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On the 'political conspiracy' judgement that gave us Zuma: Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki, TMG Digital | 15 February, 2016 09:49

Former president Thabo Mbeki.
Image by: JAMES OATWAY

Former president Thabo Mbeki has written an open letter to South Africa describing how the Nicholas court judgment helped unseat him in favour of his rival‚ President Jacob Zuma – and how he has since been vindicated.

The National Prosecuting Authority had alleged that between 1995 and 2005‚ Zuma received money from his financial advisor‚ Schabir Shaik‚ who was convicted and sent to prison in 2005 for corruption and fraud.

Mbeki had faced accusations that the timing of the indictment against Zuma was due to a fight for the presidency of the African National Congress at its 2007 conference in Polokwane.

Judge Chris Nicholson made a finding of political meddling in the Zuma corruption case. This was subsequently criticised by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

In 2009‚ then top prosecutor Mokotedi Mpshe dropped the charges against Zuma.

Here is the latest letter from Thabo Mbeki‚ in his own words:

On 12 September 2008, Justice Chris Nicholson, Judge in the then Natal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa, granted the order that:

“It is declared that the decision taken by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) during or about 28 December 2007 to prosecute the applicant (Jacob Zuma), a copy of which is annexed to the applicant’s founding affidavit as annexure “A” thereto, is invalid and is set aside.”

 

Celebrating this decision, Blade Nzimande, General Secretary of the SACP, wrote in the 17 September, 2008 edition of Umsebenzi Online that:

“The SACP, together with millions of other South Africans, are of course hugely relieved at the judgement by Judge Nicholson on the application by President of the ANC, Cde Jacob Zuma, to have his case, once more, struck off the roll…The judgement vindicates us in our long held view that the charging of Cde Zuma is not a criminal but a political trial. The judgement has greatly assisted us in eloquently, and in a detailed fashion, outlining elements of this political trial.

“A very strong message needs to be sent out to the whole of society that at no stage, now or in the future, should we allow organs of state to be used for internal party political machinations or to pursue narrow and factionalist agendas.”

Immediately after, on 19 September, 2008, the Mail & Guardian published an article entitled “No need to lie spread-eagled” by Ranjeni Munusamy, then described as ‘a communications consultant who runs the Friends of Jacob Zuma website’. She wrote:

“It is a surprise…that Mbeki did not employ any of (his supposed) abundant virtues to salvage both the ANC and the country from the crisis caused by a disastrous "investigation" of Jacob Zuma…

“To many, the most astounding part of Nicholson's judgement was his conclusion that there was "political meddling" in the investigation against Zuma and "baleful political influence" in the decision to prosecute him…

“But the question is how the media got it so horribly wrong…? Why is the South African media so chronically off the mark when it comes to issues related to Zuma?...

“Now that the debauchery and political manipulation is exposed (by the Nicholson judgement), the media no longer needs to lie spread-eagled before its pimp (the NPA). It has the opportunity to restore its soiled image, its credibility and perspective. Or it can become someone else's bitch.”

This celebration of the Nicholson judgement by Nzimande, Munusamy and others was occasioned by both his ruling that the NPA attempt to re-institute charges against President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, was invalid and the conclusion he reached that the NPA actions were driven by political interventions hostile to President Zuma.

 

Among his findings in this regard, Nicholson said:

“He (Zuma) goes further and suggests that (the reinstatement of the criminal charges against him)…was a stratagem to cloak him in the guise of an accused at the critical moments in the political process and so hamper his election as ANC President. There does seem to be merit in that contention. I am therefore not inclined to strike out these allegations (by Zuma)…

“The timing of the indictment by Mr Mpshe on 28 December 2007, after the President (Mbeki) suffered a political defeat at Polokwane was most unfortunate. This factor, together with the suspension of Mr Pikoli, who was supposed to be independent and immune from executive interference, persuade me that the most plausible inference is that the baleful political influence was continuing…”

Thus did Judge Nicholson give a judicial stamp of approval to an allegation that some had sustained for some time that I and others in Government were part of a “political conspiracy” which had interfered with the NPA falsely to charge Jacob Zuma, an allegation which even the ANC NEC as a whole had rejected.

In a Statement issued on 14 June, 2005, the ANC National Working Committee (NWC) said: “The African National Congress accepts and supports the decision of President Thabo Mbeki to release Deputy President Jacob Zuma from his duties in government...The ANC reaffirms that the Deputy President and the entire leadership of the Alliance accept and support the decision of the President.”

But then the allegation of a “political conspiracy” surfaced.

 

To attend to this corrosive accusation I suggested that the Alliance should establish a Commission of Inquiry to determine the facts about this matter.

In a 6 September, 2005 Statement, the ANC NWC said: “The ANC National Working Committee (NWC), which met in Johannesburg yesterday (Monday, 5 September), agreed in principle with the proposal of President Thabo Mbeki for a commission of inquiry into allegations of a political conspiracy.”

Later still, ANC NEC issued its own Statement dated 20 November, 2005 in which it said:

“Having considered the report presented by the President (Mbeki) and Deputy President (Zuma), the NEC understands the events, information and circumstances that have impelled the Deputy President to come to the conclusions he has reached regarding what he perceives as representing a ‘political conspiracy’. This makes it unnecessary for the ANC to pursue within the Alliance the proposal it had tabled to constitute an Alliance Commission to establish the facts or otherwise of the existence of a political conspiracy against our Deputy President.

“The NEC recognises that…the Deputy President may have been subjected to hostile action by forces opposed to the National Democratic Revolution, and thus the ‘conspiracy’ that has been spoken of. However, we are unanimous in our conviction and the determination that such a ‘conspiracy’ did not originate from within our movement…The NEC therefore unequivocally rejects any suggestion that there is in existence a political conspiracy within our movement and its leadership, dedicated to marginalising or in any other way harming our Deputy President.”

It was against this background, and three years after the ANC NEC Statement I have just cited, that Judge Nicholson came to the conclusion celebrated by Nzimande, Munusamy and others, that there had been a political conspiracy after all!

To the consternation of these, the NPA appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) contesting the Nicholson judgement. I and the previous Cabinet intervened to join this appeal.

 

On 22 September, 2008 the media reported that ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, had said: “The biggest worry for us is the question of the reversal of the possible closure of that chapter (Zuma’s prosecution). That case (the appeal), in our view, is not in the public or national interest. If the case is pursued, it will continue to be a point of division in the ANC. That’s the main issue.”

The SACP said that it “strongly condemns this latest manoeuvre by the NPA, and is actually further proof that there is a political force driving the NPA to make Cde Zuma's ascendancy to the Union Buildings as difficult and unpleasant as possible…”

Zet Luzipho, KZN COSATU Secretary, was reported as having said, “The fact that NPA wants to continue the case…is a declaration of war on our people.” Threatening workers’ strikes in this context, he said, “And it won’t only be on the day of the court case, but also before he goes to court.”

However, the Appeal against the Nicholson judgement went ahead despite this threat and the SCA handed down its judgement on 12 January 2009 and upheld the NPA Appeal.

 

The SCA made strong and negative statements about Nicholson’s comments about the so called ‘political meddling’, saying, for instance:

“As the trial judge (Nicholson) recognised, ‘political meddling’ was not an issue that had to be determined. Nevertheless, a substantial part of his judgment dealt with this question; and in the course of this discussion he changed the rules of the game, took his eyes off the ball and red-carded not only players but also spectators. Lest his judgment be considered authoritative it will be necessary to deal with these matters…

“The court below failed to adhere to some basic tenets, in particular that in exercising the judicial function judges are themselves constrained by the law… This…was unfortunately subverted by a failure to confine the judgment to the issues before the court; by deciding matters that were not germane or relevant; by creating new factual issues; by making gratuitous findings against persons who were not called upon to defend themselves; by failing to distinguish between allegation, fact and suspicion; and by transgressing the proper boundaries between judicial, executive and legislative functions…

“Even if, in the words of the learned judge, the judiciary forms a ‘secular priesthood’, this does not mean that it is entitled to pontificate or be judgemental especially about those who have not been called upon to defend themselves – as said, its function is to adjudicate the issues between the parties to the litigation and not extraneous issues…

“Dr Maduna’s supposed machinations around the Ngcuka decision were then extrapolated to cover Mr Mbeki and the whole cabinet…Once again, the ‘strategy’ involving Dr Maduna, Mr Mbeki and all the other members of Cabinet as well as the causal connection between the Ngcuka decision and Mr Mbeki and the Cabinet as found by the trial judge were not based on any evidence or allegation. They were instead part of the judge’s own conspiracy theory and not one advanced by Mr Zuma. “Further, the finding…that a non-party may have committed a criminal act where this was not alleged, where it was not in issue and without hearing that party, is incomprehensible…”

And finally:

“The legality of the Mpshe decision is the crux of this appeal. Unfortunately, the court below subjected Mr Mpshe to the same treatment that it had inflicted on others. It also used the newspaper report referred to above to make a similarly unfounded finding against Mr Mpshe. Having done this, the court went on to assume that Mr Mpshe complied with the supposed instructions of Mr Mbeki to prosecute Mr Zuma fearing that he, like Mr Pikoli, might be suspended or dismissed should he assert his prosecutorial independence. All this was gratuitous and not based on any evidence.”

After all this, including my ‘recall’ as President of the Republic, based on Nicholson’s completely unfounded comments about ‘political meddling’, in June 2015 Zwelinzima Vavi publicly apologised for “naively believing in (the) conspiracy theory” that “the charges (against Zuma) were being made up by Mbeki and his clique...The person who made me not to believe in that is the lawyers of the President who go to every court to try to block evidence that should prove that he was a victim of these shenanigans.”

 

Earlier, in 2014, Julius Malema had tendered a similar apology saying, “We are in a mess because we did not listen to the silent communication from President Mbeki…As this generation we owe it to many generations to come by ensuring that the mistake we committed in Polokwane in 2007 and in South Africa in 2009 is corrected… (We treated President Mbeki) “in a manner that was not correct…(because the ANC Youth League under my leadership) “was misled”.

He did not say who had misled the ANC Youth League and what had been said in this regard.

Neither has an explanation been offered as to why Judge Nicholson acted as he did on the matter of so the called ‘political meddling’. This was especially puzzling given that Nicholson was an experienced Judge with thirteen years of experience by 2008, having been appointed to the bench in 1995.

 

In my 22 September 2008 Address to the Nation announcing my resignation as President of the Republic, I said, “I would like to restate the position of Cabinet on the inferences made by the Honourable Judge Chris Nicholson that the President and Cabinet have interfered in the work the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Again I would like to state this categorically that we have never done this, and therefore never compromised the right of the National Prosecuting Authority to decide whom it wished to prosecute or not to prosecute. This applies equally to the painful matter relating to the court proceedings against the President of the ANC, Comrade Jacob Zuma.”

Earlier still, on June 14, 2005, the day I relieved him of his government responsibilities, our then Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, issued a Statement in which he said, among other things:

“President Thabo Mbeki has taken a decision regarding my presence in Government and Cabinet. It is the President's prerogative to take such a decision, in the context of, and within his authority as the President of the Republic. I accept and respect his pronouncement. I believe he has taken this decision not because he believes I am guilty of any crime, but because of considerations relating to the constraints within which government operates…

“I sincerely trust and hope that those authorised to take decisions - at whatever level - will act within a reasonable period with regard to the conclusion of this matter. I need to be given an opportunity to tell my side of the story, and bring finality to these accusations and speculations.

“All said and done, I believe that we should put national unity and the interests of our country and nation first - whatever views people may have about the President's decision and the Durban court judgment…Let me reiterate that all of us should put national unity and the national interest above everything, as we grapple with these difficult matters. Our freedom and democracy are more important than us as individuals.”

The defence of that freedom and democracy demanded, among others, that we should under no circumstances abuse state power to corrupt the criminal justice system to serve particular political purposes, a prescription we always respected - contrary to Judge Nicholson’s “incomprehensible” findings about ‘political meddling’ which never took place.

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Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African knowledge

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje 1876 - 1932

First name: 

Solomon

Last name: 

Plaatje

Date of birth: 

9 October 1876

Location of birth: 

Boshof district, Orange Free State

Date of death: 

19 June 1932

Location of death: 

Johannesburg, South AfricaSynopsis:

Teacher, court interpreter and clerk to the Mafeking administrator of Native Affairs, author, journalist, linguist, and first Secretary-General of the SANNC,  member of the SANNC deputation that travelled to London to appeal to the British Go

Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was born on 9 October 1876 in the Boshof district of the Orange Free State. His parents were Christians who belonged to the Setswana-speaking Barolong tribe. About the time he was born, his parents moved to the Pniel mission station of the Lutheran Berlin Mission Society, near Barkly West, and it was there that Plaatje received his only formal education, a few years in the elementary grades. He remained at Pniel for several years as an assistant teacher, studying further with the aid of the missionaries. In 1894 he went to Kimberley, where he found work as a postman, continued his private studies, and eventually distinguished himself on the civil service examinations. On the eve of the Boer War he was sent to Mafeking as an interpreter, and during the siege of Mafeking in 1899 - 1900 he acted as both court interpreter and clerk to the Mafeking administrator of Native affairs. He was proficient in at least eight languages, including German and Dutch, as well as English and all the major African vernaculars.
Advancement in the civil service being closed to him, Plaatje turned to journalism at the end of the war, and, with financial backing from Silas Molema, chief of the Barolong, he established the first Setswana-English weekly, Koranta ea Becoana (Newspaper of the Tswana) in 1901. This existed, under Plaatje's editorship, for six or seven years, after which he moved from Mafeking to Kimberley. There he established a new paper;Tsala ea Becoana, later renamed Tsala ea Batho (The Friend of the People). While producing these papers, Plaatje also contributed many articles to other papers, particularly to the Kimberley Diamond Fields Advertiser. When the South African Native National Congress (later called the African National Congress) was formed in 1912, Plaatje was chosen its first secretary-general. An articulate opponent of tribalism, he exemplified the new spirit of national unity among African intellectuals. (At a time when intertribal marriages were still uncommon, Plaatje had married a Fingo. His wife Elizabeth was a sister of H. I. Bud-Mbelle.)
The first major campaign of the SANNC was against the Land Act of 1913, a measure that drastically curtailed the right of Africans to own or occupy land throughout the Union. In 1914 Plaatje went to Britain as a member of the deputation charged with appealing to the British government against the Act. The mission proved futile, but Plaatje decided to stay behind after the departure of the rest of the deputation, and he remained in Britain until February 1917, when he returned to South Africa. During this time he lectured, worked as a language assistant at London University, and produced three books, including a detailed and moving appeal against the Land Act, Native Life in South Africa, Before and Since the European War and the Boer Rebellion (1916). The other two works, Sechuana-Proverbs, With Literal Translations and Their English Equiv­alents and A Sechuana Reader, written with Daniel Jones of London University, also appeared in 1916.
He is said to have attended the first pan-African conference in Paris in February 1919 and also the 1921 conference, but no evidence supports this. He did return to London in May 1919, a few months after the SANNC deputation to Versailles had left South Africa. Late in 1919 he took part in a meeting with British Prime Minister Lloyd George. In December 1920 he went to Canada and the United States, where he traveled widely. Meeting with leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he arranged for an American edition of his book. Native Life, to appear.
At the end of 1923 he returned to South Africa. He continued to write, and when Parliament was in session he traveled to Cape Town to cover the sessions and to lobby for African interests as a representative of the ANC. Influenced by his experiences in the United States, he became involved in the Joint Council movement. He also joined the African People's Organization of Abdul Abdurahman. He made a trip to the Congo to observe conditions there and was active in civic affairs in Kimberley. Although his relations with the ANC were sometimes uneasy, in December 1930 he accompanied an ANC deputation to the Native affairs department to register African complaints against the pass laws. He died of pneumonia while on a trip to Johannesburg on 19 June 1932.
In addition to the works already mentioned, his writings include a novel, Mhudi, An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred Years Ago (1930), The Mote and the Beam: An Epic on Sex-Relationship 'Twixt White and Black in British South Africa (1921), and translations of four Shakespeare plays into Setswana.
In 1972 his Mafeking diary, discovered in 1969 and edited by John L. Comaroff, was published under the title The Boer War Diary of Sol T. Plaatje: An African at Mafeking.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: John Tengo Jabavu (1859 - 1921)

John Tengo Jabavu (1859 - 1921)

The Order of Luthuli in Gold

Awarded to John Tengo Jabavu (1859 - 1921) for

His exceptional contribution to South African Journalism and his commitment to a non-sexist, non-racial and democratic South Africa

Profile of John Tengo Jabavu

Born in a relatively poor Methodist home on 11 January 1859 in Healdtown, Eastern Cape, John Tengo Jabavu grew up to become a staunch political activist and the editor of one of South Africa's first significant newspapers to be written in an indigenous language.

Between 1877 and 1881, Jabavu trained as a teacher in Somerset East and by the early 1880s was already showing some sharp political acumen. He began freelancing for different newspapers and became known for sparking political debates with his comments.

Realising his commitment to the development of his community, Reverend James Stewart of Lovedale invited Jabavu to become the editor of Isigidimi Sama Xhosa (The Xhosa Messenger) in
1881.

Jabavu made it clear that his intention was to 'educate the people to attain their rights under the Queen's sway'. He embarked on a mission to alert his fellow Africans to the new political reality of that time. Jabavu saw an enlightened mind, rational and principled, as a critical tool for the liberation and development of Africans. He did his utmost to ensure that Africans were exposed to conditions conducive to political and intellectual development.

An ardent reader, Jabavu was hugely motivated by Umshumayeli Wendaba, the first South African newspaper specifically intended for black readers, which was printed by the Wesleyan Mission Society from 1837 to 1841. 

This prompted him to want to start his own newspaper, which could be a platform for the interchange of ideas among readers regarding the future society for which they were all yearning.

At the tender age of 25, Jabavu established his own newspaper entitled Imvo Zabantsundu (Black Opinion) in 1884. Imvo Zabantsundu was built on the principles of love, peace and Christian justice. Upon taking up the editorship, Jabavu made it very clear that the newspaper would be a voice for black people.

Jabavu turned Imvo Zabantsundu into a forum of ideas for the Native Educational Association and Lovedale Literary Society intellectuals, boasting members such as Elijah Makiwane, Thomas Mapikela, Pambani Jeremiah Mzimba and Walter B Rabusana. 

All these interlocutors, writers and intellectuals were at the base of the pyramid of political ideas pertaining to how to bring about a just society. Jabavu's bare-knuckled fight against white minority rule through his newspaper often drew the attention of the Cape Parliament. Yet, this did not sway this champion of freedom from his course towards democracy and the upliftment of oppressed South Africans.

Jabavu travelled to London to fight the colour-bar clause in the Union Constitution and was invited to attend the Universal Races Congress in 1911.

He was totally committed to ensuring equal opportunities for Africans and played a pivotal role in the formation and inauguration of the South African Native College (University of Fort Hare) in 1916.

John Tengo Jabavu, a bold and pioneering intellectual, rose against the odds to contribute towards the development of African journalism and to the stirrings of black consciousness in South Africa.

As an astute journalist and editor, he dedicated his entire life to causes that promoted the rights of Africans. His newspaper became the voice of the voiceless and his political views helped to shape African political thinking.

Jabavu died in Fort Hare in 1921 and is remembered as one of the most influential Africans of the 19th century.

    

 SOURCE: The Presidency

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: John Langalibalele Dube 1871 - 1946

First name: 

John

Last name: 

Dube

Date of birth: 

11 February 1871

Location of birth: 

Inanda Mission station, Natal

Date of death: 

11 February 1946

Synopsis:

Educator, politician, author, minister of the Congregational (American Board) Church, founder member and first president of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC).

John Langalibalele Dube was born at Inanda Mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZM) in Natal on 11 February 1871 to James and Elizabeth Dube. ‘Langalibalele’, his middle name, means ‘bright sun’. Dube’s grandmother, Dalitha became the first convert of the Lindley Mission Station in Inanda, in the late 1840s. She wanted a clear separation from the traditional AmaQadi way of life. The Christian way of life was perceived and associated with ‘freedom, education and civilisation’. Consequently, James Dube (John Dube’s father) himself became a religious minister and became a leading figure in the Amakholwa (converts) section of the AmaQadi tribe.

Photograph of John Dube's father Reverend James Dube. Source, Ohlange Interpretation Centre.

Dube’s mother, Elizabeth, was from the Tshangase chiefdom and her traditional name was Namazi Shangase – she was given the name MaShangase after her children were born. Dube had seven siblings: Nomagugu (the first-born, a daughter), Victoria, Esther, Hleziphi, Africa (the first-born son), William and Thupana.
Rev James Dube (who died in 1877) was also one of the minor Zulu chiefs of the AmaQadi tribe and one of the first ministers ordained by the AZM. Thus, John Dube was born of royal lineage, and by right was a chief of the AmaQadi tribe. It was only because Dube’s father was converted to Christianity by the early missionaries that he did not rule over his AmaQadi people. There was conflict between the introduction of western education by the missionaries and the traditional African society’s way of life.
He spent his early schooling years at Adams School at the Inanda station, where his father James Dube served as a Congregational Minister. Missionaries played an important role in shaping the social and political scene in South Africa. The missionary influence was both positive and negative, and Dube stands out as a typical example of both influences. While mission education helped Dube develop a strong grasp of the English language, missionaries also attempted to culturally indoctrinate their indigenous subjects. This is evidenced by Dube’s generally critical view of his ‘native land’ later in his life.
While he was at school, on one occasion, Dube got into some trouble with other boys at his school, and the school’s Reverend Goodenough approached his colleague, William Wilcox, who was based at Inhambe, to come and have a talk to the boys. From this encounter, Dube and Wilcox developed a relationship.
Dube asked Wilcox if he could accompany him to Oberlin College on his return to the United States. Wilcox agreed, but warned Dube that he would have to earn money to pay for his education. Dube claimed to have saved some money while working as a miner, although it is believed that his mother gave Wilcox a total of thirty gold sovereigns to take Dube to the United States. This amount of money was however not sufficient to sustain Dube during his stay in the US. Consequently, Dube earned money doing outdoor labouring jobs, but after expressing his dissatisfaction, Wilcox introduced him to Mrs Frank H Foster, who used her connections in Oberlin to find more suitable work for the student.

Varushka Jardine (SAHO), Lulu Dube (centre) and Nasreen Khan (SAHO), Ohlange Institute Durban, 17 October 2011. © SAHO

During 1887 and 1888, Dube worked at the Oberlin College as a cleaner, and did odd jobs for the students. From 1888 to 1890, Dube enrolled at the Oberlin preparatory school to study the sciences, mathematics, classical Greek works, and a course in oratorical skills. Throughout this period, Dube experienced great difficulty maintaining a steady job while studying at the same time. Although Dube never received an official degree from Oberlin College, the skills, connections and worldly perspectives which he cultivated during these years laid the foundations for his later accomplishments.
Wilcox left Oberlin to take up the position of a pastor in New York, and invited Dube to visit him there. During this visit Dube assisted Wilcox in printing a pamphlet entitled Self support among the kaffirs. The pamphlet emphasised Wilcox’s belief that industrial education was the best way to uplift the native people of Africa. The concept had a profound influence on Dube, to the extent that it would result in the founding of the Ohlange Institute ten years later.
While in the US, Dube was given the opportunity to lecture while accompanying Wilcox on his lecture tour. He lectured from 1890 to 1892, delivering talks throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Dube succeeded in raising a sum of money which was later used to start a school in South Africa. During this time Dube published a book called A Familiar Talk Upon My Native Land and Some Things Found There. The work reflected the conflict Dube experienced as a mission-educated indigenous person struggling to find a balance between his traditional ethnic roots and Christian teachings. But the publication also reflected Dube’s motivation to produce literature and exhibited his writing skills, which would serve him well in leading indigenous people in articulating the battle for their rights.
A chronic illness forced Dube to return to South Africa in 1892, a year after Wilcox had returned to work at a mission station at Groutville. On his return, Dube taught at his former high school in Amanzimtoti, where he met Nokutela Mdima, who he later married. Again, Dube and Wilcox found themselves working together, but Dube became increasingly unhappy with the structure of traditional mission education. In 1894, Dube was encouraged by Wilcox and Nokutela to establish his own mission. This spurred him on to establish a small day school in Incawadi Village in the Umkhomazi Valley, where he taught English and mathematics. In an attempt to transform and Christianise the village, Dube built two churches between 1894 and 1896. Dube’s school differed from other missionary schools:  the learners were encouraged to read in their own language as well as to concentrate on practical aspects of the curriculum.
In 1897 Dube returned once more to the US for further training, this time accompanied by his wife. He enrolled at the Union Missionary Seminary in Brooklyn, in New York. In March 1899, Dube was ordained as a priest by the Congregational Church. During this visit Dube was profoundly influenced by Booker T Washington, whose ideas dominated Dube’s educational and political thoughts. Both Dube and Washington were inspired by the motto ‘learning and labour’, which Oberlin College had adopted. Both men were considered civil rights activists, educators and writers. Washington encouraged his students at Tuskegee to become self-reliant by teaching them skills such as printing, farming, shoemaking, and cooking, amongst others. This inspired Dube to develop a similar kind of initiative aimed at advancing the rights of Black people when he returned to South Africa. In August 1900 he established the Zulu Christian Industrial Institute which was renamed the Ohlange Institute in 1901. The institute functioned as a school where African children obtained education.
Perhaps, more importantly, on his return, Dube established links with like-minded leaders to form the Natal Native Congress (NNC) in July 1900. This was the beginning of his commitment to political action. The aim of the NNC was to find a way whereby black peoples’ feelings, aspirations, and grievances could be brought to the attention of the colonial government. The concerns of the NNC centred around the following issues:

• Unobstructed land ownership
• Education
• Parliamentary representation
• Free trade
• Freedom from enforced labour

The Congress became the main political organ of the Black people throughout the period that Natal remained a separate colony.  Through the NNC, Dube advocated equality and justice for all. He hoped to close the widening gap between the Whites and Blacks of South Africa. He played a leading role in Black resistance to the Union of South African states, from whose legislature Blacks were to be excluded.
The skills of editing and publishing that Dube developed, while working at a local printing firm in the US, were put to good use when he established the first indigenous Zulu newspaper, Ilanga Lase Natal. Officially launched in April 1903, Dube’s aim in establishing the newspaper was for it to be a mouth-piece for the black population, and to propagate the idea of a united African front.
Ilangaexpanded on Washingtonian ideas of self-sufficiency and self-segregation. Dube used his newspaper to expose injustices and evil deeds from all quarters and made black people aware of their rights and privileges. Initially the paper was printed by International Printing Press in Durban, but from October 1903 (the 25^th edition) it was printed at Ohlange itself.
Ilangawas financed from donations and funds which Dube received from associates and friends in the US. There was little evidence of any influence from the American Zulu Mission in the newspaper. Occasionally he would feature editorials and articles in English which were intended for the white settler community, the department of Native Affairs and the Natal Government. Dube hoped in this way to keep them connected to black opinion at the time. As time progressed, black people used the newspaper to criticise government policies. At one stage Dube was accused by the authorities for inciting resentment against the government.
Ilanga Lase Natalfocussed on issues pertaining to:

• Land controversies (including taxes and land ownership);
• Laws and acts, such as the poll tax;
• Reports such as those of the South African Native Affairs Commission;
• Political and social developments.

When Dube returned from the US in 1905 (after his third visit), tensions arose between him and the white missionaries. Ilanga lase Natal attacked the missionaries’ views on land allotment on the Reserves, the Mission Reserve rent, the social aloofness of missionaries and their lack of trust for the converts, inadequate selection of African officers and failure to defend African interests. By September 1906, Dube was calling for a meeting of the Transvaal, Cape and Natal congresses and ‘welcoming signs that tribal antagonisms are dying down as indications of progress’.
In 1906 the Bambatha Rebellion broke out. It was triggered largely by an introduction of new taxes, and also the encroachment of white settlers on land owned by Africans. Dube had followed the debate regarding the poll tax in Parliament and was extremely aggrieved that the government had not consulted with kholwa spokesmen or chiefs on the matter. He noted in his newspaper that the economic situation of Blacks would not allow them to pay the tax without considerable suffering. He argued that the tax was unfair as Blacks were not represented in Parliament.
Despite his opposition to the tax, Dube did not support the rebellion. He wanted to avoid violence at all costs and wanted the government to know that the kholwa would always remain loyal to the government and that they had no reason to rebel. In Dube’s own words: ‘the loyalty of the natives is beyond dispute’. He made it known that the kholwa still identified with the values of the White man and wished to be seen as equals to Whites.
However, Dube bitterly opposed the arrest and trial of Dinizulu in connection with the rebellion and actively assisted in raising funds for his defence. Dinizulu, son of the last Zulu king, was for Black people in South Africa the symbol of their former independence and their identity as a people. Dube, with his recollections of and pride in his African past, understood the significance of Dinizulu and his place in Zulu history. Dube publicised Dinizulu's arrest. The Natal government attempted to suppress Ilanga Lase Natal before and during the Bambatha Rebellion – the newspaper was the object of constant suspicion.
Dube tried to use his influence during the rebellion by visiting and talking to Zulu chiefs to get their people to keep the peace. Dube had no desire to end British rule and the spread of Christianity, and Bambatha represented the heathen way of life, something Dube had no desire to return to.
Another reason for Dube’s endorsement of the colonists’ reaction to Bambatha was based on the economic and the political status of Blacks throughout Natal. Some colonists saw the rebellion as an opportunity to grab the land of Blacks who supported Bambatha and ousting the people who lived on this land. Dube’s programme of self improvement rested upon the precondition that educated kholwa would be able to purchase land. Many of the influential kholwa openly endorsed the war and actively participated in the suppression of the rebels.
During the rebellion, the White press generated extreme hostility towards the Black population and exaggerated threats of terror. White authorities also became increasingly critical of the activities of the kholwa class and the missionaries who trained them. Dube defended the behaviour of the Black elite during the rebellion and refused to take responsibility for the violence.
Kholwa chief representatives distanced themselves from the disruptive activities of Bambatha. The rebellion had an direct effect on the Ohlange school as a number of students remained at home due to rumours of violence. Dube blamed the government for the conflict and argued in his newspaper that if the government halted the collection of the poll tax it would be seen as showing weak.
Dube also used the rebellion to encourage the kholwa community to collect funds to send representatives to Britain to demonstrate against the unfair poll tax, the pass laws and the oppressive compulsory labour system. This prompted Governor McCallum to demand a public apology from Dube.
In 1908 he resigned from the pastorate of Inanda. The tension between Dube on the one hand and the government and missionaries on the other subsided in 1907 but he was constantly warned that he was ‘playing with fire’. But in the columns ofIlanga and as part of many delegations of kholwa he protested and petitioned the government against proposed legislation.
Nevertheless, ideologically, Dube had accepted the missionary gospel. It could be argued that generally the impact of missionaries on African culture and value systems had been superficial in Africa, but for Dube and subsequent generations the ‘psychological conversion’, if not ‘psychological colonisation’, was near complete.
At the same time numerous meetings were held by Africans, Coloureds, and Indians to protest the whites-only nature of the constitutional discussions that took place from 1908 to 1909.  Dube was part of a delegation that left South Africa in 1909 to present a petition by Blacks to the English House of Commons in London against the Act of Union of 1909, but the deputation was unsuccessful. These activities culminated in a South African Native Convention in March 1909, where delegates called for a constitution giving ‘full and equal rights’ for all Blacks, Coloureds, and Indians.
Political agitation against the Natives Land Act continued, and preliminary drafts of the Act were debated in 1911. Not long after, several hundred members of South Africa's educated African elite met at Bloemfontein on January 8, 1912, to establish the South African Native National Congress (renamed the African National Congress in 1923). In 1912, Dubeaccepted the Presidency of the ANC in spite of the pressures put on him by his preoccupation with education. In 1912 Dube addressed a group of Africans in Zululand to explain the new movement (the ANC) and appeal for unity.
The SANNC had a newspaper called Abantu-Batho from 1912 to 1933, which carried columns in English, isiZulu, Sesotho, and isiXhosa. It became the most widely read South African paper at the time. During this time Dube advocated a need for the congress to work closely with the Coloured people and succeeded in his attempts to get representatives of the congress to meet at least once a year with the African Political Organisation (APO), under the leadership of Dr Abdullah Abdurahman. Dube also urged unity amongst the black population through the affiliation to the congress and the removal of provincial bodies, which functioned as separate entities.
Dube was instrumental in improving the status of black women, especially those involved in the domestic work sector, and acted as a mediator in women’s dealings with the Department of Native Affairs.
In 1913 the Natives Land Act affected every strata of African rural society, which spurred the SANNC. In 1914 Dube was one of the delegates in London to protest against this legislation, but this delegation caused some controversy within the SANNC. It was believed that Dube had made some compromises on the principle of segregation. The bone of contention within the SANNC was the Land Act, and Dube was ousted from the presidency of the SANNC in 1917 and was succeeded by Sefako Mapogo Makgatho.From this time onwards Dube concentrated his activities in Natal.
In the 1920s, like some of his generation (and the strata of mission-educated Africans) he became involved in a series of liberal attempts to establish ‘racial harmony’ between Blacks and Whites, such as the Smuts Native Conferences established under the 1920 Act (which Dube quit in 1926 on the grounds that they were powerless), the Joint Councils and many missionary conferences. In 1926 he was one of the South African delegates to an international conference at Le Zoute in Belgium, a visit he also used to raise funds for Ohlange. He was involved in replacingJosiah Tshangana Gumede,who was considered left-wing, with Pixley ka Seme as president of the ANC in 1930, and in 1935 Dube became a member of the All African Convention. He represented Natal on the Native Representative Council from 1936 until his death, in 1946, when he was replaced by Chief Albert Luthuli on the Council.
One of Dube's controversial episodes came in 1930 when he openly considered supporting Hertzog's bills in the hope that they might provide some additional funds for development. It should be remembered that Dube was ousted from the presidency of the ANC in 1917 for his apparent acceptance of the principle - if not the contemporary practice - of segregation. Dube forged an alliance with the segregationist, Heaton Nicholls, and he toured the country soliciting the support of African leaders in Johannesburg, Kimberly, Bloemfontein and the Eastern Cape for a bill on Land Settlement promoted by Nicholls. This provided for the allocation of seven million morgen of land, to be added to the already scheduled areas, and the provision of adequate funds. The problem was that, like Hertzog's proposals, Heaton Nicholls coupled his land schemes with an attempt to end the franchise of the Cape Africans. This scheme also envisaged the representation of Africans in the senate but this never materialised.
However, this did not discredit Dube. In 1935 he was elected to the Executive of the All African Convention. He became disenchanted with the government’s schemes. At a meeting of the Natal Debating Society in 1935 he launched a sharp attack on the government's policies, which Jabavu printed as a pamphlet: Criticisms of the Native Bills. In it Dube expounded his nationalism and his rejection of African inequality and his belief in the principle of African representation. In 1935 a 50% share of ILanga laseNatal the paper was bought up by Bantu Press and Dube’s control of the paper waned.
By 1935, Dube founded the Natal Bantu Teachers' Association, today known as the Natal African Teachers' Union (NATU) for professional Black teachers. He still remained active particularly in the in 1940s after Albert Xuma persuaded him to participate in the movement nationally, but with limited success.
Dube was successful in his endeavours in contributing to the political and socio-economic development of Blacks in Natal. He fought against the injustices against Black people and tried to gain a sense of equity through his lifetime. On 11 February 1946, Dube passed away. Vil-Nkomo summed up his life when he wrote in Umteleli wa Bantu on February 26 1946 that Dube: "has revealed to the world at large that it is not quite true to say that the African is incompetent as far as achievement is concerned". To commemorate Dube’s achievements, the school held a special 'Mafukuzela Day’ in 1950. In time, this became 'Mafukuzela Week', with figures such as the Zulu king in attendance.
Publications by John L Dube

• Dube first published an essay in 1910, in English on self-improvement and public decency. The work that was to earn Dube the honorary doctorate of philosophy was the essay Umuntu Isita Sake Uqobo Lwake (A man is his own worst enemy) (1992).
• He went on to publish a historical novel that has proven to be popular and influential in the Zulu canon, titled Insila kaShaka(Shaka's Body Servant) (1930). Insila ka Tshaka was translated into English as Jeqe, the Bodyservant of King Tshaka
• Dube also embarked on writing biographies of the Zulu royal family, especially that of King Dinizulu, making him the first biographer in African literature.
• There are numerous other works of less significant literary quality such as the essay Ukuziphatha [On Behaviour] (1910).
• Isitha somuntu nguye uqobo Iwakhe(1922; The Black Man Is His Own Worst Enemy)