Remarks by Premier of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Mr Sibusiso Ndebele during the debate on Inkosi Albert Luthuli in the KZN Legislature

The honourable speaker
Luthuli as unifier

Inkosi Luthuli's guiding philosophy was that of unity in the quest to build a new country in which all could live as they pleased subject to the laws of a legitimate state. Inkosi Luthuli was a unifier. Kenneth Wilburn of the Department of History at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, notes that during Luthuli's time as President, the African National Congress (ANC) formed alliances with Indian, white and coloured organisations.

I quote: "The ANC soon made an alliance with the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), whose activism between 1893 and 1914 had been led by Mohandas Gandhi, the Mahatma." Wilburn states further that "alliances were also made with the South African Coloured People's Organisation, the white Congress of Democrats and the South African Congress of Trade Unions. Together these groups came to be called the Congress Alliance."

Luthuli had joined the ANC in 1944 and became its President-General in 1952, a position he retained until his death in 1967. The Congress Alliance was instrumental in the development of the Freedom Charter, which was ratified at the Congress of the People, in Kliptown, in June 1955. The Congress of the People was a historic gathering that included men and women of all races, liberals, believers and non-believers, communists and capitalists.

They represented the black (ANC), white (Congress of Democrats), Indian (SAIC) and coloured (Coloured People's Congress) compatriots, including the multi-racial South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). The congress was held to develop a new vision for a future South Africa that reached beyond protest politics.

It built on the foundation for co-operation and non-racial unity set earlier by doctors AB Xuma, president of the ANC, GM Naicker, president of the Natal Indian Congress and YM Dadoo, president of the Transvaal Indian Congress. In 1947 they signed the Three Doctors' Pact, which called among other things for a full franchise for all.

Luthuli the traditional leader

Inkosi Luthuli understood and respected the role of traditional leadership. He was elected to the position of Chief of AbaseMakholweni in Groutville in 1935 and served his people regardless of their class or political affiliation. He was ordered to relinquish his position by the regime in 1952. In the eyes of his people he remained Chief even after government had stripped him of the position. We have taken the significant stride of passing the Traditional Leaders and Governance Act, Act 5 of 2005 and the Royal Household Act.

These pieces of legislation are the first to give recognition to His Majesty the King and the Royal Household. The latter entrenches the Sovereignty of the Zulu Monarch and the Royal family. Mr Speaker, the recognition of the Monarchy as the custodian of Zulu heritage within a democratic order is one of the most important milestones in the preservation of our cultural norms and value systems. We have now positioned the Monarchy at the core of all indigenous systems. This move ensures the continued relevance of this institution and its value systems for generations to come.

Luthuli the educator

Inkosi Luthuli will be remembered as an educator of important values such as self-respect, dignity, respect for authority and an understanding of the precise role that one has to play in society. A product of mission schools, he trained as a teacher at Edendale, near Pietermaritzburg. All the qualities he gained in this process helped him advance the cause of society's moral upstanding, a quality that we all are presently grappling with.

Luthuli the peace-maker

Inkosi Luthuli was a negotiator and peacemaker. During his nine-month tour of the United States in 1948, Inkosi Luthuli advocated non-violence as a means to end the racist policies of the National Party. He believed for most of his life that from religious teachings, it was possible for non-violence to triumph over the evil that was apartheid. He maintained that "no true peace and progress can be secured in any country as long as there are others in that country denied full democratic rights and duties."

His efforts were recognised internationally when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1961, becoming the first African to receive the honour. He spent his prize money on two Swaziland farms which were later to become political havens for South African exiles. In his acceptance speech, Inkosi Luthuli called for international sanctions against South Africa and a non-racial, democratic government.

Luthuli detachment

Inkosi Luthuli believed in the four pillars of struggle peaceful resistance, international mobilisation and solidarity, the political underground and the armed struggle. Sugarcane fields near Tongaat became a site of struggle.

Throughout his confinement to Groutville, Inkosi Luthuli organised sugarcane farmers around issues of the day and together they won many concessions. In reviving the Groutville Cane Growers Association Inkosi Luthuli taught the community better farming methods. He hoped to start an Agrarian Revolution by stimulating the local economy through sugarcane farming. The reality of restrictions on land ownership for African people served as a political rallying point to organise the people against the National Party regime.

He continued to host joint congress executives and other leaders in secret. One rendezvous was an isolated school building, deep in the sugarcane fields on the Natal north coast. Underground work of this and other kinds continued as an important part of the work of the democratic movement until liberation in 1994.

In his statement 'The road to freedom is via the cross' he had this to say:
"In this effort I always pursued what liberal-minded people rightly regarded as the path of moderation. Over this great length of time I have, year after year, gladly spent hours of my time with such organisations of the church and its various agencies such as the Christian Council of South Africa (CCSA), the Joint Council of Europeans and Africans and the now defunct Native Representative Council (NRC).

"Who will deny that 30 years of my life have been spent knocking in vain, patiently, moderately and modestly at a closed and barred door? What have been the fruits of my many years of moderation? Has there been any reciprocal tolerance or moderation from the government, be it nationalist or united party?

No! On the contrary, the past 30 years have seen the greatest number of laws restricting our rights and progress until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all." The Defiance Campaign of 26 June 1952 was the ANC's first widely supported call to protest against the National Party's policies of apartheid. Out of the Defiance Campaign and the Doctors' Pact came the idea of convening a popular parliament to create a constitution for all South Africans. Inkosi Luthuli mobilised the people of Groutville and South Africa around several mass campaigns.

Luthuli the internationalist

Even though he was banned, he always took the first opportunity afforded to him to address mass rallies and groups in Johannesburg and other areas. Inkosi Luthuli was also the first person to call for sanctions against South Africa, starting a movement that was to gather untold momentum in later years of the struggle. For sustainable sanctions, the support of the international community was of essence.

In a joint statement to the United Nations with Dr Martin Luther King Junior, Inkosi Luthuli's Appeal for Action against Apartheid in 1962 emphasised his understanding of international solidarity to end apartheid. In his travels abroad Inkosi Luthuli stressed his understanding that the freedom of South Africa was inextricably linked to that of the rest of Africa. He believed South Africa itself could not be free until all the oppressed peoples of the world were free.

In a statement issued by the National Executive of the ANC on the 25th anniversary of the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe in December 1986, the ANC said of the 1960s: "It belonged to the effort we made in 1967 when, as a combined force of ANC and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) fighters, we crossed the Zambezi into the then Rhodesia in order to hack a path home and for our brothers to entrench themselves in their mother country. That daring effort is known today as the Wankie Campaign.

"Our forces were named, in memory of our great leader, the late President-General of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli and are known since then and for all posterity as the Luthuli Detachment. From then on our revolution caught alight with renewed intensity and our people have surged ahead in united mass action such as never before seen in the history of our struggle." It was within this historical context that Luthuli's legacy was built and sustained.

Current context

Mr Speaker, we learn from Inkosi Luthuli's legacy that all humanity is created equal. We learn that race can no longer be used to justify the oppression of one by another. Mr Speaker, we continue to commit ourselves to the belief that this province owes its peaceful existence to the leaders of our people, irrespective of political affiliation, who have put aside their differences and committed to working together. Inkosi Luthuli's example of co-operation towards a common goal forces us to ask what it is today that will stop us from working together. What stops our leaders today from working together across race, across class and political lines, to build a better KwaZulu-Natal? Inkosi Luthuli was for all. We are all for his noble ideals.

Luthuli like Nelson Mandela whose birthday we celebrated yesterday has taught us the value of reconciliation and reconstruction. Let us emulate the example of Luthuli. Let us work for peace, partnerships for economic growth and a new morally upright KwaZulu-Natal. We have made significant progress towards achieving these goals. But we need to forge ahead to practically translate Luthuli's ideals of non-racialism, non-sexism, unity of purpose, peaceful development and economic freedom in a democratic KwaZulu-Natal. These are the ideals that we, as Luthuli's people, must strive to reinforce in all our developmental endeavours.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
19 July 2007