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Sisanda Nkoala. “Early South African Black Press: Abantu-Batho and Umteteli wa Bantu”, Revolutionary Papers, 21 April 2022, https://revolutionarypapers.org/teaching-tool/early-south-african-black-press/
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Early South African Black Press: Abantu-Batho and Umteteli wa Bantu

Early South African Black Press: Abantu-Batho and Umteteli wa Bantu

Presented by

Sisanda Nkoala
— Sisanda Nkoala
Sisanda Nkoala is a senior lecturer in the Media Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She is a former award-winning journalist with expertise in media and communication, education, crime and justice, gender, multilingualism and multiculturalism. (more…)

Archival Source

National Libraries of South Africa, Cape Town

Last Updated
This tool is intermittently updated to integrate new information sent to the authors.

21 April 2022

The Early South African Black Press texts are a category of newspapers and magazines published between 1836 – 1960 aimed at Black, Coloured and Indian South Africans. Because this category of publications was designated retrospectively by scholars who have sought to understand these texts, the designation of which publications fall in this group can seem arbitrary, with many blurred lines, as argued by Couzens.1T. Couzens, 1984. ‘History of the black press in South Africa 1836-1960.’ The Switzers’ (1979) list of 712 publications produced between 1836 and 1960 is used in this project.2L. Switzer and D. Switzer, 1979. The Black press in South Africa and Lesotho: a descriptive bibliographic guide to African, Coloured, and Indian newspapers, newsletters, and magazines, 1836-1976. Hall Reference Books. Couzens breaks up the publications according to three periods in history:

  1. the early origins, which were mainly mission-controlled, [1836 – 1884]
  2. the period from 1884 to 1932 when black newspapers were largely independent though often struggling to survive
  3. from 1932 when whites exerted increasing influence on the black newspapers (this date can perhaps be pushed back to 1920 with the founding of a newspaper by the Chamber of Mines)3Couzens, 1984. 1

The two publications of interest in this project, Abantu-Batho and Umteteli wa Bantu, straddle between the second and third periods described above. Abantu-Batho is viewed as the last largely independent newspaper for Black people. At the same time, Umteteli wa Bantu is considered the first newspaper used to fight back against the discourse that directly attributed the dismal plight of black South Africans to oppression from whites. Comparing the two provides an interesting case study of how journalism’s agenda, content, and discourse changed based on how black audiences were conceptualised.

The front pages of these publications have been chosen as the site on which to undertake the close reading because they are the most important page in a newspaper.4A.E. Reisner, 1992. ‘The news conference: How daily newspaper editors construct the front page.’ Journalism Quarterly, 69(4), pp.971-986. The layout and content of these pages are a visual cue of what the newspaper deems most important and who the audience is conceived to be. Also on these pages are important details such as the cost of the publication, the date on which a particular issue is published and who the publisher is. These seemingly mundane details help reader place the publication in a particular genre and geographic location, even before a single news item is read.


 

Abantu-Batho

Abantu-Batho, launched in 1912 in Johannesburg, was the African National Congress’s official newspaper. It was founded through a grant from Swaziland’s Queen Regent, Labotsibeni. The paper incorporated Moromioa in 1912 and Umlomo wa Bantu in 1913. Lawyer, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, was managing director of production and editorial control was with D. S. Lentanka and C. S. Mabasa. Mabasa would later become the paper’s managing editor. The paper was multilingual, featuring contributions in English, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho and Setswana. Its standing in the public discourse, the paper attracted some notable contributors, including Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu, spokesperson for moderate African nationalism outside Transvaal, Samuel Makama Mashabalala, a trade union official, S.E Krune Mqhayi, one of the foremost Xhosa writers as well as Zaccheus Richard Mahabane a Methodist minister and ANC president between 1924 to 1927 and again from 1937 to 1940. In 1928 Abantu-Batho became an official organ of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), later renamed the African National Congress (ANC). It explicitly articulated its focus on mobilising for change in the oppressive conditions that black South Africans were living under. This newspaper coined and popularised political slogans such as ‘Mayibuy’ iAfrika’. Abantu-Batho possibly became the most influential of the black protest journals of this era came to a collapse in 1931 owing to the Great Depression that affected not only the cost of living but media printing costs tremendously. By 1921, the newspaper had gained so much traction that the Chamber of Mines established Umteteli wa Bantu to counter the work and alter the influential currency Abantu-Batho had, particularly during the African miners’ strike of 1920.


 

Umteteli wa Bantu

Umteteli was published by the Native Recruitment Corporation (NRC), a subsidiary of the white-owned South African Chamber of Mines that was responsible for obtaining African mine labour. Couzens 51979: 23 posits that the establishment of Umteteli wa Bantu in May 1920, the year of a significant strike, was no coincidence. The paper was published. It was set up as an “exercise of soft power”. 6Erlank, 2019 Founding President of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), John Dube and the party’s first General-Secretary Sol Plaatje were approached to be editors but declined but were among the many notable writers that contributed to the paper. The paper’s first editor was Marshall Maxeke, a man famously called the people’s attorney. Other notable contributors were attorney and SANNC founding member Richard Msimang, novelist and playwriter Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo, and imbongikazi Nontsizi Mgqwetho. In its first issue was included an outline of the vision behind the paper: Kuziswe umoya wokuvana pakati komlungu noNtsundu (We are bringing a spirit of understanding/being able to get along/being able to hear each other between the white and the black). This spelt a move away from the confrontational discourse in Abantu-Batho. Switzer describes Umteteli wa Bantu as “a prototype of the captive black commercial publications that gradually replaced the independent African protest press between the 1930s and 1950s”. Erlank meanwhile posits that “Early editorial comment [in Umteteli]…was often about how Africans should be thankful for the benefits of both Christianity and European civilisation…Letters to the editor were popular from the paper’s inception, and reader contributions were often in Xhosa or Sotho”.72019: 85 The differences in discourse between Abantu-Batho and Umteteli wa Bantu often found expression in these publications’ pages where the editorials criticised the other’s stance on issues.

References

Couzens, T., 1984. History of the black press in South Africa 1836-1960.

Erlank, N., 2019. Umteteli wa Bantu and the constitution of social publics in the 1920s and 1930s. Social Dynamics, 45(1), pp.75-102.Switzer, L., 1998. South Africa’s subaltern press: A case study in reading a cultural text. Ecquid novi, 19(1), pp.66-87.

Reisner, A.E., 1992. The news conference: How daily newspaper editors construct the front page. Journalism Quarterly, 69(4), pp.971-986.

Switzer, L. and Switzer, D., 1979. The Black press in South Africa and Lesotho: a descriptive bibliographic guide to African, Coloured, and Indian newspapers, newsletters, and magazines, 1836-1976. Hall Reference Books.

Switzer, L., 1988. Bantu World and the origins of a captive African commercial press in South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 14(3), pp.351-370.

  1. T. Couzens, 1984. ‘History of the black press in South Africa 1836-1960.’
  2. L. Switzer and D. Switzer, 1979. The Black press in South Africa and Lesotho: a descriptive bibliographic guide to African, Coloured, and Indian newspapers, newsletters, and magazines, 1836-1976. Hall Reference Books.
  3. Couzens, 1984. 1
  4. A.E. Reisner, 1992. ‘The news conference: How daily newspaper editors construct the front page.’ Journalism Quarterly, 69(4), pp.971-986.
  5. 1979: 23
  6. Erlank, 2019
  7. 2019: 85
×
1

Front page as advertorial

This front page is entirely an advertorial. The fact that this is the case demonstrates the extent to which the political economy imperatives were prioritised by Black newspapers. Unlike their English and Afrikaans counterparts which were well funded and could thus devote their most important page, the front page, to news matters of consequence, publications like Abantu-Batho had to use their front pages to advertise products because they needed the money.

This decision highlights the fact that even for an independent publication like this, whose political stance as being oppositional to the oppression of black South Africans by whites was clear, the funding model that has characterised the South African newspaper sector from its inception, means that funders have great influence in shaping not only the content, but the agenda of the publication.

The product advertised here is medicinal in nature.

    aside

    Abantu-Batho‘s tagline

    This publication has a tagline which is not uncommon for newspapers, but is not mandatory.

    The tagline here can roughly be translated as “All black people must come together/be united like a block of cement”.

    To be noted here is the use of “umtu ontsundu” in reference to black people. This phrase is more politically laden than the synonym “umntu omnyama”. This choice maybe a means of articulating this publication’s stance on the kind of black people it was addressing.

    The phrase is written in isiZulu and SeSotho. There is no English translating, suggesting that it’s primary audience is not English speaking. Even the publication’s name is just in isiZulu/isiXhosa and seSotho/seTswana.

    The tagline in mass media texts is an important aspect of how a publication differentiates itself and articulates its value proposition to its audiences and also can indicate how the newspaper views its ideal reader. Based on this, then, the ideal reader of Abantu-Batho speaks isiZulu/isiXhosa/SeSotho/SeTswana,and identifies themselves as umntu ontsundu.

      aside

      Political orientation

      This paper is very explicit about its political orientation. This is something rare in the South African news media landscape. Other than periodicals linked to particular trade union movements, most news publications in this context did not and still do not clearly state the political ideology behind their content and discourse. While one can read it through what is reported and how it is reported, the practice of having an explicitly stated political position is not common.

      Abantu-Batho is thus unique in this.

        aside

        Bibliography

        Couzens, T., 1984. History of the black press in South Africa 1836-1960.

        Erlank, N., 2019. Umteteli wa Bantu and the constitution of social publics in the 1920s and 1930s. Social Dynamics, 45(1), pp.75-102.Switzer, L., 1998. South Africa’s subaltern press: A case study in reading a cultural text. Ecquid novi, 19(1), pp.66-87.

        Reisner, A.E., 1992. The news conference: How daily newspaper editors construct the front page. Journalism Quarterly, 69(4), pp.971-986.

        Switzer, L. and Switzer, D., 1979. The Black press in South Africa and Lesotho: a descriptive bibliographic guide to African, Coloured, and Indian newspapers, newsletters, and magazines, 1836-1976. Hall Reference Books.

        Switzer, L., 1988. Bantu World and the origins of a captive African commercial press in South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 14(3), pp.351-370.

          aside

          Umteteli wa Bantu tagline

          This tagline is a translation of the newspapers name. Most notably different from Abantu-Batho is the approach of translating the phrase to English instead of translating it into another indigenous African language. The choice could have been informed by the publication’s postures as a text that sought to ‘bring about better understanding between blacks and whites’ and in the instances the tagline that understanding was facilitated linguistically. The tagline’s decision to position the paper as “Umteteli wa Bantu” is notable given that up until the paper was founded in 1920, that role was primarily seen to be fulfilled by Abantu-Batho. Thus the choice to name the publication this way can be read as a challenge to Abantu-Batho’s position as “the mouthpiece of the African National Congress”. By describing its posture as Umteteli wa Bantu, the paper’s title is also read juxtaposed to Abantu-Batho, which articulated a perspective of Black people as umntu ontsundu, rather than abantu in general. This choice captures what scholars describe as the more moderate stance of Umteteli.

            aside

            Front page advertorial

            This front page is an advertorial, mainly advertising medicinal products. The same producer who dominates the cover of Abantu-Batho dominates this publication. This suggests that this particular producer recognised the buying power of the Black audience and, irrespective of the political orientation of the publication, was prepared to invest their money in attracting this group.

              2

              Queen Regent Labotsibeni Mdluli

              Photo of a sculpture of eSwatini Queen Regent Labotsibeni by Sarah Richards

              Sculpture of Eswatini Queen Regent Labotsibeni by Sarah Richards.

              Queen Regent Labotsibeni Mdluli was born between 1858 and 1859 in Eswatini, where she later ruled for 22 years. She reigned over the country and became the longest-running female ruler. She came into power when her son Bhunu ascended the throne at age 16 in the early 1900s. Throughout her time serving the country, her subjects nicknamed her ‘Gwamile’, meaning ‘indomitable one’. During her time in service, she lost the land to the British but managed to raise 40 000 pounds to buy back the land through the LIFA Fund, which she established. In 1975, Swazi women recalled a statue of Labotsibeni by referring to her as ‘Mgwamie’, an abbreviation of the name given to her, which commemorates her part in consolidating Swazi nationhood during turbulent times.

              Further reading:

              1. “Labotsibeni Gwamile laMdluli (c. 1858–1925) .” Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. (March 28, 2022). https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/labotsibeni-gwamile-lamdluli-c-1858-1925
              2. Sarah Richards. 2022. eSwatini Queen Regent Labotsibeni (Gwamile) – Sarah Richards – Sarah Richards. [online] Available at: <https://www.sarahrichards.co.za/eswatini-queen-regent-labotsibeni.html> [Accessed 20 March 2022].
                3

                Pixley ka Isaka Seme

                Pixley ka Isaka Seme

                Pixley ka Isaka Seme (Image source: South African History Online)

                Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, a South African lawyer, founder and president of the African National Congress, was born on October 1 1881, in the colony of Natal. Little to no information about his early life is documented. Pixley attended Adams College, where he completed his studies before moving to the United States of America at seventeen. He graduated from the Mount Hermon School in 1902 before getting into Columbia University, where he made a memorable speech in 1906 titled The Regeneration of Africa. According to Ngqulunga Bongani, in The Man Who Founded The ANC: A Biography of Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Pixley was bankrupt when he died in 1951, and his political career was struggling immensely.

                Source:

                https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/pixley-ka-isaka-seme
                Ngqulunga Bongani, The Man Who Founded The ANC: A Biography of Pixley Ka Isaka Seme (Cape Town : Penguin Books, 2017).

                  4

                  Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje

                  Photo of Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje.

                  Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje (Image sourced from Encyclopedia Britannica).

                  Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was born on October 9, 1876, in the Boshof district of the orange in the Free State. Sol Plaatje went to Kimberley in 1894, where he got a postman job, commenced his private studies, and eventually found himself on the civil service examinations. On the eve of the Boer War, he was sent to Mafikeng as an interpreter. He also acted as a court interpreter and clerk to the Mafikengadministrator of Native affairs. He was proficient in at least eight languages, including German and Dutch, English, and all the major African vernaculars. With the advancement in the civil service being closed to him, Plaatje resorted to journalism at the end of the war. With financial backing from Silas Molema, chief of the Barolong, he established the first Setswana-English weekly, Koranta ea Becoana (Newspaper of the Tswana), in 1901. Under Plaatje’s editorship, this existed for six or seven years, after which he moved from Mafeking to Kimberley. There he established a new paper, Tsala ea Becoana, later renamed Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People). He also wrote for other papers such as Diamond Fields Advertiser. He was chosen as the first secretary-general of the South African National Natives Congress at its inaugural meeting in 1912.

                  Further reading:

                  Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 1, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Solomon-Tshekiso-Plaatje.

                    5

                    Marshall Maxeke

                    Marshall Maxeke is best known as the husband of political activist Charlotte Maxeke. He was born on November 1, 1874, and died in 1928. They both studied at Wilberforce University in Ohio.

                    Further reading:

                    Ntongela Masilela, 2004. MARSHALL MAXEKE. [online] New African Movement. Available at: <http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/nam/newafrre/writers/mmaxeke/mmaxekeS.htm> [Accessed 20 April 2022].

                      6

                      Nontsizi Mgqwetho

                      Nontsizi Mgqwetho was the first and only female poet to write in the Xhosa language and submit a body of work in the language. She contributed to the weekly multilingual newspaper, Umteteli wa Bantu, between 1920 and 1929, after which little was heard from her.

                      Further reading:

                      “Nontsizi Mgqwetho.” NYU Press, February 21, 2019. https://nyupress.org/author/nontsizi-mgqwetho.

                        7

                        South African Native National Congress

                        The South African Native National Congress opened its doors on January 8 1912, and had Reverend John Dube as its first elected president in absentia. The intention behind the formation of this organisation was to create an entity that would unite marginalised black South Africans to fight against the oppressive white government. The inaugural conference was organised by Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Alfred Mangena, Richard Msimang and George Montsioa.

                        Photo of the 1914 South African Native National Congress delegation to Britain. From left to right: Thomas Mapikela, Walter Rubusana, John Dube, Saul Msane, Sol Plaatje)

                        The SANNC delegation to England, June 1914. From left to right: Thomas Mapikela, Walter Rubusana, John Dube, Saul Msane, Sol Plaatje. (Image sourced from Wikipedia Commons)

                         

                        Further reading:

                        https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/founding-sannc

                          8

                          Richard Msimang

                          Photo of Richard Msimang.

                          Richard Msimang (Photo sourced from KAYA FM)

                          Richard Msimang was an attorney, founder member of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC, later changed to the ANC), Vice Chairman of the Provisional Committee of the South African Non-White Athletics Union, Founder member of the Johannesburg Bantu Football Association, who was born in 1884, Natal. Richard Msimanga was the son of Joel Msimanga. He was the founder of the Methodist church, where he was amongst the first pupils of the Ohlange Institute, founded by John Dube in Natal and later attended the Healdtown institution in the Eastern Cape. He subsequently spent a decade in Britain, where he attended Queens College in Taunton, Somerset.  Outside of politics and law, he had a keen interest in soccer and was a founding member of the Johannesburg Bantu Football Association in 1929. Outside of politics and law, he had a keen interest in soccer and was a founding member of the Johannesburg Bantu Football Association in 1929. He died in 1933.

                          Further reading:

                          https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/richard-msimang

                            9

                            Herbert I.E. Dhlomo

                            Photo of Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo

                            Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo (image sourced from South African History Online)

                            Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo was born in 1903 in Siymaou, Edenvale, in the Natal province and is one of the founding fathers of South African Literature. He grew up in a Christian household where only his father’s side believed in ancestral beings and traditions. Although his parents were Christian, his father was a descendant of the Bambatha, which led the last Zulu resistance movement in 1906.

                            Further reading:

                            https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/herbert-isaac-ernest-dhlomo

                             

                              10

                              John Dube

                              Photo of John Dube.

                              John Langalibalele Dube (image sourced from South African History Online)

                              John Langalibalele Dube was born in 1871 in the former Natal, where he lived all his early life. He received his education in Inanda and Amanzimtoti (which was later changed to Adams College). In 1887, John accompanied the missionary W C Wilcox to the United States of America (USA). He got the chance to study at Oberlin College while supporting himself through various jobs and lecturing on the need for industrial education in the Natal. In 1901, John established the Zulu Christian Industrial School on a limited space of 200 acres of land at Ohlange in the lnanda district. Three years later, he pushed himself to launch the isiZulu/English newspaper llanga lase Natal (Sun of Natal), which paved the way for his political career. Dube was a member of the delegation to Britain to protest against the Act of Union, and in 1912 he accepted the Presidency of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1914, he was one of the ANC delegates who went to London to protest against the 1913 Land Act. In 1935, he became a member of the All African Convention and represented Natal on the Natives’ Representative Council from 1936 until he died in 1946 when he was replaced on the Council by Chief Albert Luthuli.

                              Further reading:

                              https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/john-langalibalele-dube

                                11

                                S.E. Krune Mqhayi

                                Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi was born on December 1, 1875, near Gqumashashe, Cape Colony. He was a Xhosa poet, historian and translator who was also called the ‘Father of Xhosa Poetry’. Mqhayi was driven by his immense love for Xhosa history and mastery of the praise poem. He taught at several schools and helped edit several Xhosa language journals. He was considered one of five pioneers within the black community, contributing their thoughts and intellect to various fields from literature and poetry to politics, religion and journalism.

                                Photo of Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi.

                                S.E. Krune Mqhayi (image sourced from Forgotten Poets of WW1 blog)

                                He worked with newspapers such as Izwi Labantu, Imvo, and Umteteli wa Bantu, which gave him an award for the title of ‘Imbengi yakwaGompo’ (The Poet of Gompo) and also ‘Imbongi yeSizwe’ (The Poet of the Nation).

                                 

                                Further reading:

                                https://www.britannica.com/biography/S-E-K-Mqhayi

                                http://forgottenpoetsofww1.blogspot.com/2015/02/samuel-edward-krune-mqhayi-1875-1945.html

                                 

                                  12

                                  Samuel Makama Martin Masabalala

                                  Samuel Makama Martin Masabalala was a trade unionist born on December 6, 1877, in Uniondale in the Cape. He got his education in Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth and is said to have worked at various jobs, including a teacher, battery driver, electrician and pharmacist. He moved to the Eastern Cape and became a leader of a workers’ association, which later changed to the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU). He officially joined the Cape African National Congress (ANC). Throughout his membership within the ANC, he was tried for incitement of violence but was acquitted after a riot and appointed ICU organiser in chief (although he did not spend much time in this position). According to SA History journals, Clements Kadalie later recalled that Masabalala was good with public speaking, fluent in isiXhosa, seSotho, and Afrikaans, “but for trade union work, he was not properly equipped as he did not avail himself of private study”.

                                  Further reading:

                                  https://thecasualobserver.co.za/port-elizabeth-yore-masabalala-riots-1920/

                                  https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/samuel-makama-martin-masabalala

                                    13

                                    D.D.T. Jabavu

                                    Photo of Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu.

                                    D.D.T. Jabavu (image sourced from South African History Online)

                                    Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu was a Xhosa educationist, politician and founder of the All-African Convention (AAC), born on October 20 1885. The objective of the AAC was to unite all non-European opposition to the segregationist measure of the South African government. He was born in King Williams Town, in the Eastern Cape, and the eldest son of political activist and pioneering newspaper editor John Tego Jabavu. David had a daughter named Noni Jabavu, who gained the family gene and became the first African female writer and journalist. He completed school at the Morija institution, a mission centre in Basotholand (Lesotho). He studied at Lovedale in the Cape province before moving to the United Kingdom, where he completed his matric at Colwyn Bay in Wales. He was one of the founding members of the University of Fort Hare in 1916 and became the first and only African academic at the institution. He died on August 3, 1959.

                                    Further reading:

                                    https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/davidson-don-tengo-jabavu

                                      14

                                      South African Chamber of Mines

                                      The South African Chamber of Mines was formed in 1889 as an organisation of mine owners. It was created to take down the production costs in the mining industry. The chamber gained its significance when deep-level mines were opened in the mid-1890s. During these times, the skilled and unionised white workers from the mining borders of the world protected their wages while the chamber formed two major recruiting organisations, the WNLA and the NRC.

                                      Further reading:

                                      https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chamber-of-Mines

                                        15

                                        Native Recruitment Corporation

                                        The Native Recruitment Corporation (NRC) was established in 1912 by the chamber of mines to recruit black mine labourers from South Africa, Lesotho, and Botswana. In 1942, the NRC was supplemented by nearly 400 independent recruiting agents, usually traders, with recruiting activities supervised by the government and the Native recruiting corporation. By 1940, an estimated 252 000 natives were obtained and by 1962, the mining industry had brought around 400 000 natives to the mines every year. The mining industry went on to break into two labour organisations where the Witwatersrand Native Labours Association (WNLA), formed in 1902, and the NRC, which started ten years later. With these organisations were both under the same management, their primary objectives were to recruit indigenous labourers and to facilitate their up and down movements. On January 1, 1977, the NRC and the WNLA merged to form The Employers Bureau of Africa.

                                        Further reading:

                                        J.S. Harington, N.D. McGlashan, and E.Z. Chelkowska, ‘A century of migrant labour in the gold mines of South Africa’, Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, March 2004. pp.65-71.

                                          16

                                          Z. R. Mahabane

                                          Zaccheus Richard Mahabane was born on August 5 1881, in Thaba Nchu in the Free State. He obtained his early education in mission schools before going to Morija (Lesotho), where he trained as a teacher. He went on to study Priesthood in the Cape and was ordained in 1914 upon completion of his studies.

                                          Photo of Zaccheus Richard Mahabane.

                                          Zaccheus Richard Mahabane (image sourced from South African History Online

                                          He became the president of the ANC from 1924 to 1940. Between 1919 and 1940, Zaccheus was part of all the significant developments in the ANC. He served the organisation during two separate terms, 1924 to 1929 and 1937 to 1940. He also acted as the vice president of the All Africa Convention (AAC). From 1940 to 1954, he served as the AAC’s official vice president, first under Professor Davidson Jabavu and then Wycliffe Tsotsi. Mahabane died in 1970.

                                          Further reading:

                                          https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/reverend-zaccheus-richard-mahabane

                                            aside

                                            Legislating ‘race’ in South Africa

                                            The racialising categories used by Couzens and the Switzers continue to use the language of The Population Registration Act, Act No 30 of 1950. This legislating of Apartheid policy: “provided that all South Africans be racially classified in one of three categories: White, Black or Coloured. According to this Act Indians fell under the Coloured category.”1https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/apartheid-legislation-1850s-1970s

                                            Through 1950 the National Party issued a wave of legislation that entrenched Afrikaner nationalist ideology and oppressed everyday life in South Africa. These acts of parliament included the Immorality Amendment Act, Suppression of Communism Act, and The Group Areas Act.

                                            Further reading:

                                            https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/race-and-ethnicity-south-africa

                                            https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/apartheid-legislation-1850s-1970s

                                             

                                            1. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/apartheid-legislation-1850s-1970s