Date: 17/04/2010
Source: African National Congress
Title: ANC: Zuma: Address by ANC president, at the reburial of Leslie Massina, Johannesburg

The Family and relatives of Comrade Leslie Massina,
ANC Secretary General and National Executive Committee members,
Cosatu General Secretary, Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi,
Veterans and MKVA leaders,
Comrades and friends,

We are gathered on this day, to command the remains and spirit of Comrade Leslie Massina to their final resting place in a country to whose freedom he dedicated his life.
It is a sad but very important day for the family and all his comrades, as we are able to celebrate his life once more, and achieve closure on the journey he took for the freedom of his country.
The life and death of Cde Leslie Massina reminds us of the selfless sacrifice and heroism of scores of dedicated and committed cadres of our revolution.
This occasion of the interment of the remains of this outstanding cadre also provides an opportunity to celebrate the historical and revolutionary bond between the workers and the national liberation movement.
In Comrade Massina, we had a true courageous, committed and die-hard cadre of the ANC. Born in 1921 in Pimville, Soweto, he left school very early and became a factory worker, in search of a better life for his family.
As early as 1946, this highly skilled organizer mobilized and enabled the formation of the union of laundry workers. He was later elected secretary of the Transvaal Council of Non-European Trade Unions.
When the Congress Movement embarked on the Defiance Campaign in 1952, Comrade Massina was among the first to dedicate himself to the cause, becoming the deputy volunteer-in-chief for the Transvaal.
In 1953 he became treasurer of the ANC for the Transvaal province. This emphasized his outstanding leadership qualities. As a leader of the trade union movement at the time, given the importance of linking up with the international trade union movement and other progressive forces, Comrade Massina left South Africa in 1954 on a trip abroad to attend an international trade union conference.
He was among the first to visit Great Britain, Russia, and other European countries, sensitizing the world to the injustices of apartheid and worker exploitation. Comrade Massina was elected into the National Executive Committee of the ANC, in 1955, the year in which he returned to South Africa, from his trip abroad.
During those memorable days, cadres did not campaign for leadership positions in the movement. The organization identified cadres for leadership, based on their work, loyalty and dedication. Branches of the ANC at that time were not subjected to severe pressure for the nomination of certain names.
It was indeed an undiluted democratic process that left a good taste after conferences, and helped to enhance confidence and loyalty to the movement.
It was in this same year, 1955, that for the first time, workers spoke in one voice, linking the Workers Movement to the national struggle for the liberation of South Africa. This was an important phase of our struggle, which saw the movement in both general and specific terms, deepening the clarity of what we were fighting for.
Among matters that were clearly defined were the kind of freedom we were fighting for. The other was the nature of our struggle, the forces that were engaged in that struggle, and the methods of struggle.
With regards to the kind of freedom that we were fighting for, the clarity was adequately made and properly defined in the Freedom Charter. Regarding the nature of our struggle, it was defined that we were fighting for a non-racial, non-sexist, united democratic country. In relation to the forces that were engaged in the struggle, it were the oppressed masses of our country led by the broad democratic movement, embodied in the Alliance.
This Alliance, it was clearly specified, was led by the ANC. It included amongst others, democratic forces which at the time were defined more in the formation of the Congress of Democrats, with the volunteer corps as the cutting edge of those forces.
With regards to the method of struggle, it was defined as a non-violent but militant struggle, conducted through programmes of protest, boycotts and the defiance of unjust laws.
This clarity indicates that to achieve our objectives, the movement needed cadres with special qualities, who were highly political and also ready to suffer in the course of the struggle if need be.
It was during this time that the volunteers of the ANC sang the song: "volunteers come together; we must be ready for action day".
Comrade Massina later left the country and went into exile in Swaziland in the early 60s, with a number of other comrades, where he stayed and continued the struggle until he met his death.
Comrades,
This moment of paying our last respects to Comrade Massina also provides the opportunity to remind ourselves of the role of the South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU), and how it was to define the trade union movement in our country.
Comrade Massina became the first General Secretary of SACTU, ensuring at all times that workers understood the importance of organisation and unity for them to lead better lives. We must remember that for African workers in particular, the emergence of SACTU in March 1955 represented a new thrust in the history of workers' struggles in South Africa.
As workers at that time described it themselves: "In the factory, the birth of SACTU was like rays of sunshine piercing through the dark".
The darkness referred to here is the period during which the Trades and Labour Council dominated the trade union movement in South Africa.
Although the Council Constitution had always stated that membership was open to all 'bona fide' trade unions, the needs of the majority of workers, the African workers, had never been properly served by this body. Therefore, a revolutionary trade union such as SACTU was to provide much needed political clarity and direction to the workers' struggle. It also cemented the symbiotic relationship between the trade union movement and the ANC.
The former President of the ANC, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, said at the SACTU Conference in 1959.
"SACTU is the spear, ANC the shield..."

"No worker is a good member of Congress unless he is also a Trade Unionist. No Trade Unionist is a good Trade Unionist unless he is also a member of Congress..I am glad that SACTU has not listened to the ill advice that they should not be interested in politics. There is a Zulu saying that if you are pricked by a thorn you also have to use a thorn to get it out. Workers are oppressed by political action; they must take political action in reply. While the South African Congress of Trade Unions must thus pursue an independent policy in the interests of the workers, it must also participate unreservedly in the struggle to mobilise the people behind their demands as embodied in the Freedom Charter and must cooperate with all other organisations engaged in this struggle."



Comrade Walter Sisulu, in an article in Workers Unity, in 1955 said:

"The victory can only be won and imperialism uprooted by forging strong ties of Alliance between the liberation movements and the trade union movements, by correcting any misconceptions that the trade unions had nothing to do with politics. Similarly, political leaders must know that the struggle of the people depends on the workers, and therefore it must be their duty to organise workers into the trade union movement".

In the Book ‘Organise or Starve', published in 1980, it is stated as follows:

"...The non-racial unity achieved by the members of the Congress Alliance could never be shattered entirely and the welding of the trade union movement with the general political struggle for liberation forged a permanent bond which remains unbroken to this day. "After the ANC had been banned it became important for SACTU to expand its role and to extend the message of Congress further afield, embracing other sections of the exploited African masses. "In this way SACTU mobilised more people for greater participation in the political campaigns until its own leaders were silenced by the regime."

The lessons of the period we have referred to were very important and informed the movement in its crafting of strategies and tactics, including later, the formation of COSATU, which replaced SACTU.
Comrades,
It is of course important also to bear in mind that the struggle had different phases.

COSATU emerged during the phase of the armed struggle, when the level of the involvement of the masses of the people and the workers were at its highest level.

COSATU exists today in another phase of struggle, when the movement has won the struggle, and is now in government.

The challenge that faces all of us today is to continue to define the nature of our struggle, the methods of struggle, as those who were in leadership together with Comrade Leslie Massina did in the late 50s, but in addition, to understand the rules of engagement among the broad movement forces.
In other words, how do we carry on our activities to complement one another, and enhance what others are doing? How do we exercise our leadership roles with a greater sense of responsibility? How in our actions and in our utterances, do we ensure that we unite the progressive forces? And how, in our actions, do we ensure the defence of our freedom?
And how in that process, do we guarantee our position as a leader of all our people, regardless of their political persuasions and preferences? How do we instill confidence in the members and supporters of our broad movement?

Comrades and friends,
These are the challenges that face us as leaders today. How do we enhance the understanding of Inkosi Albert Luthuli, in the manner that he defined the workers and their task in the individual organizations, as members of unions and also as members of the African National Congress?

If we were able to answer all these questions, then Comrade Leslie Massina and many others would be happy to know that they left this great movement in the hands of younger generations that would take it to greater heights. In memory of Comrade Leslie Massina and his generation we must also give renewed meaning to comradeship. The cadres of that time did not use the word "comrade" very lightly.
They understood its real meaning. For example, they would not engage in any activity that would harm other comrades. These are the lessons we need to learn from them as we conduct our most complex struggle, as we combine our work in government, and building the ANC, to ensure that improvement of the quality of life of our people.
Comrades, as we lay the remains of this revolutionary to rest, let us remember a few fundamental issues. These are the unity of our movement broadly, of the Alliance specifically, and the unity of our people as a whole. Unity is paramount for the success of our democracy. No one among us should do anything that undermines our unity. That is why I have said that we must think before we act, think before we speak in public.

Let us do things that promote unity and cohesion in our organization and our country.
If we do that, Comrade Leslie Massina will rest in true eternal peace. It will be the best way to remember him and the work he did as well as his outstanding leadership qualities.
Long live the spirit of Comrade Leslie Massina!
Amandla!