page 097 - Long Walk Original Manuscript [LWOM_097.jpg]

Shortly before the National Day of Protest I wrote a leading article in "The African Ledestar" on the Bill which finally became the Suppression of Communism Act. My arguement was that the Bill was not intended for the CP as was generally claimed, but for the ANC, which was the only real opposition to the government outside the parliament. I pointed out that the CP was an insignificant party with no substantial following and added that the government merely used the name of the CP as a tactical move to get the support of white South Africa for the Bill, but that once it became law it would be used against all the critics of he government.

This article led to an important discussion between Moses Kotane and myself in which we tried to reason calmly with each other. It is never safe and may even be reckless to comment fully on events relating to a liberation movement which is still in the field of battle. Such comments might give vital information to the enemy and cause serious damage to our work. Consequently, relevant information may be omitted from the story and the narration ends abruptly. It is sufficient to say that that discussion gave me a deeper grasp of the reasons why the CP has since its emergence been the main object of vilification and attack by oppressive regimes.

I have already said that the 1946 resistance campaign reminded the people of South Africa that the freedom struggle is not merely a question of making speeches but, even more important, of militant mass action and readiness to pay the highest price. It focused public attention on political action as a means of preaching ones goal and forced me to re examine my own approach. I became acutely aware of the paucity of my knowledge and the feebleness of my own political activity. For the B.A.