United Democratic Front (South Africa)

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The United Democratic Front ( UDF for short ; German: "United Democratic Front") was the most important legal, extra-parliamentary opposition alliance in South Africa in the 1980s .

history

When the Botha government carried out the constitutional reform planned since 1977 by means of a referendum among the white population in November 1983, the creation of a three-chamber system in parliament was connected with it. In this way, a structural exclusion in the process of political participation cemented itself for the black population. Instead, the “white” supremacy was privileged and the population of Indian origin and the Coloreds were involved in the legislative process through their own chambers with marginal participation rights. In contrast, resistance arose in the country, which was expressed in the form of election boycotts and protests, which subsequently led to the establishment of the UDF.

In January 1983, Pastor Allan Boesak first explained the structure of a possible broad opposition alliance that included church groups, women's rights groups and trade unions. In the months that followed, regional committees were founded in three of the then four provinces - excluding the Orange Free State - and preparations were made to found the UDF. The UDF was finally founded on August 20, 1983 in Mitchell's Plain near Cape Town as a non- population group of around 400 organizations. The first objective was to combat the recently introduced three-chamber system of parliament. The UDF's motto was UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides ("UDF unites, apartheid separates").

In 1985 the UDF had around three million members. In addition to Boesak, these included Archbishop Desmond Tutu , Albertina Sisulu , Helen Joseph and Frank Chikane . Activities included rent boycotts, student protests, strikes and the boycott of the three-chamber system. Individual organizations within the UDF were involved in the campaign against conscription for white men ( End Conscription Campaign ). In 1987, at the height of its influence, the UDF had around 700 member organizations.

1985 began the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial (" Treason Trial of Pietermaritzburg ") against 16 leaders of the election boycott, including Albertina Sisulu, Frank Chikane and Archie Gumede of the UDF and members of the Natal Indian Congress , Transvaal Indian Congress and South African Allied Workers' Union . By 1986, all of the accused were acquitted.

The Delmas Treason Trial , which began in 1985 , also included leading UDF members such as Mosiuoa Lekota and Popo Molefe . You were sentenced to long prison terms in 1988 but acquitted by the Supreme Court in 1989 .

Relations with other opposition groups

The UDF partially took on the role of the banned African National Congress (ANC). Among other things, it adopted the Freedom Charter (" Freedom Charter ") carried by the ANC as a guideline. She campaigned for the detained ANC politicians to be released. However, the UDF was never formally linked to the ANC and did not take part in the armed resistance, unlike the ANC. With the legalization of the ANC in 1990, the UDF quickly lost its importance.

The also opposition Black Consciousness Movement differed from the UDF in that it primarily wanted to give the non-white majority of the population their rights. The Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO) founded the National Forum in 1987, which is more radical than the UDF .

The "New UDF"

On August 22, 2005, the Western Cape Provincial Association of the COSATU trade union federation launched an initiative that is unofficially known as the "New UDF". The background was tensions in the alliance between the ANC, COSATU and the South African Communist Party .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrea Lang: Separate Development and the Department of Bantu Administration in South Africa. History and analysis of the special administrations for blacks (work from the Institut für Afrika-Kunde, 103). Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-928049-58-5 , p. 106.
  2. ↑ Christoph Sodemann: The laws of apartheid. Bonn 1986, ISBN 3-921614-15-5 , p. 90.
  3. ↑ Tricameral Parliament inaugurated. on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  4. ^ Repressing the leadership. saha.org.za, accessed on September 28, 2019
  5. ↑ Article about the "New UDF" ( Memento from October 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English)