“Obituary: Hamba Kahle Wilstar Choongo!”, by Michael Schmidt, AInfos, 2002
“Obituary: Hamba Kahle Wilstar Choongo!”, (Anarchist & Workers’ Solidarity Movement, Zambia), by Michael Schmidt, AInfos, 2002 Source: Ainfos, 5 March 2002 THE international anarchist movement will be saddened at the belated news of the death of Wilstar Choongo, founder of the Anarchist & Workers’ Solidarity Movement (AWSM) of Zambia.A self-taught anarchist activist, Wilstar first came to [...]
“Murder! Murder! Murder!!! The Bullhoek Massacre”, 1921, W.H. Harrision
A 1921 leaflet by Cape Town anarchist W.H. Harrison, condemning the South African state’s 24 May massacre of a millenarian black Christian group at Bullhoek, near Grahamstown, the Eastern Cape. 24 May, Empire Day, was a British Empire holiday (phased out in South Africa in 1952 for Van Riebeeck’s Day). Expecting the apocalypse, 3000 “Israelites” led [...]
“The Bolsheviks are Coming”, 1919, by D.I. Jones and L.H. Greene
“The Bolsheviks are Coming” was distributed in Pietermartitzburg by David Ivon Jones and L.H. Greene. Jones was a senior figure in the syndicalist International Socialist League (ISL). The two were prosecuted in March under the Riotous Assemblies Act. What did they mean by “Bolshevism”? Syndicalism, not Leninism, as Jones made clear in court: the ISL [...]
Industrial Workers of Africa leaflet, April 1919, by T.W. Thibedi
Industrial Workers of Africa leaflet, April 1919, by T.W. Thibedi. Thibedi was a leading figure in the International Socialist League (ISL) and the Industrial Workers of Africa syndicalist union. Source: Baruch Hirson, 1988, “David Ivon Jones: the early writings on socialism in South Africa”, Searchlight South Africa, vol. 1, no,. 1, p. 107 INDUSTRIAL WORKERS [...]
South African anarchist appeal and analysis, 1993
The appeal below appeared in a number of English-language newspapers in the West. It includes a basic analysis of South Africa in the transition period of the early 1990s. The authors (as the appeal indicates) would initiate a loose Johannesburg-based group called the Anarchist Revolutionary Movement (ARM). ARM lasted from 1993-1995. The remainder of the [...]
“Revised Constitution of the ICU”, Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa, 1925
“Revised Constitution of the ICU”, Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa, 1925 Source: Thomas Karis and Gwendolyn M. Carter, editors, 1972, From Protest to Challenge: a documentary history of African politics in South Africa, 1882-1964, vol.one, pp. 325-326 Whereas the interest of the workers and those of the employers are opposed to each other, [...]
“Manifesto of the Mine Workers”, Council of Action, Johannesburg, 1921
“Manifesto of the Mine Workers”, Council of Action, Johannesburg, 1921 Source: The Workers’ Dreadnought, 18 February 1922 … The Council of Action, as an industrial body, [is not an] inspiration or a brain wave of the moment, but is an attempt to formulate a scheme of things likened to the Workers’ Committee movement in Britain, [...]
“Where WE Stand”, Industrial Socialist League, Cape Town, February 1920
“Where WE Stand”, Industrial Socialist League, Cape Town, February 1920 Source: The Bolshevik, February 1920 The interests of the Working Class and of the Employing Class are diametrically opposed. There can be no peace as long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people, and the few, who make up the employing [...]
“Ba Sebetsi Ba Afrika”, Industrial Workers of Africa, Johannesburg, 1917
“Ba Sebetsi Ba Afrika”, Industrial Workers of Africa, Johannesburg, 1917 Source: translation by Wilfred Jali attached to report on meeting of 1 November 1917, Department of Justice, “The ISL and Coloured Workers”, JD 3/527/17, National Archives, Pretoria Workers of the Bantu race: Why do you live in slavery? Why are you not free as other [...]
“International Socialism and the Native: no labour movement without the black proletariat”, International Socialist League, Johannesburg, 1917
“International Socialism and the Native: no labour movement without the black proletariat”, International Socialist League, Johannesburg, 1917 Source: The International, 7 December 1917 The Management Committee of the ISL has issued the following statement to the Branches as a basis of discussion at the Annual Conference. The MC recommends this statement of our attitude towards [...]
