Isaac Bangani Tabata OLG (1909-1990), also known as "I.B" or "Tabby", was a South African political activist, author and orator. A Marxist in the

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 ...

tradition, he was central to the Non-European Unity Movement from its inception in 1943, as well as in the African Peoples' Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA) formed 1961. He is notable for his innovative analyses, theoretical work and lifelong commitment to the movement. Tabata was married to Jane Gool, a major political activist.

Early years and the Workers Party of South Africa

Isaac Bangani Tabata was born on 10 June 1909 at Bailey, near Queenstown in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. He attended his secondary schooling at the mission school of Lovedale, whose other notable alumni include

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...

, Ellen Kuzwayo,

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the younger son of Ch ...

and

Charles Nqakula Charles Nqakula (born 13 September 1942) is a South African politician who served as Minister of Defence from September 2008 to 2009. He also served as Minister for Safety and Security from May 2002 to September 2008. Nqakula is married to th ...

. He continued his studies in the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

, and then, from 1931, worked in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

to seek employment. He found work as a truck driver and soon joined the racially diverse Lorry Drivers' Union, where he served as a member of the executive body. It was when he joined the Cape African Voters Association that he was exposed to

Marxist 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 conflic ...

and other radical literature. He was a founding member of the

Workers Party of South Africa (WPSA) in 1935, and joined the

All African Convention All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and profe ...

(AAC) formed the same year, holding office in its executive body. Along with Jane Gool (later his wife) and her brother Dr Goolam Gool, Tabata played a significant role in the AAC's campaign against and analysis of the 1935 Land Act and moves towards the removal of the qualified franchise for

Coloureds Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

and Africans in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

. When the ANC withdrew from the AAC, Tabata worked building the AAC into a new national coalition. Tabata was also one of the founders of the Anti-Coloured Affairs Department Group (Anti-C.A.D).

The Unity Movement

Tabata was a founder member of in the

Non-European Unity Movement The Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) was a Trotskyist organisation formed in South Africa in 1943. It had links to the Workers Party of South Africa (WPSA), the first countrywide Trotskyist organisation, and was initially conceived as a broad ...

(NEUM) from its inception in 1943, which brought together the AAC and other bodies into a new national structure. The WPSA had gone underground in 1939, and focused much of its energies on the NEUM. From 1943, Tabata was a leading figure in both the NEUM and the AAC. Tabata's first book, the ''Awakening of a People'' in 1950, examined the political struggle in South Africa and argued the case for the NEUM. Tabata was critical of the

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 ...

(ANC) and 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), which were the dominant political movements of the time, arguing for a peasant-based struggle. He also argued for complete non-collaboration with the apartheid regime and its allies. He also stressed the importance of a long-term strategy of political education. Tabata often travelled between Cape Town and the rural

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River,

he river The He River is a tributary of the Xi River in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it ...

Kei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

, distributing and publishing the NEUM program, and helping build a significant NEUM network in

Pondoland Pondoland or Mpondoland (Mpondo: ''EmaMpondweni''), is a natural region on the South African shores of the Indian Ocean. It is located in the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape province. Its territory is the former Mpondo Kingdom of the Mpondo peopl ...

. He focused on attacking government 'rehablitation' programmes that aimed at limiting African farmers' livestock in the overcrowded African reserves. The

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

version of the NEUM text, ''The Rehabilitation Scheme: A New Fraud'', was widely circulated and Tabata was involved in Transkei resistance to the rehabilitation schemes. Such activities led to his arrest in

Mount Ayliff Mount Ayliff, officially eMaxesibeni, is a small town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, near that province's border with KwaZulu-Natal. Mount Ayliff is located in the Umzimvubu Local Municipality, which is part of the Alfred Nzo Dis ...

in 1948. The arguments for peasant-based struggle and for boycotts were developed further by Tabata in a new pamphlet "Boycott as a Weapon of Struggle" in 1952, published at the same time as the ANC and the (now-underground) SACP started the

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in December 1951 in South Africa, 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conferenc ...

of mass civil disobedience. During this time, he wrote ''Education for Barbarism'', which criticised the Bantu Education system. In 1956, the state banned Tabata from public political activity, and confined him to Cape Town, for a period of five years, and the Suppression of Communism Act also led to the suppression of his writings. However, his work bore fruit, as the NEUM played a role in the 1950-1961 Pondoland revolt. The

split in 1957, and Tabata helped found the African Peoples' Democratic Union of Southern Africa group in 1961, as soon as his banning order ended, followed by the Unity Movement of South Africa (UMSA) in 1964. Tabata would remain a key leader of both UMSA and APDUSA for the rest of his life. Tabata fled into exile in 1963, initially to

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

and then to Zambia. He also lived in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, where he died on 13 October 1990. In exile, Tabata did speaking tours of the

United States of America 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 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

in 1965 and 1970, addressed the Organisation of the African Union (OAU) and submitting various memoranda, and also addressed the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Special Committee on Apartheid in 1971.

Writings

Tabata wrote extensively for nearly fifty years: besides texts noted earlier, other notable and widely-read works by Tabata include ''Birth of a Nation '', the ''Imperialist Conspiracy in Africa'', ''Letter to Mandela'', ''On The Agrarian Problem'', ''Apartheid Cosmetics Exposed'', ''The PAC Venture in Perspective"''. Most of these are now online.

Legacy

Tabata played a major role in the formation of the Unity Movement tradition, which was until the 1970s the largest Trotskyist current in southern Africa. Both the African Peoples' Democratic Union of Southern Africa / Unity Movement of South Africa (UMSA) and New Unity Movement trends continue to hold Tabata in high esteem. For the former, he was 'a giant in intellect, an indefatigable and revolutionary politician, an outstanding orator and a skilled, analytical writer' who left a 'tremendous legacy'. For the latter, he was an extraordinary 'theoretician, writer, orator, organiser', and 'a Marxist of the highest calibre'

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

, who then occupied the presidency of the

Republic of 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 ...

, awarded Tabata the Order of Lethuli in gold for "exceptional contribution to the founding of organisations which forged unity among the oppressed across race and class boundaries".

References

External links