Freedom Struggle in the Protectorates
by Franz
J. T. Lee
Article
in Africa and the World, No 3, December 1964
Including South Africa - still under the yoke of
apartheid - there are still eight countries in the fangs of colonialism and
imperialism in Southern Africa, struggling for political independence. They are
South Africa, South West Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Southern Rhodesia,
Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland. The three British „Protectorates“ are
over half the size of the Republic of South Africa and have at present a
population of nearly 1.5 million.
Bechuanaland - about the size of France - is the
largest; sparsely populated, mainly Kalahari desert, partly semi-desert with
here and there grass and thorrny scrub in the southern and (line missing in the
Original)…
It does not lie as an enclave, like the other two,
within the boundaries of South Africa. Basutoland is about one-and-a-half times
the size of Wales; Swaziland slightly smaller. The former has the great
Drakensberg range in the east and the Maluti mountains in the west; hence more
than half of its area is unsuitable for agriculture. The latter is mostly
lowland, having the southern tip of the Lembombo mountains in the north, a good
climate and comparatively fertile soil.
The Peasants
Bechuanaland has an annual rainfall of less than
nine inches. Of the arable land, only 5 per cent is under irrigation and
cultivation - on which the African peasants grow mainly maize, sorghum
(mabela), millet, cowpeas, tobacco and groundnuts. Over 90 per cent of the
Mochuana people are engaged in stock raising chiefly cattle, although on a
small scale also goats and sheep.
The African peasant and farming communities are
dependent to a great extent on stock raising and animal husbandry. Further there
is considerable mineral wealth in Bechuanaland. Asbestos and manganese are
mined on a significant scale. Small quantities of gold are also mined. Lately
geological surveys have revealed extensive deposits of coal.
Little Industry
Similar to Basutoland, apart from mining, which is
in the hands of foreign monopoly capitalists, there is very little industry in
the country. In 1959 an agreement was made between the Bamangwato Reserve and
the Rhodesian Selection Trust, allowing the latter exploiting rights in the
territory.
About 20,000 Mochuana men, i.e., about 20 per cent
of the population, are always away toiling for British monopoly companies
either in Southern Rhodesia or South Africa. This export labour only brings in
an average annual revenue of Pounds 55,000 sterling.
Bechuanaland has the peculiar distinction of being
the only country which has its capital outside its borders i.e., Mafeking in
the northeastern Cape Province. Three years after South Africa is out of the
Commonwealth, British officials are still administering the Mochuana people
from South African territory! And not from Serowe, as some South African
history books state!
At Lobatsi, an abattoir, a maize mill and soap
factory have been established lately. Further at Francistown - where there is a
small airport, chiefly to recruit migrant labour there is a creamery, hides and
skins depot and a bonemeal factory.
These border towns differ very little from their
South African counterparts - the „dorps“ - which have pleasant houses and beautiful
gardens and facilities on the one end, and crowded „locations“ with no
electricity or water on the other end.
To a certain extent Herrenvolk racial
discrimination and „Bantu Education“ are also practised here. Africans are
forbidden to enter the „Whites Only“ hotels, bars, cafes and public gardens.
The civil service is dominated by whites. Progressive publications are banned
and refugees from South Africa are curtailed in their political activity by
law, carrying a heavy fine.
Kidnapped
Some like Jack and Rita Hodgson and Michael Harmel
have been refused residence Permits. Others like Dr. Kenneth Abrahams and his
comrades have been very easily „kidnapped“ by Verwoerd’s sabotaging hooligans.
Prominent South African personalities like Ben Schoeman, Minister of Transport,
own ranches in Bechuanaland.
The South African Herrenvolk underground sabotage
organisations can enter the territory without hindrance to persecute refugees
in the territories. Such agents were responsible for the explosion of the East
African Airways Dakota aircraft intended to airlift Wolpe and Goldreich in
1964.
The different tribes in Bechuanaland live in eight
respective reserves - the largest being the Bamangwato reserve. The leader of
this tribe is Seretse Khama, who was exiled by the British government because
he dared to marry a white woman. Later he was allowed to return and founded the
Bechuanaland Democratic Party in opposition to the Bechuanaland People’s Party,
under the leadership of Mpho and Macheng. The latter has split lately. Mpho has
founded the Bechuanaland Independence Party (BIP), which is the most
progressive tendency at present.
Basutoland (Lesotho) is completely surrounded by
the Republic of South Africa and is the most populous of the three. In this
„Switzerland of the South“, the Africans own all the land. There are white
traders and officials but they have no rights to buy land.
Labour Reservoirs
Under British rule - which did practically nothing
for these „protectorates“, and only used them as cheap labour reservoirs to
feed the British controlled industries in the neighbouring territories - the
soil has been terribly eroded, yet the sturdy, proud and independent Basothos
are tilling the soil and raising cattle, horses, sheep and goats. Like in the
other two territories, maize and sorghum are the main crops and staple foods.
Basutoland has very few minerals. The Oppenheimer
monopoly has been negotiating for rights to exploit the rich deposits of
alluvial diamonds but with little success, due to protests of the Basothos.
A domestic market is almost nonexistent.
Economically, just like the other two, Basutoland is completely dependent on
South Africa. More than half of the adult males, i.e., about 150,000 Basothos,
work as cheap migrant labourers in the Republic.
Due to a strong independence tradition and a
working-class consciousness - in fact, Lesotho was never really conquered by
the Boers or the English; Marematlou Freedom Party, also supported by
reactionary chiefs, Roman Catholic missionaries and government officials, as
Bishop Mpeta puts it, „obsessed with the idea of feudalism, colonialism and
churchism“; and the Communist Party of Lesotho, which „remains the only legal
Marxist Leninist Party on the continent of Africa“ (sic!), (The African Communist,
December, 1963). Beyond doubt, it is the most progressive organisation of the
people in Lesotho.
Swaziland is the smallest but the wealthiest of the
three protectorates. It has a fertile soil, lush climate and substantial
mineral wealth. In 1959 it exported goods worth £4,383,528 mainly chrysolite,
asbestos, sugar, cattle, patulite (chipboard), seed cotton, rice, pineapples,
tobacco, timber, butter, citrus fruit and bananas - and imported goods worth
£3,979,464 - chiefly food, drinks, oil, petrol, coal, motor vehicles, tobacco
and cigarettes from South Africa.
Workers Strike
In 1963, the 1,500 African workers employed in the
Havelock asbestos mine - the fifth largest asbestos mine in the world -
operated by Amianthus Mines (Pty.) Ltd. of Johannesburg, and owned by the
British monopoly of Turner and Newall, Manchester, advertising itself as
„Worldwide leadership in asbestos, plastics and insulation“, went on strike,
demanding a wage of £1 a day, as against earning (about £2) a month.“
British and South African companies have invested
in the iron manganese mines and the sugar-cane industry. The British Colonial
Development Corporation has already invested £15 million.
£40 Millions
Further, in co-operation with the Anglo American
Corporation of South Africa, and Guest, Keen and Nettlefold of Britain, it has
started to dig out 12 million tons of iron ore, controlled by the Swaziland
Iron Ore Development Co., and sell them to the Yawata and Fuji Steel companies
of Japan over the next 10 years for £40 million.
The Bomvu Ridge (Ngwenya) is calculated to have 47
million tons of iron ore deposits. This agreement was signed without consulting
the Swazi people at all. Further, the Japanese have invested £50 million in
partnership with De Beers Diamond Corporation of South Africa, having Anglo
American interests.
To transport the iron ore, a special new railway
line is being built. In 1960 a copper-nickel-cobalt belt deposit was located.
Two creameries, two bone-meal factories, two sugar mills, a pulp mill, a canning
factory, a tannery, a clothing factory and a few engineering plants have been
established.
White Settlers
The 10,000 whites, chiefly true disciples of the
Herrenvolk doctrine of their South African families, own 45 per cent of the
best soil of Swaziland. The rest is left for the nearly 300,000 Swazis.
The labour force is comparatively stable in
Swaziland, due to the high demand. Contrary to Basutoland, there is
unfortunately very little political activity. The Swazi king, the Ngwenyama
(Lion) - Chief Sobhuza II - and his court of quisling chiefs place their feudal
privileges above the interests of the Swazi masses and hence collaborate with
the South African and British imperialists.
Important organisations of the people are the
Ngwane National Liberation Congress, with Dr. Ambrose Zwane as President, and
who organised the big general strike, and the Swaziland Democratic (SDP) and
Progressive (SPP) Parties, the latter having J. J. Nquku as leader.
The All-African Trade Union (line missing in the Original)…
ing the Swazis in their struggle.
In a „White Paper“ the British Government has
„substantially“ accepted the constitutional proposals of granting Bechuanaland
„internal selfgovernment“ by March, 1965. The present executive will be
replaced by a cabinet presided over by the British Colonial Commissioner, and
will consist of a Prime Minister, his Deputy and five other ministers.
The Legislative Assembly will consist of a Speaker,
32 elected members, an Attorney General and a Financial Secretary. A House of
Chiefs, examining certain draft bills before their introduction into parliament
and advising parliament on matters that affect tribal interests, will also be
established.
Next Year
On April 20, 1964, the Basutoland Constitutional
Conference was opened in London. Three weeks later, on May 15, the conference
concluded with agreement on steps towards „independence“, scheduled for 1965.
The new constitution provides for a bicameral
system of parliament. On the basis of „one man one vote“, with all its
bourgeois implications on universal adult suffrage, the lower House will be
elected. The Senate will consist of 22 principal chiefs or their nominees and
other Persons - all nominated by the Basutoland Paramount Chief, leaning toward
the British imperialists.
It will have a cabinet of a Prime Minister and
seven other ministers. Also the new constitution for Swaziland is similar to
the other two, one third of the seats in the legislative council reserved for
whites and all the Herrenvolk dummies sitting in the Cabinet and Senate.
Overripe !
Hence Britain has at last considered these
„protectorates“ to be „ripe“ for „selfgovernment“ - in fact, for
neo-colonialism, i.e., the British Empire without the royal flag.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THESE COUNTRIES ARE ALREADY
„OVERRIPE“ AND THAT THEY SHOULD COALESCE THEIR LIBERATORY FORCES INTO A UNITED
FRONT FIGHTING FOR REAL INDEPENDENCE, i.e., POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC, IN THE
STRUGGLE FOR A UNITED SOCIALIST STATE OF AFRICA.