All African Convention

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The All African Convention ( AAC , sometimes also All-African Convention ; German for example: "Assembly of all Africans") was an opposition alliance in South Africa that existed from 1935 to the 1960s.

history

From December 15, 1935, prominent black and several other South Africans met for four days in the Community Hall in Bloemfontein . About 400 people took part. The chairman of the meeting was Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu . Other participants were the head of the African National Congress with President Pixley ka Isaka Seme as well as John Langalibalele Dube , Zaccheus Richard Mahabane , Alfred Bitini Xuma and James Moroka , representatives of the Communist Party of South Africa such as JB Marks , representatives of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and traditional chiefs , but also representatives of the Coloreds such as Goolam Gool . The aim was to adopt a common line against the policies of the South African government, which were formed exclusively by whites. In particular, the discriminatory legislation was denounced ( Natives Land Act , Native Urban Areas Act and the plan on restricted voting rights ). Jabavu became the first president. Then Prime Minister James Barry Munnick Hertzog was asked to send an AAC delegation to Parliament. However, he refused, but made minor concessions to the suffrage of the inhabitants of the Cape Province . In 1936 the Representation of Natives Act was enacted, which provided black people with separate representation, the Natives Representative Council (NRC). Jabavu, against the will of the rest of the board, accepted separate electoral rolls and thus the NRC.

In 1937 it was decided that the AAC delegates should meet every three years from now on. In addition to Jabavu, Mahabane and Xuma, the active members included university professor Zachariah Keodirelang Matthews , who was active in the AAC until 1943 and also joined the ANC in 1940. In 1940, Xuma replaced Mahabane as ANC president, while Mahabane took over from Xuma as the vice-presidency of the AAC. The AAC has been criticized for its ineffectiveness, among others by the Communist Party, the oppositionist Ashby Peter Solomzi Mda and Isaac Bangani Tabata . Tabata believed the AAC was more likely than the ANC to play a leading role in the opposition. In 1943, besides black delegates, people of Indian origin and colored took part in the AAC. At the same time, this meant the first meeting of the Non European Unity Movement (NEUM), jointly led by Jabavu. In 1947, AAC and NEUM boycotted the NRC elections for the first time. The following year, Wycliffe Tsotsi was elected Jabavu's successor. Instead of a possible union of the ANC and AAC, it came to a rift. After the two organizations had not been reconciled in 1949 either, the AAC lost its importance in the 1950s. Tsotsi remained chairman until 1959. In 1962, Nathaniel Honono was chairman.

Together with the Unity Movement, the AAC moved into headquarters in Lusaka , Zambia . On May 26, 1965, the AAC spoke for the first and last time before a committee of the United Nations, including the activities of the German major general a. D. Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin left.

literature

  • Isaac Bangani Tabata : The All African Convention: The Awakening of a People. 1950. Online
  • Isaac Bangani Tabata: The Conference of the All-African Convention (draft version 1959) Online (PDF file)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d AAC at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on May 23, 2012
  2. ↑ Isaac Bangani Tabata at sahistory.org.za, mention of the year 1961 in connection with the AAC , accessed on May 27, 2012
  3. ↑ Wycliffe Tsotsi at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on May 24, 2012
  4. ^ An Address Delivered To The United Nations Committee , May 26, 1965