all in the Transkel 'Independence" is to be given and a "Black Prime Minister" elected. say, these are both obvious frauds and are recognised as such by the
"Prime-Minister-Elect" Matanzima lives under the fear of the vengeance of his "people" The spirit of revolt, which temporarily relapsed after the crushing of the Pondoland upsurge, is again in full development in the Transkei.
Below the surface of South African political life, there is tremendous ferment. It is nothing less than the birth of revolutionary consciousness in all the mass organisations, and the formation of the leadership of the South African Revolution. multiplicity of underground revolutionary organisa-
Indeed, over a short period of a year and a few months the question is recognised now as not being a question of whether this is the pre-revolutionary period, and whether a revolution or "violence" is necessary, but how and in what way, the revolution will start. It is a period of intense debate, of active peparation, of revolutionary military
There are probably world where the writings of Mao Tse Tung, and of Guevara are studied so assiduously as in South Africa. Everywhere there is a feeling of urgency as enormous contradictions of South African racialist society build up one on the other. be surprised at that happens in South Africa in the coming months.
The bubbles of this fermentation below the surface areseen in many forms of sabotage, largely in the cities, murdering of chiefs (certainly no new phenomena), burning of fences, and recently murder of Europeans in charge of a road building scheme across African land, are all symptoms of the simmering which is rapidly reaching boiling point. The killing of Europeans at Pearl by Africans illustrate that particularly in the Western Cape the racialist ideas of the Pan Africanist Congress have led to the formation of POOO ("We stand alone") which starts from racialist point-of view of driving the Whites into the revolutionary struggle, and surviving the reprisals of the Government, that the attentions are turned. As the AFrIcaN CommunIst (January-March 1963) comments on the sabotage operations of UMKONTO
" If its present operations form part of a process of training and preparation for the building of a formidable military force, they take on an entirel new significance, whose importance be under estimated" decisive period awaits the South African Revolution: the construction of a People's Army, in the field, building its strength for the final combat with the White Army. Such an army, almost by definition, means a guerrila army, and also therefore one largely based on the peasantry. In the building of such an Army no one group has a monopoly. Technique will certainly count, but equally the ability to rally the African peasant masses. and more the need will be for a revolutionary united front of liberation. Certainly in such a Front those with the clear Marxist and socialist consciousness must seek to lead. But such leadership will flow from the fullest and best participation in the coming
The recent Congress of the Communist Party of South Africa held illegally in South Africa, and the new Programme adopted there deserves careful study by all interested in the South African revolution. For although the CPSA is small in numbers, its strength in action and influence is considerable. From a formerly opportunist position it has now turned its face squarely to the Revolution. Programme as well indicates some clear ideological advances which must be analysed and studied and so publicly. Marxists despite the CP's obvious shortcomings and past failures cannot afford to ignore its new turn to revolutionary struggle.
The world working class movement and its revolutionary Marxist vanguard have the duty to ensure its fullest aid to the developing South African Revo-
The Algerian Revolution has led the way with its fullest aid to the South African Revolution. It is the absolute duty of all African revolutionaries to see that the newly-independent governments, Eastern and Central Africa in particular, afford every
London, 10th February, 1963.