Document 32 - League of African Rights, Petition, 1929

From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume One 1907 - 1950, by Allison Drew

Document 32 - League of African Rights, Petition, 1929

A League of African Rights Petition with a million signatures Members of the African National Congress, I.C.U. Communist Party and other bodies espousing native interests filled the Workers' Hall, Market Street, yesterday afternoon at a mass meeting called to launch an organisation under the above title the object of which was stated to be: to mobilise and organise, by mass demonstrations, petitions and otherwise, a nation-wide struggle tbr the attainment of the following demands:

(a) No tampering with the Cape non-European vote

(b) Extension of the vote to non-Europeans throughout the Union on the same terms as Europeans in the Northern provinces

(c) Universal free education for native and coloured children equally with white

(d) Abolition ofPass laws throughout the Union

(e) Full rights ot' t'ree speech and public meeting irrespective of race.

In particular, it was decided to circulate a petition embodying the above demands throughout South Africa with the aim ofobtaining, before the Native Bills are reintroduced, at least a million signatures ofprotest against the Bills. This it was stated could be achieved by cooperation between, and use ofthe machinery of, all the existing native and coloured organisations throughout the country, although the greater number of signatures would probably be obtained from persone hitherto outside any organisation. After discussion on procedure a constitution was adopted in principle providing for affiliation of such organisations, as well as for individual membership at a subscription of a year, subscribers to receive a red and green badge with the motto "Mayebuye".

An Executive was appointed and the following were provisionally chosen as office holders pending a national Conference to be held on December 15 next, to be followed on December 16 (Dingaan's Day) by simultaneous demonstrations all over the Union in support of the demands;

President: J. T. Gumede

Vice-President: A. Modiagotla

Chairman: S. P. Bunting

Vice-Chairman: N. B. Tantsi

Treasurers: the Chairman and C. Baker

Secretaries: A. Nzula and E. R. Roux, 41a Fox St, Johannesburg.