Shane Moran - Alternation Journal

as L,a Gu~iia hirnself later realises, lies in the development of a 'PI-oletariarl class
consciousness' amongst workers themselves. The Marxist-Leninist underpinnings of
1,a Guma's politics is clear h-om the following account of his relationship with fellow
workers:
indignity as second class people in their own Motherland. 1 could do tnorc
nryself('Arnolcl Admis' 1971:h I).
One may, of course, argue that, given his home background, it was inevitable
at La Gu~na should join the Communist Party. La Guma himself indicates that his
At l~~~icli tinic I found myselftalking to the\vorkers. I seemed to have become
mily background had a great deal to do with this move: 'perhaps I was influenced
a great lalker. I talked about lots of things, I retne~nber. International news,
ithin the circle of our family---certainly that had something to do with it' ('Gala'
South African politics. Ihc colour-bar. Some oftlie workers viewed me with
825 1). 'On the other hand', La Guma continues to point out, 'there were [other]
curiosity. They asked nie wlretlier 1 was a communist. Certainly 1 was a
endeiit experiences which made me as an individual more and more aware of the
ti?ciiiber of the trade union. Was I a communist? 1 111ust have been telling
them Llrings. explaining siluations. in tlie manner of a coni~nunist (.Arnold
sity to change the face of our country' ('Aimo1d Adams' 197 1 :57). Some of the
Adams' 197 1 :GO).
lvations for joining the Communist Party which La Gutna cites include the
palling conditions of life under which the predominantly working class coinmuiiity
L,a Guma here was (perhaps subconsciously) not only identifying the 'proletariat as a District Six lived; his ow11 reading ofworking class literature which sensitized him to
redeemel-' of its own situation within the capitalist system but also instilling in the e plight of the workers in other parts of the world as well as the potential revolutionary
workers a self-consciousness that Lukacs identifies as the fil-st step towards
that could result in workers changing their situation; his experiences as a worker
overcomingreification (see Zitta 1964: 1759.
ch provided him with a first hand practical encounter with the conditions of the
As a member of the trade union committee at the Metal Box Company, La
king class in his own country; lastly, the working class inte~nationalism
Guma was in the forefront in the organisation of a strike for better wages and better ernonstrated by the Party during the war when it interpreted fascism as a threat to the
working conditions. He recalls 'a somewhat juvenile talk [he] gave on the meaning of orking class all over the world and gave its full backing to the soviet ~nion"'. Having
class struggle' during the course of the strike ('Gala' 1982:51). As a result of his ned the Young Co~n~nunist League, La Guina began getting some lectures from his
involvement in this strike action, La Guma lost his job. Although La Gums later her 'on the honour and importance of being known as a Communist' (La Guma
'realised' that the situation was 'much more complicated' than he saw it (La Guina 93: 168). Joining the Young Co~nmuilist League (YCL) also provided La Guma with
1954:7 I), this experience was, nonetheless, significant in his development. After his e opportunity to delve deep into the theories of Marxist-Leninism. La Guma tells how
dis~riissal from the Metal Box Company, La Gums found work in the art department of
members of the YCL they 'read Lenin's works and debated youthfully and
Caltex Oil Conipany in Cape Tolvn. Rlariche La Gutna, his wife, tells us that it was rvently'. Two years after La Gulna had joined the CPSA, however, the 01-ganisation
while La Gulna was working for Caltex that 'he took a correspondence course in ad to disband, pre-empting the banning of the Party by the government. The
journalism which was to serve him well in tlie future' (La Guma 1991:7\. It was also ationalist government, nonetheless, declared it an illegal organisation in 1950 and La
while hc was working at Caltex that La Guma started recruiti~~g inembers for the
Communist Party and, interestingly, this (apparently spontaneous) recruitment drive
preceded La Guma's official rnernbership of the party. The young La Gulna finally
joined the Young Comniunist League in 1947 and became a member of District 20 of even before the Soviet Union became involved in the war.
the Communist Party by 1948: ief that the war was only the concern of the inipcrialists.
orse this initial party position. According lo Ales la
One cia)/ I ~.ealised that \\ llile 1 liad been encouraging ~ny lllales to take more cond World War was an antifascist war being \vaged
interest in tliosc things \~.liicll \yere keeping them in tllat position of t Hitler alrd Mussoli~li who were not only 'iniplementing inrperialist ambitions. but were
urope and its vanguard'. 'Internationalism deniandcd tliat
ed' concluded Jarnes IaGuina (L.aGulua 'A biograpliy' n.t1.:67).
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his father had a bearing on La Guma's interest (at ~lic age of
cll as on his consciousness about tllc need for international
tllc inli~~eiliacy of his csistei-rce' (1.ukics 1971 :165: see nlso.lolinson 1984). I,ukbcs (197 1: 172) olidarity \vitIl the working class: 'Nazism was overrunning Europe. I knew ahout tile stupid
goi:s oil to point out: 'tile process by ivllich llic \vorltcr is rciticd and beco~ircs a commodity ysteln that turned rn), ow11 people into strangel-s in their country. LVc were co~itinually rcniintlcd
tlcliuninnises hitn and cripples arid atropliies his "soul"--as long :is he tloes not consciously rebel at wc "Non-Europcalis Only": in Europe tiicy Tvcrc l~~ltchcring Jel-rs aiid gypsies. and
against ili. It is iinpol-tant to note 1x1-c tlixt Lukkcs latcr renounced this .messianic' role ;Ieeordcii itlcr us "subli~imaiis". We wcrc all one, because we \verc all being persecuteti. nild lliey
Ll?c pi-oIt.lnl-iat as ;I \\.;I!. oicoii~itig to tci-111s \vitli Lcr~inist tlico~y (scc L~ik;l~~'~
1 967 pl-elkce to ght tlicNazis. but \vhcn 1 leit homc io join tlic armed hi-ccs
I ~ I ~ I ~ ~ - ~ ~ L I I (,~ii~~.s~ioi~.s~~e,r,s:No~~ack
~ L I ~ I L I S S 1978: 1201': Jones 1977:501'). el-\vciglit and too skinny' ('Arnold Adanis' 1971 -59).