THE enduring memory I have from addressing a group of pro-government students at the University of Cape Town recently is the expression “you must not say …”. They objected to hearing opinions and points of view different from their own.
These students had probably not interacted with a senior representative of the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) before. They and their predecessors of the 1980s in the South African National Students’ Congress (Sansco) would have been discouraged by their political leaders from discussing issues with anyone outside their own camp.
This starkly contrasts with the willingness of Steve Biko and his peers to hear out and tackle opposing views on any issue. Yes, there has been a shift from that ethic, and from many other views and values formulated by the founders of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). While this shift has been made by dominant parties in the 1990s, it should not be imposed on those who continue to uphold the validity of black consciousness.
The reaction of the students was sparked off by a challenge to them as black intellectuals to break with the legacy of white academics who stunted the capacity of Africans in tertiary institutions to think broadly. Ever since Tom Lodge declared Azapo an organisation of “intellectuals” in his book on South African politics, the black component of his allies developed a fear of being seen as “intellectuals”. The BCM, on the other hand, rooted in community project work as the basis of training black leaders, not only allows, but encourages its members to think.
The most common argument around the life and work of Biko from the 1980s is the childish set of claims as to where he would be had he still been alive. These arguments originate from claims by organisations to which Biko never belonged. Those who have exercised their free choice to leave the BCM and join the ruling party tend to withhold that same right of free choice from those who have not left the BCM.
Whatever organisation Biko would have been part of is not the issue. The issue is that several co- founders of the BCM have endured hardship and privation, not only from the former settler-colonial state but from components of the left, and yet have remained loyal to the movement. Those of us who worked with Comrade Biko will recall that, unlike in the Hollywood film, he was not surrounded by nodding acolytes, but engaged in vigorous discussion with comrades ready to contribute verbally and in writing to the growth of revolutionary ideas and activities.
Perhaps the most tragic desertion of Biko’s heritage are the unwillingness to sacrifice and the continued failure of predominantly black political parties to pursue the call for mutual respect and co-operation emanating from Biko and the BCM. As black people overcome the false hopes of reform and development through the 1994 process, Azapo in its reorganised form will grow and be the vehicle through which the new generation and disillusioned elements of the old will rediscover the life, work and meaning of Biko.
Vuyisa Qunta is Azapo’s publicity and information secretary
ENDS