Alan Boesak. File Picture: Ian Landsberg
Dear Brother Alan
I am in receipt of your letter of 15 June 2023 addressed to me for the attention of the United Democratic Front 40th Anniversary National Steering Committee (UDF 40) being your reply to my invitation to you to become part of the commemoration of the Fortieth (40th) Anniversary of the UDF and the honouring of its legacy, for which I thank you.
Needless to say, as I repeatedly said in my telephonic conversations with you, that because of the important role that you played in the birth of the UDF it was inconceivable that any initiative to memorialise it could exclude you.
In more ways than one, your name is intrinsic to the history of the UDF.
It was in recognition of this fact that National Steering Committee of the UDF 40 invited you to honour the seminal role in the annals of our freedom struggle that you together with many of us who are still alive and, many more have since passed away but whose names remain etched in our collective memory.
It is regrettable that in your powerful and well-written letter you have declined to join those of us who wish to mark this watershed moment in our long journey to freedom.
You made this decision for numerous reasons that you stated and others which you did not mention.
I must hasten to say that I respect your decision in this regard. Yet, I am deeply disappointed and cannot hide the hurt induced by your decision to turn your back on the commemoration of the history in the making of which your centrality is undeniable.
I will not attempt to deal in any form of detail with the contents of your letter.
Most of the things regarding the failures of the governing party and our hard-won democracy to yield the benefits that our citizens expected which you have articulated clearly are not in dispute.
On the contrary, they resonate with the widely held public sentiment regarding the state of democracy in our beloved country, South Africa.
It is equally true that the majority of South Africans are yet to harvest in a meaningful way the fruit of their freedom struggle.
There is no gainsaying that the fundamental vision and principles that defined the courageous struggles that you, many of our comrades, me, and millions of South Africans, a significant number of whom probably had never heard of you and me, have been achieved.
You and I strove for a universal suffrage in a United, Non-Racial, Non-Sexist and Prosperous South Africa.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 enshrines a broad range of the principles and values that we yearned, sacrificed, and fought for.
The Constitution created a common accommodation for all South African citizens on the basis of equality before the law.
The failure of those in public and civil service to discharge their responsibilities in a manner that gives concrete expression to the provisions and intent of the Constitution and their gross negligence do not in any manner render insignificant the epoch-making achievement of our collective freedom struggle.
The glorious achievement of our democracy is the feat authored by all South Africans (previously referred to as national groups) welded together by their common struggles, passion, and determination to free themselves from the shackles of bondage. They vowed once and for all, that they shall “not submit to the burden unjustly placed on” them by their oppressors and exploiters.
All of us collectively built monuments for posterity.
Accordingly, it is and would be preposterous to suggest that anyone amongst us who carried together with you the burden of and sustained the freedom of South Africans of “Coloured extraction” did not play a significant role in that great theatre of freedom struggle.
We were witnesses to the most brutal murders of Basil February and Dulcie September, the decades of sacrifices by Sophy De Bruyn, Reginald September, Hermanus Loots, Neville Alexander, Johnny Issel, Peter Jones, Cecil Esau, Reverend Chris Nissen, Reverend Abe Maart, Noel Williams, Liz Abrahams, Reggie Oliphant, Wilfred Rhodes, Joseph Marks et al. More recently, did we not witness the bravery of our young lions, Ashley Forbes, Anwar Dramat, Jeremy Vearry, Peter Jacobs, Wayne Malgas, and others who were with some of us on Robben Island?
You and I no doubt would consider laughable any spurious attempt by anyone to disparage the significant role played by our “coloured” compatriots in our freedom struggle.
Let us lay to rest this ridiculous perception and manufactured argument. It certainly does not have place in my vocabulary of politics.
Whilst I cannot vouch for everyone who was in the UDF when I was its General Secretary until it was dissolved, none of those who led it was under any illusion that it was the brainchild of the African National Congress. Neither was it its front.
On the contrary many in the ANC were taken by surprise when the UDF was launched. You my brother, witnessed how during the Delmas Treason Trial of the UDF my co-accused and I made it abundantly clear that the United Democratic Front was not a front of the ANC.
We are not at this late hour about to change the historical truth by making frivolous claims that the ANC gave birth to the UDF. However, I am the first to admit that many who actively organised and mobilised for the establishment were underground operatives and veterans of the ANC.
Some of them were under banning orders. There were equally many UDF affiliates who espoused the Freedom Charter which the ANC regarded as its minimum demands and a document that represented the deepest aspirations of South Africans.
It is common cause that not the Freedom Charter, but the UDF Declaration and Working Principles were the founding documents of the UDF.
However, many of the values enshrined in the Freedom Charter, being universal, were contained in the UDF Declaration. For a formation yearning for justice, equality, human rights, and dignity it was inevitable to share not only the vision of South Africa envisaged after the death of Apartheid but the values and ethos that were to underpin it.
The National Steering Committee of the UDF 40 Anniversary Commemoration continues to be guided by the values, principles and ethos that defined the UDF character and modus operandi.
It is for this reason that the National Steering Committee of the UDF 40, the core of which is the legitimate members of the last Secretariat of the UDF, would, in the first instance, be the public face of the campaign for the commemoration of its 40th Anniversary.
In addition, the National Steering Committee would endeavour to meet with as many stakeholders as possible, including social and political formations and individuals to brief them about the plans to honour the legacy of the UDF.
In pursuit of the honouring of the glorious legacy of the United Democratic Front and commemoration of 40 years of its birth the national Steering Committee has adopted an inclusive, non-sectarian, non-factionalist and independent approach.
At paragraph three on page six of your letter to me you state:
As far as I could determine, you have not been able to convince the people as whole that your agenda is anything but an effort to give life, credibility, and authenticity to the ANC, floundering in its own hubris.
It has never been our intention and ambition to convince the people as a whole about what you have alleged in the aforementioned melodious sounding phrases from your letter.
Your assertion reflects a misunderstanding of the intent and the motives of the National Steering Committee of the UDF 40.
Everything said and done my dear comrade and brother Alan you earned your place the history of the South African Freedom Struggle.
It is to this secure and honourable place that you carved for yourself and on the side of many present and past heroes that the UDF 40 National Steering Committee invited you and is renewing its invitation.
There are many South Africans who are angered and aggrieved by the state of politics and governance in our country.
This, notwithstanding, we are challenged to energise the citizenry to be active, to reclaim their voice and agency, assert their right to drive transformation and hold leaders and public representatives accountable.
I urge you to consider reviewing the decision that you took to turn your back against the celebration of the history you were part of making.
I remain Brotherly and Comradely.
Yours,
Popo Molefe
Popo Molefe is a member of the UDF40 national steering committee who are planning to celebrate 40th anniversary of the UDF this year.
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