- Title
- The role of migrants in the Pan Africanist struggle for liberation from 1962 to 1963 : the case of Cofimvaba
- Creator
- Mwanda, Sindiswa Christina
- Subject
- South Africa -- History -- 1962-1963 South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1962-1963
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- History
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/9883
- Identifier
- vital:35107
- Description
- The perspective of South African liberation history needs to be balanced by recalling events that might otherwise be overshadowed by the subsequent electoral dominance of the African National Congress since 1994. This study is concerned with one such: the Cofimvaba struggles of 1962-3 which was organised by Cofimvaba migrants under the ideology of the Pan Africanist Congress. Whereas previous historians have based their accounts mainly on trial records, this thesis strives to recover the migrants’ own perspective through intensive and detailed interviews with the surviving veterans. It aims to provide an accurate historical account of the role played by migrant labourers, thereby correcting the historical distortions arising from overreliance on official sources to record the memories and perceptions of the struggle veterans, as exemplified by transcripts of interviews with and thereby provide some balance to the overall perspective of South African liberation history. The thesis opens with a description of the situation on the ground in Cofimvaba and Western Thembuland which gave rise to resistance. It continues with a discussion of the Pan-African Congress, especially in the Western Cape, the labour centre where most Cofimvaba migrants were concentrated. It proceeds to a detailed narrative of the events in Cofimvaba, more especially the battle of Ntlonze. The final chapter concludes with a critical reassessment of previous historical work, showing that the role of the migrants and the non-elite require greater appreciation and respect.
- Format
- 115 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Last edited version of Sindiswa thesis (Real).pdf | 480 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |