THE 1955 CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE – A PRECURSOR TO TODAY’s CALL FOR A NATIONAL DIALOGUE

The 26^th of June marks the 70th anniversary of the Congress of the People which was held in Kliptown in which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the Congress Alliance. The Freedom Charter was a document which defined and outlined the principles upon which a democratic South Africa would be based.

The very first clause of the FREEDOM CHARTER is an unequivocal affirmation that “THE PEOPLE SHALL GOVERN.”

The preamble of the FREEDOM CHARTER asserts that:

South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people, that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a government founded on injustice and inequality.

THE NATIONALIST PARTY ASSUMES POWER IN 1948

The Congress of the People was held only seven years after the Nationalist Party came into power in South Africa. The Nationalist Party proceeded to institutionalise racism through the passing of legislation whose purpose and intent was to consolidate white supremacy, power and privilege while at the same time depriving the majority of the people of all their human rights, dignity and entrenching their subjugation through the use of brute force, violence and terror.

It is a matter of historical record that the challenges facing the democratic order which came into existence in 1994 are a historical legacy of the apartheid system.

The job reservation Act “was primarily implemented through the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1956, specifically Section 77, which allowed for the reservation of certain jobs for specific racial groups, effectively excluding non-white South Africans from skilled and higher-paying positions. 

This policy was a key aspect of apartheid’s economic and social structure, aiming to maintain white dominance and privilege.” 

The Group Areas Act No. 41 of 1950 – “According to this act, urban areas were to be divided into racially segregated zones “where members of one specific race alone could live and work” (Thompson 1990: 194). Group areas were created “for the exclusive ownership and occupation of a designated group”

JOB RESERVATION – EXCLUSION OF BLACK PEOPLE FROM SKILLED AND HIGHER PAYING POSITIONS

“Between 1960 and 1983, 3.5 million black Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighbourhoods as a result of apartheid legislation, in some of the largest mass evictions in modern history.”

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER

The aims and objectives of the Freedom Charter, a product of massive consultation with the people of South Africa was to give the people of this country the opportunity to correct this historical injustice and above all allow them to define the future South Africa they want to live in.

A deeper analysis of all the clauses of the Freedom Charter are designed to correct this historical injustice. Here are the clauses:

• All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights!
• The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth!
• The Land Shall Be Shared Among Those Who Work It!
• There Shall Be Work And Security!
• The Doors of Learning And of Culture Shall Be Opened!
• There Shall Be Houses, Security And Comfort!
• There Shall Be Peace And Friendship.

THE FREEDOM CHARTER AS A VISIONARY AND HISTORIC DOCUMENT

A glance at these clauses of the Freedom Charter tells you that this was a visionary and historic document and that it remains relevant to this day. The demands of the Freedom Charter have not fully been achieved. But it would be unfair and cynical to expect that the problems that were created over centuries of colonialism and consolidated under apartheid colonial rule could have been solved within the thirty years of the democratic dispensation.

This is not by any stretch of the imagination intended to be apologetic about the magnitude of the challenges and problems facing the democratic dispensation. Neither is it a denial of the malfeasance and corruption, that have been the subject of the Zondo Commission, but the truth is that apartheid rule cannot be absolved of responsibility and guilt.

This is the truth of the lived experience of the majority of the people of this country backed by empirical evidence. The denialists and apologists of the apartheid system will be quick to say “you cannot blame apartheid forever” but we cannot be expected to suffer collective amnesia simply to appease and massage the guilty conscience of the perpetrators and beneficiaries of the apartheid regime.

A CALL FOR A NATIONAL DIALOGUE

The marking of the 70^th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter in the year 2025 coincides with a call for the citizens of the country in their various organisational formation and even as individuals to once again come together and engage in a National Dialogue about the future and the South Africa they want.

In the year 2055 it will be the centenary of the Freedom Charter. We are left with only 30 years to 2055. Thirty years in the life of a nation is a very short time. Once again, our country is faced with enormous challenges, some of which were identified and defined at the Congress of the People in 1955 and captured in the FREEDOM CHARTER.

It is worth quoting the concept document on the NATIONAL FOUNDATIONS which says:

…our country is once again at a crossroads with uncertainty as to where it will be tomorrow. The economic and social legacy of our past persists, the political environment is conflictual, the economy is not growing, poverty is widespread, and there is a growing sense of social discontent and alienation. It is time to reset and reimagine our country for posterity. This must be done by the citizens themselves through a process of purpose directed and courageous conversations.

A RICH HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS

The document goes on to say:

South Africa has a rich history of inclusive solutions to problems, with initiatives aimed at finding a resolution before 1994, such as the All-African Convention (1935), African Claims (1943), FEDSAW launch (1954), the Congress of the People (1955) and the Conference for a Democratic Future (1989).”

As we mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Congress of the People we dare not allow ourselves to be sidetracked by those whose intentions are to undermine and create doubt in the minds of the people through misinformation and misinterpretation of the aims and objectives of the call for a National Dialogue.

It cannot be over emphasised that this is a call to the citizens of South Africa to engage about the future of their country and take collective action in defining the South Africa they want and the South Africa they don’t want.

The Chief Whip of the ANC Mdumiseni Ntuli puts it poignantly in an article published by the TIMES LIVE of the 27 June 2025 when he says:

…only through dialogue can a diverse people heal the wounds of a brutal, fractured past. To ignore our historical memory would be to ignore the very lessons we should hold dear: dialogue, no matter how imperfect, is the essential first step in healing societal rifts…dialogue is not an option — it is an imperative. Societies that fail to engage their differences are doomed to watch them turn into violent ruptures.’’