Listening to the silent majority

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[75]

For some time I had debated the question of whether Willie Ramoshaba's division of blacks into two groups - those within and those without the system - should be extended to include a grey area in between. For instance, I had classified Tom Boya in Group II, but then as President of UMSA he could easily qualify for Group I as well. More clarity in this matter brought a visit to the doyen of black lawyers, Mr Godfrey Mokgonana Pitje (72) in his office in Abbey House in downtown Johannesburg. Mr Pitje is also a founding member of the Black Lawyers' Association. This group issues the African Law Review,^53. a quarterly meeting the highest standards for a publication of its kind anywhere in the world. Actually, solicitor Pitje is considered the oldest-practising black attorney in South Africa. He has been described as ‘a vital cog in the liberation struggle’.^54. He is widely considered by blacks as a true symbol of unity in the black legal fraternity. In the early fifties he consulted the only firm of black attorneys in the country, run by Nelson Mandela and Charles Tambo. It was Tambo who suggested to Pitje that he join their firm as an articled clerk. In 1957, GM Pitje received his Law diploma. He joined the Mandela-Tambo law firm, but refrained for tactical reasons from political activities, so that he remained free to travel to areas where his law partners were not allowed to go any more. Mandela and Tambo's movements were then already restricted by existing security laws. Meanwhile the legal practice of these gentlemen was thriving. They were at the time already regarded by blacks as ANC lawyers.

So, more than 30 years later, I was sitting across his desk, face to face with this genuine black patriot. I happened to mention Willie Ramoshaba's catagorization of blacks into groups I and II. ‘That, Mr Oltmans,’ said attorney Pitje, ‘is a very very difficult line to draw. Loosely speaking, Ramoshaba is right, in any case, if you use a layman's loose language. The difficulty is, however, where to draw the line as to those who are to some extent operating within the apartheid system, while at the same time they could be easily grouped with blacks that place themselves outside the system. If you follow that division strictly, Ramoshaba

53. See African Law Review, Bumper issue, 1988, 40 pages

54. City Press, by ZB Molefe, May 7, 1989

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would also fall under the system and Group I.’ ‘Like Tom Boya,’ I replied, ‘because in a way, he functions effectively within the system, with one leg, while if one listens carefully to him, his other leg stands firmly outside the system.’ ‘That's right,’ replied Pitje; ‘like me, I am in the system in two senses. I am also practising Law, so I am part of the system. In the meantime, I do wholeheartedly object to the apartheid system. Actually, we all are in that ambivalent position. The other day, I read an article in The Sowetan about the African middle-class. The writer was lumping all of us into the other camp; I mean, of those who operate within the system. The black middle-class was described as people enjoying big cars and big houses with middle-class black children at expensive multi-racial schools.’

I happened to mention John Mavuso, at which moment attorney Pitje asked that the tape recorder be turned off. The remarks that followed, and were not recorded, had a Buthelezian touch of disapproval for the role of Mavuso, which saddened and dismayed me. Thus, I brought up the deep cleavages in black opinion in this late hour of the struggle for liberation. Pitje: ‘I think you must look at black disunity in South Africa against the background of government policy. If Pretoria's policies were to be removed, then black unity will be restored. Go back to the days of Chief Uthuli being President. He was recognized as the national leader. There were no divisions among blacks. He was the man, irrespective of Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, you name it. They all looked upon him as their leader.’

I pointed out, with due respect, that what attorney Pitje was saying hardly corresponded with recent African history. After all, in all developing lands that were liberated from European colonialism and imperialism, the indigenous peoples lost no time getting at each other's throats. ‘It is our view,’ said attorney Pitje, ‘that after liberation from apartheid it would not happen here. Presently divisions are being encouraged by the government. We may be wrong, but we firmly believe that if Nelson Mandela came out of jail to lead us, he would lead all South Africans, irrespective of their ethnic affiliations. All the homeland leaders have also said, as far as I can remember, that Mandela is our leader.’ ‘And you have known him personally for many years,’ I said. Pitje: ‘That's right. And even Desmond Tutu, who seems to be the man of the moment, has said, ‘I am a leader by default. Our leader is Mandela.’ On our side there is unanimity, but the government is saying,

[p. 97]

‘Mandela is a Xhosa, he can't rule over Buthelezi, he can't rule over Venda, you name it.’ ‘But isn't what you are saying not understood in Pretoria?’ I asked. ‘It is. They know that Mandela could be our leader, but it suits them to keep us apart.’