Yes, he was a communist, say ANC, SACP
After more than 50 years of denial, truth is told
THE ANC and South African Communist Party have admitted openly for the first time that Nelson Mandela was part of the SACP’s central committee.
Although Mandela’s link with the party has been suggested by many historians and academics, it has never been formally acknowledged until now.
The ANC and SACP disclosed it in their reactions to Mandela’s death.
The SACP released a statement saying: “At his arrest in August 1962, Nelson Mandela was not only a member of the then underground South African Communist Party, but was also a member of our party’s central committee.”
The ANC’s statement read: “Madiba was also a member of the South African Communist Party, where he served in the central committee.”
During the Rivonia trial in 1963, Mandela told the court he had “never been a member of the Communist Party”.
In his official biography of Mandela, Anthony Sampson wrote of the allegation, continually made by the National Party government, that he was a member of the SACP: “The government would continue to charge that Mandela was a party member, which anti-
❛ It appears he was coopted straight to the central committee with no probation
communists would eagerly take up.
Even in 1966, after four years on Robben Island, he would be informed by the department of justice that he was being listed as a member of the party.
“He wrote back to ‘emphatically deny that I was a member RED FLAG: Winnie and Nelson Mandela with Joe Slovo at an SACP rally in 1990 of the Communist Party of South Africa since 1960 or at any other time’.”
Although much evidence has been presented in support of the claim that Mandela was, in fact, a member, it has never been definitively proved.
The most compelling case that he was an SACP member was made by British historian Stephen Ellis who, in a 2012 book, External Mission: The ANC in Exile, documented how secret SACP minutes recorded Mandela as having joined the party as far back as 1960.
Ellis wrote that Mandela “knew and trusted many communist activists anyway, so it appears he was coopted straight to the central committee with no probation required”.
Noted South African historian Professor Tom Lodge described the case Ellis presented as “pretty definitive”.
But presented with the evidence in December 2012, the Nelson Mandela Foundation told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London: “We do not believe that there is proof that Madiba was a party member.”
It argued: “The evidence that has been identified is comparatively weak in relation to the evidence against, not least Madiba’s consistent denial of the fact over nearly 50 years.
“It is conceivable that Madiba might indulge in legalistic casuistry, but not that he would make an entirely false statement.”
The foundation said induction happened in stages and took time — and Mandela may never have completed the process.
“What is clear is that, at a certain moment in the struggle, he was sufficiently trusted as an ANC leader to participate in party [central committee] meetings.
“And it is probable that people in attendance at such meetings may have thought of him as a member.”