Albert Nzula (190517 January 1934) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. Nzula was the first black

secretary general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Communist Party of South Africa. His home town, Rouxville, honoured him by opening a library named after him.

Early life

Nzula was born in Rouxville in the

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

(currently known as Free State province) in 1905. He was born of an ethnic Nguni background but his family was brought up in a Sotho culture. He was a student at the Bensonvale Institution in Herschel before completing his education at Lovedale, where he qualified as a teacher. After graduation he moved to

Aliwal North Maletswai (previously Aliwal North) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was b ...

, where his political career resumed.

Political career

He became secretary of a local branch of the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) in

. He moved to

Evaton Evaton is a township north of Sebokeng, that's divided into three; Evaton Central, Evaton West (popularly known as "Mkhelele") and Evaton North, in the Emfuleni Local Municipality of Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1904. Like other ...

and taught at Wilberfoce. During his stay there, he joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), now known as the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

(SACP) in August 1928. Due to Douglas Wolton's and others such as Sidney Bunting (lawyer, labour leader and founding member and leader of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) in 1921) and Edward Roux's (founder member of the Young Communist League, member of the CPSA, editor of Umsebenzi, the Communist Party weekly, later a member of the Liberal Party) Africanisation of the Communist Party of South African by recruiting Black leaders from the workplace, Nzula rose through the ranks and became Secretary-General by 1929. Nzula was so impressed with Wolton that he travelled to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

to pick up books and literature at the party's headquarters. He would later be reprimanded for reading such works after being reported to an Afrikaner school inspector. The same inspector would fail his pupils during an examination, a situation that Nzula soon appealed and they reset their exams. He later resigned and joined the Communist Party as a full-time worker. At the CPSA’s party conference in 1929, Nzula was elected assistant secretary. He soon took over as acting editor of the party paper “The South African Worker”. He was described by Edwin Thabo Mofutsanyana (also served as the general-secretary of the CPSA), as an excellent propagandist and agitator during public speaking. Walton and Nzula would clash when it came to the discussion of a "Native Republic". In 1929, Nzula became joint secretary with Edward Roux of the African Rights (a short lived communist initiated organisation aimed in part at eclipsing the more conservative

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

). Nzula was also a member of the ANC and he supported

Josiah Tshangana Gumede Josiah Tshangana Gumede (also J.T. Gumede) (9 October 1867 – 6 November 1946) was a South African politician and father of Archie Gumede. He was born in Healdtown village, Fort Beaufort in the present-day Eastern Cape. In all probability, h ...

to make the organisation more radical in their approach against discriminatory laws. In 1930, he was shifted from CPSA Secretary to run the Federation of Non-European Trade Unions (formed due to the fact that black workers were excluded from joining other unions in

). That year (1930), Nzula was the chairman at the All-in-conference held at the Trades Hall in

to launch a campaign to fight repressive legislations introduced in parliament by the then Justice Minister

Oswald Pirow Oswald Pirow, QC (14 August 1890 – 11 October 1959) was a South African lawyer and far-right politician who held office as minister of justice, and later minister of defence for the National and United Party, respectively. Pirow eventual ...

. He also attended the International Conference of Negro Workers’ in July 1930 where he represented

. This conference was held in Hamburg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. This Conference called for complete independence for all colonies and the recognition of the right of self-determination for all nations. Nzula organised a mass meeting for unemployed Africans and he led them on a massive demonstration on 1 May 1931, which merged into one huge procession with white workers. At the anti-pass conference held at the Inchcape Hall in

, Nzula was once again the chairman. This conference resolved to work towards a mass burning of passes. This led to a demonstration by thousands on 16 December 1933 where passes were burned.

Nzula in the Soviet Union

Wolton nominated Nzula and Moses Kotane, due to their grasp of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and leadership potential, to travel to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for further schooling and education. He was smuggled out of

as a member of a singing group off to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to make records. There he was assisted by the British Communist Party to reach Moscow. He remained in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to work for the Communist International as a writer on the organ The Negro Worker. While in

, he was employed doing research at the Profintern Trade Union headquarters with Soviet scholars II Potekhin and AZ Zusmanovich, collaborating on a book called ''Forced Labour'' concerning African labour conditions. His pen name was Tom Jackson. He was also involved in translation work for ''Zulu Tales'' from Zulu for the author Igor Snegirev which would be published in 1937. He is described by the SACP as:

Death

Nzula suffered from alcoholism and this led to loose talk. He became disillusioned with the Soviet system, with his views being expressed while drunk, expressing

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

views while expressing anti-Stalinist sentiments. He was brought before officials of the International Committee of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

for disciplinary measures. It was decided that he could not return to

, for fear that his views would contaminate the minds of the members in that country with Trotskyist ideas. A compromise was suggested with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

seen as a place he could be rehabilitated. Nzula accepted this alternative but before he could leave he died. Nzula died on 17 January 1934 as a result of inflammation of lungs – lobar pneumonia – which he contracted having overdosed on alcohol and fallen asleep outdoor in sub-zero temperatures. He was cremated and his funeral held in Moscow. A hospital has been named in his honour in Trompsburg, which was opened on 15 June 2017.

Books by Albert Nzula

* A.T. Nzula, I.I. Potekhin and A.Z. Zusmanovich, ''Forced Labour in Colonial Africa'', edited Robin Cohen, translated by Hugh Jenkins (London, 1979)

References

Sources cited

External links

*https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/negro-worker/ *https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/edward-eddie-roux *https://web.archive.org/web/20160506172520/http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=2286 *https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/albert-nzula-dies-moscow {{DEFAULTSORT:Nzula, Albert 1905 births 1934 deaths People from Mohokare Local Municipality Members of the South African Communist Party South African anti-apartheid activists South African activists South African expatriates in the Soviet Union