him from proceeding with his studies on campus.)
At the beginning of 1951, a few months after the dissolution of the CPSA, Nziba called a meeting of some selected young people at Phomolong, in the house belonging to the family of Jacob Matshaneng. Also present was another influential young man, George Mhlakaza from Orlando East. Jacob Motshaneng was a rather unusual character in Andrew’s opinion. He lived with his parents and sister and, as the only son in the family, was regarded as a ‘cheeseboy’ or ‘mother’s boy’, which is perhaps confirmed by the fact that he did not marry until his mother had passed away, fearing that a wife would compete with her for space (nor did being Andrew’s best man at his later wedding pump up the urge in him to get married). It was Jacob who excitedly told Andrew about the meeting, at which Nziba did all the talking and everyone else just listened. His speech was about the ANCYL, its importance and meaning to the country’s youth and its role in broader society; and the need for them to join the organisation as active members and not merely as part of the crowd. He described it as the grooming ground for future leaders of the ANC. That meeting persuaded Andrew to be actively involved in the ANCYL – but it was an extra commitment, and he was still juggling his political with his married life, having married a few months earlier.
From the beginning of the 1950s, Andrew had observed that the dissolution of the CPSA and its forced hibernation had propelled the ANC into the leadership of the struggle. ‘Before these developments, the CPSA had been more influential and more prominent in the workers’ struggles than the ANC,’ he said. ‘The miners’ strike in the 1940s was, perhaps, a clear testimony to this.’ Therefore, in Andrew’s opinion, the harassment of the CPSA by the government was a catalyst for the coming together of the CPSA and the ANC, albeit with some resistance from prominent members of the ANC. Both organisations had members in each others’ structures but it was not going to be plain sailing, especially in the initial stages, as Andrew would later learn. The growth of the ANC, in particular, and its attraction of people from all walks of life and races, were to bring far-reaching implications for the ANC as an organisation and for its campaigns. The Defiance Campaign of 1952 and the Congress of the People gathering in Kliptown in 1955, as well as the infamous treason trial of the late 1950s, were to characterise the manner in which South Africa was going to be liberated.
The steady dominance of the ANC in black people’s struggles was beginning to have unintended consequences. In the Johannesburg area, Andrew observed some signs of Africanist ideology emerging among the ranks of the ANC, through the Bantu National Congress under Peter Makhene which emerged as early as 1953. Makhene was supported by James Maseko, a member of the CPSA – an indication that the recalcitrant faction included members from both ANC and CPSA ranks. Andrew knew both men very well as he had worked with them in the CPSA. He regarded them as hecklers, and dismissed their followers as just like them (the reason he didn’t take them seriously was their approach to political mobilisation – an attack on the ANC rather than bringing something new into the political arena). However, insignificant as the organisation may have appeared in Andrew’s mind, it represented an ideology that would have an impact in struggle politics later on. The Bantu National Congress was soon followed by another organisation, the national-minded Block. Its public face was Josiah Madzunya and its activities were along the lines of distributing leaflets with messages advocating the Africanist agenda and denouncing the increasing movement of whites into the ANC. Andrew Mlangeni’s dismissal of these competing organisations speaks not only to his loyalty but also to his political common sense.
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