CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF SELFLESS STRUGGLE LECTURE ON THE FOUNDING GENERAL PRESIDENT OF THE ANC, GENERAL PRESIDENT JOHN LANGALIBALELE DUBE, BY THE ANC PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA, SASOLBURG, January 17 2012

Members of the Dube family,
ANC provincial chairperson, Comrade Ace Magashule,
Members of the ANC NEC,
Leadership of the Alliance, Leadership of the ANC Leagues,
Compatriots, comrades and friends,

On 8 January 1912, the South African Native National Congress was formed, and thus began a 100 year journey of selfless struggle.

We are privileged to take forward our centenary celebrations by honouring the first and founding president of our glorious movement, Dr John Langalibalele Dube, uMafukuzela onjengezulu.

The ANC had the honour of having as its first leader a selfless patriot and pioneer, who was also a teacher, historian, preacher, newspaper editor and owner, publicist, author and a political leader and activist of note.

President Dube's legacy encapsulates African unity, self-reliance, quality education and a tireless fight for equality and freedom.

While it was Pixley ka Isaka Seme who suggested the formation of the Congress in 1912, it was Dr Dube, his guardian in America while they were both studying, who was entrusted by history with being the first President of the oldest liberation movement in Africa.

He led the ANC with zeal, humility and poise.

Who then, was John Langalibalele Dube?

This highly regarded leader was born in Inanda, Durban in the then Natal in 1871, to an important elite of the Amaqadi people, ruled by the Ngcobo clan. A deeply religious man who had grown up amongst missionaries, he was ordained as Minister of the Congregational Church, known commonly as the American Board church in 1897.

President Dube viewed religion as an instrument of emancipation, equalisation, success and fulfilment. His presidency of the ANC must be understood in this context. His presidency must also be understood in the context of the strong American influence in his life and thinking, having visited the country a few times for studies and fundraising for his projects.

Dr Dube was introduced to America by his mentors, American missionaries Reverend William Cullen Wilcox and his wife Ida Belle Wilcox, who took him to America to further his studies. Having visited America during the period of the civil rights struggle by African Americans, Dr Dube was profoundly influenced by Booker T. Washington, the Afro American educator and politician.

One of Washington's achievements that impressed him was the turning of a virtual shack into an industrial college, the Tuskegee Institute University.

Dr Dube also identified with Washington's emphasis on the entrepreneurial spirit and industrial education, to improve the lives of African-Americans.

It is likely to have been this experience that encouraged him to establish Ohlange school with his wife Nokuthela, in 1901. The school has produced many outstanding leaders and professionals. We are proud as the ANC to be associated with this great man who was a pioneer in the education of the African child, during most difficult conditions in our country.

Given his contribution to education, Dr Dube received an honorary Doctorate from the University of South Africa in 1936.

Compatriots and friends,

To understand Dr Dube's leadership and contribution, we must look at what was happening during the period in which the ANC was formed.

This was the time of the industrialisation of the country with the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in 1866, and gold in Johannesburg in 1872, with its related dehumanisation of black workers.

The African people faced the agonizing economic catastrophes of the rinderpest cattle epidemic and also the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902, in which Africans were used as cannon fodder. Another colonial development that angered people at the time, was the 1894 Glen Grey Act. It forced the payment of taxes with the intent of forcing African peasant farmers, who were not part of the money market, to find work in order to earn money to pay taxes.

Dr Dube witnessed the gradual conversion of the African people from independent freedom fighters and warriors into house girls and garden boys, and from independent peasants into dispossessed rural and urban wage earners.

The different measures of discrimination, dispossession and control met with African resistance of various forms. These included amongst others; the Ndzundza Rebellion of 1882 and the Baganwa Rebellion of 1894.

Responses also included early attempts at founding an organisation. In 1880 the first African political group, Imbumba yama Nyama (Union of Africans), was formed in the Eastern Cape. It articulated an African identity that transcended tribal identities.

Independent churches were also established and became early vehicles for African political assertion. In 1898 the first African separatist Church, the Church of Africa was established in 1898 by Reverend PJ Mzimba, signalling the beginning of independent churches.

Dr Dube, was a close friend of Isaiah Shembe who founded the Amanazaretha or Shembe Church, which celebrated its centenary in 2010. He supported the growth of the church fully. Their friendship culminated in Dube writing Shembeâ€^TMs biography.

Inanda is also adjacent to the Phoenix communal Settlement where Mahatma Gandhi was located for many years, leading his passive resistance campaign. Gandhi led two passive resistance campaigns during his years in South Africa, between 1907 and 1909 and 1913 to 1914. Dr Dube became a deep admirer of Gandhi's spirituality and the principle of non-violent resistance.

This prompted him to state:

"I have studied in depth the struggle fought by the Indians under the leadership of Gandhi. And after being an eye witness to the struggle, I have acquired a sense of respect for all the Indians, he said.

To this day the small Inanda settlement boasts having been home to these three great men - Dube, Gandhi and Isaiah Shembe.

Compatriots and friends,

You will recall that an active press also arose at this time. Dr Dube founded the Ilanga lase Natali newspaper, which went to print for the first time on 10 April 1903. The newspaper is still in existence even today.

Dr Dube was following in the footsteps of John Tengo Jabavu who had started Imvo Zabantsundu (Voice of Black People) in 1884. Mahatma Gandhi also opened his own newspaper, the Indian Opinion on 4 June 1903, making this period a very progressive one for independent media.

Dr Dube and his contemporaries therefore taught us the power and importance of owning and running media products that will tell the stories of our people accurately and respectfully, reflecting the indigenous perspective.

The early 1900s were also a period of profound political thought.

For example, Pixley ka Isaka published his seminal essay entitled 'The Regeneration of Africa', in the journal the African Abroad on 5 April 1906. He declared "I am an African, and I set my pride in my race over against a hostile public opinion".

The timeless piece is an uplifting celebration of the continent, its people and future. Another critical and heroic milestone of the year 1906 was the Bhambatha Rebellion, when Bhambatha kaMancinza, the inkosi of the Zondi clan led a rebellion against poll taxes.

Dr Dube campaigned in Ilanga newspaper against the arrest and trial of Zulu King Dinizulu ka-Cetshwayo who was held in connection with the rebellion. He raised funds for the defence of the King, as he viewed the arrest as the continuation of the humiliation of the African people at large.

In September 1906, Dr Dube was already calling for a meeting of the Transvaal, Cape and Natal congresses, saying there were; "welcoming signs that tribal antagonisms are dying down as indications of progress".

The mood towards unity in action was growing.

At the same time, colonial repression continued.

In May 1910, the Union of South Africa was established by the colonial British Government. The impact of the formation of the whites-only Union of South Africa in 1910, made up of the British and the Boer Republics to the exclusion of the majority black people, was so severe and was to be irreversible for the next 80 years or so until 1994.

In 1909 and 1910 non-racial delegations comprising representatives of African, Coloured and Indians went to London to plead the case of the country's black population. Nothing was achieved.

Later on, in 1911, the Mines and Works Act and the Native Labour Regulation Act came into being. It privileged White and Coloured workers by reserving jobs on the mines and railways for them.

The ongoing repression in the country encouraged Pixley ka Isaka Seme in 1911 to call on Africans to forget the differences of the past and unite together in one national organisation. The following year, as a consequence and response to conquest, land dispossession, taxation and pass laws, including systematic racial segregation, various African associations, professionals, intellectuals, churchmen, and members of the traditional aristocracy gathered in Bloemfontein and founded the South African Native National Congress.

Seme stated the purpose eloquently at the founding conference;

"Chiefs of royal blood and gentlemen of our race, we have gathered here to consider and discuss a scheme which my colleagues and I have decided to place before you.

"We have discovered that in the land of their birth, Africans are treated as hewers of wood and drawers of water.

"The white people of this country have formed what is known as the Union of South Africa - a union in which we have no voice in the making of laws and no part in their administration.

"We have called you, therefore, to this conference, so that we can together devise ways and means of forming our national union for the purpose of creating national unity and defending our rights and privileges."

ANC President-General Chief Albert Luthuli recalled that plea and response:

He said; "Our reply¦ a very mild one indeed, to begin with was the formation of the South African Native National Congress (African National Congress). This body came into existence as the direct outcome of our exclusion from our own country, and of the white entente to ensure this exclusion.

Indeed, unity is the rock upon which the ANC was founded, as President Nelson Mandela reminded the ANC's Kabwe national conference in Zambia in 1985. As you are aware, the SANNC was renamed the African National Congress in 1923.

John Langalibalele Dube was elected President in absentia and he officially accepted on 2 February 1912.

Two other capable leaders had been in the running for the presidency at the time - Edward Tsewu and Sefako Makgatho.

Records show that the nomination of Dr Dube was based on the understanding of his abilities and experience as an educationist, preacher, an African nationalist and a respected politician.

Dr Dube's entry into national politics was not an easy one. He had two big projects which he had started; Ohlange as well as Ilanga. Both needed his time and most importantly, resources. Ensuring the success of Ohlange and Ilanga were big political battles. He succeeded because of his determination and leadership skills.

His presidency faced its first major onslaught with the enactment of the vicious Natives Land Act of 1913. The law allowed black ownership rights in only 12 per cent of South Africa and forced Africans into overcrowded reserves.

Dr Dube was angered by this sheer callousness.

He stated; "Most Europeans would not know and will never know the bitterness of being driven from one's birth place".

Dr Dube joined the ANC delegation that went to London to petition the British parliament, between 1913 and 1917. The visit did not bear any fruit due to the intransigence of the colonial power.

In June 1917, Dr Dube was replaced by Sefako Mapogo Makgatho as president of the ANC.

He remained a member of the Natal Congress, and continued working to improve the lot of the underprivileged.

Compatriots,

As the founding President of our movement, Dr Dube laid an impressive foundation of selflessness and sacrifice that has stood strong to this day. Without the valiant actions of Dr Dube and his contemporaries, we would not be standing here today celebrating our freedom and marking 100 years of selfless service of the ANC.

He was not perfect. No human being is. But he did the best he could under the circumstances to take the struggle forward and keep the ANC together. He had certain strengths which enabled him to succeed.

Among these, was his ability to speak to different members of society equally- chiefs, commoners, workers and the educated. He was a man of peace. The emphasis on peaceful means came from American civil rights movement experiences. But it also emanated from the pioneering work of Dr Dube and his contemporaries who shifted the struggle from primary resistance, resistance through war to secondary resistance, resistance through the pen and ideas.

This was seriously misunderstood by his detractors who found him too tolerant and accommodative. Even though most mission-educated Africans were constantly disappointed by the attitude of the missionaries and the white government, Dr Dube remained convinced of the need to establish racial harmony.

After leaving the presidency he continued trying to foster better relations between the different race groups in South Africa.

What can also be learned from Dr Dube's solid commitment to advancing humanity is his deep rootedness in the community he served, including his own people at Inanda, before and even when he was no longer a leader of the movement after 1917.

He continued serving in advisory bodies for example, in 1918 he was elected to the first Natives Representative Council, an advisory body to the government. He took part in activities such as the Smuts Conferences and many other missionary conferences. In these later years, then a widower, he married Angelina Khumalo of Pretoria and they had three sons and three daughters.

In 1935, Dr Dube became a member of the All-African Convention and represented Natal on the Natives' Representative Council. He served this council from 1936 until his death on 11 February 1946, when he was replaced on the Council by Chief Albert Luthuli.

Mafukuzela wore many hats, each with different roles, and yet as diverse as the roles were, he managed to perform them effectively and efficiently without fail. In so doing, he demonstrated an impeccable amount of diligence, humanity and discipline.

Compatriots,

It is impressive that despite his hectic political life, he still found time to write books and essays. His works include The Zulu's appeal for light, and England's duty (1909), Isitha somuntu nguye uQobo lwakhe, U-Jeqe insila KaShaka (1931), Ushembe (1936) and Ukuziphatha kahle.

In honour of this great leader, President Mandela, cast his vote on 27 April 1994 at Ohlange high school. He reported to the founding President of the ANC that what he had fought for had been achieved.

Government on the 26th April 2005 awarded President Dube the Order of Luthuli in Gold, for his selfless contribution to the struggle for liberation.

In addition, last year, the Wilcox couple who were his mentors received the Order of the Grand Companions of O.R Tambo, for their contribution to education in KwaZulu-Natal and the fight against colonialism.

Compatriots and friends,

President Dube longed for freedom, democracy and prosperity for his country.

Today South Africa is free, education is compulsory and access improves annually. We have to further expand access to education in line with his wishes.

We are working to fulfil his dream of economic prosperity and development.

Not far from his home in Inanda, Dr Dube's legacy lives in the form of the Dube Trade Port at King Shaka International Airport in La Mercy.

This 21st century project incorporates King Shaka International Airport, a state of the art cargo terminal, a trade zone, an agrizone and associated property developments.

We are scheduled to launch the Dube Trade Port in March this year.

Compatriots and friends,

I am also pleased to announce that Kings House residence in Durban, which is used by the President and Deputy President of the Republic, will be renamed Dr John Dube House.

We believe the two modest measures would be fitting tributes to this great man who did so much for our country and its people.

My dear Compatriots and friends,

The late journalist, poet, and cultural activist Herbert Dhlomo, wrote in Ilanga laseNatali on 23 February 1946, after the passing on of Dr Dube, that there are three ways to judge greatness.

These are the verdict of the wise and learned, the common and spontaneous approval of the masses, and time.

According to all three standards. President Dube was exceedingly great!

We are therefore proud to have had him as the founding president of the African National Congress.

Long Live President John Langalibalele Mafukuzela Dube Long Live!

I thank you.

Issued by the African National Congress, January 17 2012

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