REMEMBERING SEFAKO MAKGATHO

ANC GREATER JOHANNESBURG REGIONAL TREASURER, MPHO MOERANE.

“Drawing Lessons from the Life and Times of President Sefako Makgatho: The Tasks of our Movement in the Current Epoch”

WHO WAS SEFAKO MAKGATHO?

Sefako Mapogo Makgatho was born in 1861 at Ga-Mphahlele, in the Pietersburg District in the now Limpopo Province. He was the son of Chief Kgorutlhe Josiah Makgatho whose chieftaincy was under Kgosi Sekhukhune of the once-powerful baPedi Kingdom that fought fearlessly against the Transvaal Boers.

History records that the baPedi battles against the Boers were notable in their heroism. This among others earned Sekhukhuneland, under Kgosi Sekhukhune, the mettle of being a place with a rich history of bravery and resistance by baPedi.

In this regard, the 1958 Sekhukhune Revolt was among those developments in the country that inspired the formation of the People’s Army; Umkhonto Wesizwe in 1961, and many young early recruits of MK, such as Elias Motsoaledi and Flag Boshielo, were from this part of our country.

Sekhukhuneland was indeed the historic home of the African Nation Congress. Our movement’s rich history of connection to this place stretched back to the first decade of the 20th century.

We also know that King Sekhukhune II was among those invited to attend the founding conference of the ANC in 1912.

Comrades, I am raising all of these things to make the point that President General Makgatho was born of warriors. His roots can be traced back to the rich history of the heroic struggles, led by fearless men and women.

In 1880 Ntate Makgatho enrolled at the Wesleyan Mission Teacher Training Institution of Kilnerton in Pretoria, where he trained as a teacher. Two years later he went to study Theology at Ealing College in England. In 1885 he returned to South Africa to take up a teaching post at the Kilnerton Institute in Pretoria; a school that produced prominent South Africans such as Joe Nhlanhla, Miriam Makeba, Lillian Ngoyi, Nthato Motlana, and many others.

President Makgatho was instrumental in the establishment of the Transvaal African Teachers Association. He was also a key figure in the formation of the African Political Union and the Transvaal Native Congress both of which merged with the South African Native National Congress, which was later known as the African National Congress.

Ntate Makgatho was also a man of letters, and together with Advocate Alfred Mangena, they established a political journal: The Native Advocate. He also founded The Good Shepherd: a journal of the Transvaal African Teachers Association.

In 1917 he was elected the second President General of the African National Congress after the founding President Dr. John Langalibalele Dube. He held this position until 1924.

Ntate Makgatho took over the Presidency of the ANC at a challenging period for our movement; it is said that this was a time when our movement was considered to be at its lowest point.

As President of the ANC, Ntate Makgatho revitalized the organization. He took it beyond deputations and transformed it into an organization of protest action. He mobilised the African urban working class, making the ANC more militant and responsive to the struggles of the workers.

Under the leadership of President Makgatho, the ANC supported the African municipal workers during the Bucket Strike of 1918 and also endorsed the militant mineworkers’ strike of 1920. In doing this, President Makgatho laid the seeds for the Congress Alliance and Tripartite Alliance of the ANC, COSATU, and the SACP.

He was willing to seek alliances with white radical movements such as the International Socialist League, to advance the struggle for freedom. It was also during his Presidency that the Industrial Commercial Workers Union (ICU) was established in 1919. When communists were expelled from the ICU in 1924, they found sanctuary in the ANC of President General Makgatho.

Under Ntate Makgatho’s Presidency, the ANC finalized its constitution in 1919, creating a framework within which the organization could operate as well as outlining procedures for membership.

When Pixley ka Seme was elected President of the ANC in 1930, Ntate Makgatho became the national treasurer.

He died on the 23rd of May 1951 in Riverside, Pretoria, at the age of 90.

WHAT LESSONS CAN WE DRAW FROM THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT MAKGATHO?

In this regard, we recall that on the occasion of his 100th birthday anniversary in 1961, the newspaper Imvo Zabantsundu included President General Makgatho as one of the model African leaders in history.

The newspaper described such leaders as follows; “versatile and always available when their services were required by other people.” He was an organizer par excellence who took part in the formation of key organizations that contributed to the birth of the ANC. He was a fighter for liberation who was active in the ANC since its establishment in 1912.

He was able to make the dynamic link between workers’ struggles and the struggle for national liberation. BoNtate Makgatho became part of the liberation struggle simply because it was the right thing to do.

He belonged that that pioneering generation of men and women who forged alliances across race, class, and gender and worked tirelessly, day and night, to build a powerful movement for freedom. Their ultimate reward was a South Africa free of all forms of oppression and exploitation.

They expected nothing in return. Theirs was a selfless struggle motivated only by the deep love they had for their people and their country. And to borrow from the words of the newspaper Imvo Zabantsundu: they were always available when their services were required by other people. Another key lesson we can draw is that Ntate Makgatho was a visionary.

He was part of that early generation of freedom fighters that dared to envision a non-racial society and a united Africa. President General Makgatho and his comrades promulgated the first ANC constitution which defined the ANC as a Pan Africanist Organization.

In articulating a vision for a united Africa, President Makgatho had the following to say; “The ANC aims to unite Africans, not just in South Africa but also in Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland, in particular, to wage a common struggle for freedom.”

Perhaps as a measure of his bravery, Ntate Makgatho was never afraid to engage the oppressors directly, in their own backyards. He was relentless indirectly lobbying the apartheid government against oppressive laws. History records that he was a regular visitor to the then Union Buildings where he met among others General Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, as part of his direct lobbying efforts against pass laws and the Native Land Act.

Ntate Makgatho was an activist to the core!

As President of the ANC, he worked hard to ensure that the movement remains a key factor in the struggle against segregation.

He molded the ANC as a fighting force for liberation against all forms of discrimination. Despite opposition from some in the leadership of the ANC, the Transvaal branch of the South African Native National Congress, where Ntate Makgatho was an Active member, supported the municipal workers strike of 1918 and the miners’ strike of 1920.

The branch also organized a passive resistance campaign against passes. In that campaign, thousands of passes were handed back to authorities and more than 700 protestors were arrested.

This groundbreaking campaign was conceptualized and organized long before the defiance campaign of the 1950s and the mass protests that led to the tragic Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The campaign was, once again, a pioneering act by Ntate Makgatho and his generation of freedom fighters.

With some degree of success, President General Makgatho used the apartheid courts to challenge the legislation that affected and undermined Africans in the urban areas, particularly laws relating to their freedom of movement.

In this regard, he successfully challenged the law providing for segregation on Pretoria’s pavements. He also campaigned for a uniform tax law for Africans across the Union of South Africa.

President Makgatho also contributed to the modernization and transformation of the ANC. This can be equated to what we today refer to as the renewal of our movement.

Ntate Makgatho transformed the movement from its traditional base of chiefs and the African petit bourgeoisies to a fighting movement that was also sympathetic to the African working class. This contributed to radicalizing the ANC.

It also paved the way for a stronger alliance between the ANC, the labor movement, and the Communist Party and gave rise to the notion of what we have come to know as the “two-stage theory” of struggle.

Reflecting on the Ntate Makgatho Presidency; the African intellectual; Selope Thema commented that; … this was the beginning moment of the ANC taking a new direction.”

RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES FACING OUR MOVEMENT; INSPIRED BY THE LEGACY OF SEFAKO MAKGATHO

Comrades, we are meeting at a time when our country and our movement is facing a number of critical challenges. Part of our comprehensive response to these challenges requires that we summon the courage and apply the lessons drawn from President General Makgatho and his generation of freedom fighters.

Inspired by the legacy of Ntate Makgatho, as activists of the ANC we must remain well rounded, always willing to be of service to others.

In doing this, we must not seek personal glory nor benefit.

Our ultimate reward must be to see the total emancipation of the people of South Africa. Equally, we must maintain the character of the ANC as a broad, mass movement of all the people of South Africa.

At all times we must be reminded that our movement has always benefitted from the cross-pollination of ideas as a result of overlapping membership and the mobilization of broad sections of society.

It is this unique character of our movement which saw it through turbulent times. It is also this unique character of our movement that has earned it pride of place as a leader of the South African society.

The ANC must also remain the foremost proponent of non-racism and non-sexism in our country, both in words and in deeds this requires that we frown upon and act decisively against all forms of racism and sexism, gender-based violence, femicide, and the abuse of women and children.

Let us declare boldly that ours will be the generation that will put an end to racism and sexism in all their manifestations.

Part of our response to gender-based violence must be the urgent need to fast track the economic empowerment of women and young girls. Furthermore, in all, we do we must be relentless and resolute in confronting the challenges in our society and in our movement. We must refuse to allow adversity to defeat nor derail us.

For instance, as our country grapples with the problem of corruption, we must remain resolute that; no matter what, we will win the war on corruption. We will not only speak out, but we will act decisively against this scourge that robs the poor of their livelihoods.

Like boNtate Makgatho before us, we must continue to steer the ANC towards the correct path – the path of renewal. In our case, renewal must include deliberate action aimed at closing the social distance between our movement and the people of South Africa. Ours must be a listening movement; that is not arrogant; a movement that is responsive to the conditions of our people; and a movement that speaks the language of the people.

We must remember that as the ANC, we exist not for our own sake, but to serve the people. The renewal of the ANC must also include the restoration of the historic values of our movement: values of hard work, accountability, honesty, unity, selflessness, sacrifice, discipline, democratic debate, criticism, and self-criticism.

Renewal must also include ensuring that the ANC remains a true Parliament of the People of South Africa; united in their diversity. To renew the ANC will also require that we do everything necessary to build an ethical movement.

It demands that we win the war against corruption within and outside our ranks. Our task is to learn from these giants. We must emulate their exemplary lives as we navigate the challenges of our time. Long live the spirit of President General Sekafo Makgatho!

ANC GREATER JOHANNESBURG REGIONAL TREASURER, MPHO MOERANE.

“No one in the movement can be content with the present situation; all must be aware of the deepening malaise such as we have never known before.”

OR Tambo: Morogoro Conference 1969