The ICU

Black people live and work in very poor conditions in South Africa. They have always protested and resisted this. But at the beginning of this century, these protests were limited to a few groups of workers at any one time. There was no organisation for black workers. Then, soon after the First World War ended, a new movement appeared. It spread through the land like a veld fire. The people began to talk of their liberation, their new leaders and their organisation - the Industrial and Commercial Union (the I.C.U.). As a farm labourer from Standerton said: "Man we thought we were getting our country back through Kadalie"