‘The struggle is what we attach ourselves to’
Biko knew, in 1977, that change was inevitable
Black consciousness leader Steve Biko was assassinated on September 12 1977. To commemorate the date, Pan MacMillan is shining the spotlight on some of his prolific works including the 40th edition of I Write What I like.
This is an edited extract from the courtroom exchange between advocate Attwell and Steve Biko on the morning of May 5 1976, the third day of Biko’s testimony in a book called The Testimony of Steve Biko. Biko gave his testimony on Black Consciousness in Pretoria.
Mr Biko, one of the themes advocated or expressed by you in one of the documents before court was the fear which the Black man has, is that right?
That is right.
Do you consider that the White man in South Africa is scared?
A: I think the general White population may very well be under the influence of propaganda to a point where they do not realise just how inevitable change is, but I think the White leadership, especially the leadership of the three main parties in this country, is aware of the inevitability of change, and I think there is a certain fear which is gnawing at them about which direction this change should take.
Okay, they certainly do not want to find themselves overtaken by events.
They want to be moving with the events. So there is an element of fear certainly in leadership, but I do want to say that the average White man often is not aware – the way he treats Black people at this given moment in shops and post offices and so on, indicates that he just is not aware of the inevitability of change.
Can you point to any document of SASO (South African Student Organisation) or BPC (Black People’s Convention), press releases or anything else, where there is a clear dissociation by those organisations from the methods of ANC or PAC to allay any fears there may be?
Yes, sure. I said to you we did not pass judgement on the methods of ANC or PAC, neither did we discuss them, at plenary sessions certainly.
We have always operated on the basis of our own approach.
There was no need at any given stage to dissociate ourselves from anything, from the past.
You see, I am trying to find out whether you people were genuine when you say that you rejected the methods of PAC and ANC?
I said this was considered at a very small commission, right.
That is where the words “no confrontation” originated, because at that commission it was discussed, and these were the people who looked at previous history and the methods used.
Certainly we did not canvass that point in the plenary as such.
We just spoke about the significance of no confrontation without reference to ANC or PAC.
I put it to you that in fact quite distinct from disassociating yourself from ANC and PAC there was a subtle association with them? You would have to tell me specifically how. With approval or disapproval or merely a statement of fact?
I think, Mr Attwell, one thing you must realise is that the concept [of] struggle – which is struggle from liberation of yourself, from anything threatening you – is continuous through history.
At different times it is picked up by different people in different methods, okay?
But the struggle is what we attach ourselves to.
We must recognise that the ANC and the PAC were involved in the struggle, and were not involved in the struggle for selfish purposes; it was certainly on behalf of Blacks and for the liberation of Blacks.
We may or may not necessarily approve of their methods, but the fact is they exist in history as protagonists of our struggle.
Without agreeing with them, we give them their due for existing in our history and for pushing the struggle forward. I think this is the context in which reference to ANC and PAC has been made in this document, and I am sure I have made the same reference myself in a sense in some of the articles I have written.
I have no doubt, Mr Biko. I am merely stating do you agree with me that this is an approval?
It is not an approval. It is not a passing of judgement. It is a recognition of what has happened in history.
An approval implies subjecting whatever has happened to systematic analysis so that you can arrive at a judgement whether approving or not approving.
In this case it is just mere reference to a particular phase in our history as Black people.
The Testimony of Steve Biko retails for R275 and is published by Pan Macmillan Publishers