South African Congress of Democrats

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The South African Congress of Democrats (SACOD), often just called the Congress of Democrats (COD), was a white-backed political movement in South Africa that existed between 1953 and 1962. Its goals were to demand human rights and equality in the exercise of political rights for all South Africans.

As a result of the Defiance Campaign , the African National Congress , the South African Communist Party (SACP), the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) as well as other organizations and individuals agreed on increased cooperation, which became known as the Congress Alliance . From this group, a small group of white activists came together in Johannesburg in January 1953 and advocated the idea of ​​a non-racist democracy in South Africa under the name Johannesburg Congress of Democrats . At their head were Bram Fischer and Cecil Williams . The South African Congress of Democrats was formed at a gathering of like-minded groups from various cities in South Africa on October 11 and 12, 1953 .

The founding of the South African Congress of Democrats followed the experience in the ANC, according to which its concerns must be carried more into the “white” population group. It was a small organization with no more than 700 members, including individuals and well-known organizations. Their actions, on the other hand, were very impulsive. Well-known members were, for example, Benjamin Turok , Lionel Bernstein , Jack Hodgson , Helen Joseph , Ruth First and Leonard Lee-Warden . The actions of the members made it clear in public that whites in South Africa were also in opposition to apartheid relations .

On September 14, 1962, the South African Congress of Democrats became an “unlawful organization” with a ban on the basis of the Suppression of Communism Act and, according to the more recent legal situation, the General Law Amendment Act ( Act No. 76/1962 ) by means of Proclamation R 218 " explained. Other member organizations of the Congress Alliance remained unbanned at this point, but many of their leaders had already been so through individually pronounced bans. Affiliates affected in this way included the Colored People's Congress , the South African Congress of Trade Unions , the South African Indian Congress and the Federation of South African Women .

The weekly New Age was a print medium affiliated with the Congress of Democrats .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b South African History Online : South African Congress of Democrats (COD) . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  2. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1962. Johannesburg 1963. p. 4
  3. ↑ SAIRR: Survey 1962. 1963. p. 48
  4. ↑ Christoph Sodemann, pp. 102-103
  5. ^ Ronald Segal: Political Africa. A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties . Frederick A. Praeger, New York 1961, p. 432

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