MASABALALA, SAMUEL M. MARTIN

Samuel Makama Martin Masabalala (December 6, 1877-circa 1940) was a South African trade unionist and African nationalist. He figured prominently in the formation of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), and participated in some of the earlier actions of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a colourful personality who attracted support to the organisations with which he was connected.

He was born in Uniondale, in Cape Province, and went to school in Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth. In 1893 he went to Mashonaland in what is now Zimbabwe), and served there with the British South Africa Police during the Ndebele-Shona rebellion of 1896. After the rebellion, he worked for a short while on the railways in what was then Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe) and then became a teacher. During the South African [Boer] War of 1899-1902, he again served with a British African unit. From 1901-1910 he worked as an electrician and a battery operator with Bustick General Motors Company, Ltd. From 1910-13 he taught at various mission schools.

In 1914 he moved back to Port Elizabeth, taking a job with a firm called Lennon, Ltd. as a pharmacist’s assistant. It was at this time that he first became involved in trade union activities, acting as the leader of a workers’ association. At about the same time he became active with the Cape branch of the African National Congress. By 1919 he held a leadership post in the organisation, and may have attended the ANC conference in May 1920.

He attended a conference of trade unionists at Bloemfontein on July 13, 1920. Here he affiliated his workers’ association with the newly-formed ICU. He then returned to Port Elizabeth and agitated for higher wages for the members of his association, most of whom were dock workers. He threatened to call them out on strike in October 1920. The Port Elizabeth municipal council then asked the Rev. W.B. Rubusana to address the workers and encourage them not to strike. When Rubusana appeared to speak, however, he was assaulted, and Masabalala was then arrested.

On October 23, many workers gathered outside the police station where Masabalala was being held and demanded his release. White civilians and police opened fire on the crowd, killing 20 people. Other ICU representatives then came to Port Elizabeth and convinced Rubusana to drop his charges against Masabalala, who was then released.

Later, Masabalala used this incident to show how desperate the situation of the black workers had become. According to Clement Kadalie he did this effectively since he was an eloquent speaker who was fluent in Sotho, Xhosa, and Dutch. Following the lead of Kadalie, Masabalala in 1923 convinced the ANC to repudiate the ruling South African Party. The following year the two men pushed a resolution through the ANC calling for a change of government. They both supported J.B.M. Hertzog and the Nationalist-Labour pact because they believed that Hertzog would grant workers of all races the right to organise. When Hertzog and the Nationalist-Labour coalition came to power in the 1924 election, however, this proved not to be the case. Sometime after the election, Masabalala became a member of the ANC national executive committee. In 1929 he began to work for Abantu-Batho, the ANC newspaper.

A courageous man, he struggled to have the voice of the African workers heard on industrial and political matters. Although some of his actions seem in retrospect to have been politically naive, these same actions show that he was willing to explore any avenue that might help him accomplish his goal.

LEONARD LESLIE BESSANT