Tribute

The Veterans League of the African National Congress dips its banner in tribute to Cde Sunny Singh, a revolutionary, a warrior, and an exceptional person.

I always thought Bobby was his real name, until we came home in 1990 and everyone was calling him Sunny!  But I knew his surname was Singh because he used to tell me the Singhs, his ancestors, were warriors!  

I am going to talk about his time in Maputo because not only was that period of the late 70s and early 80s a crucial time for the movement, but it was where he was based for nearly 9 years – in the same house – the Internal House in Maputo Mozambique – the home of the Internal Political Reconstruction machinery.

After the Morogoro Conference in 1969, the ANC leadership recognized that the ANC was in a crisis.  They saw that the membership was losing confidence in them, since little progress was being made and comrades were not being successfully returned home as trained guerillas.  

There was dissatisfaction and grumblings, and the dreaded possibility of the organization splitting, of collapsing, was rearing its head.  The organization was losing direction.  The ANC was in a serious crisis.

Led by OR, the leadership went to Vietnam to consult the Vietnamese leadership.  Arising from that engagement a new strategy was drawn up and captured in what was called the Green Book which in essence outlined the concept of the 4 pillars of struggle:  mass struggle, the underground, armed activity and international work.  This resulted in the ANC having to turn itself upside down.  Mass struggle supported by armed activity would destroy the apartheid regime.  The leadership in exile at the time, had the courage to implement the new strategy.

The Internal Political Reconstruction Department was created falling directly under the Revolutionary Council.  

What was Internal Political Reconstruction?  It was what it was called – the reconstruction of ANC political structures inside the country.  Since the ANC was banned and forbidden to operate in SA we were forced to operate underground.  The structures therefore had to be created underground.  

Countries neighboring South Africa were identified as “forward areas”and were used as external bases from which to work.      However, the countries were very different from each other and there was little uniformity.   They also had different relations with the ANC.   Thus, the comrades working in the “machineries” (both military and political), operating in the forward areas had to adapt to each specific environment in order to survive.  How one operated in Swaziland was different to how comrades could operate in Botswana and so forth.  Common to all however was the constant danger from the SA security forces, and we suffered many many casualties.  

When Frelimo came to power, the close relations they had with the ANC in exile continued, and unlike many other countries they gave the ANC lots of space.  They made it clear that until South Africa was liberated, Mozambique would never be free.  Whilst Frelimo allowed us to operate relatively freely they also didn’t probe too deeply into what we were doing.  So, unlike the other “forward areas”, working in Mozambique was relatively relaxed and it wasn’t too difficult to operate there.  Bobby and I, on many occasions, drove up to the border town of Namacha, to collect comrades who had crossed into Mozambique illegally, for training, de-briefing and briefing.  When we were stopped at a policeroad block, and we said we were ANC, they immediately let us through.

However, setting up underground structures inside South Africa was highly sensitive and had to be kept secret.  So, even in Mozambiquesecrecy and discretion were necessary.  In addition, the apartheid regime tried very hard to infiltrate our structures, so the caliber of the comrades based in the forward areas, had to be very high.  Trust and integrity are key components of underground work.

I have given this broad brush stroke to understand how Bobby, arriving in a foreign country, not speaking Portuguese, managed with all this?  Well, he managed just fine.  Of course, having come from the great political school of Robben Island, he was quick to grasp the importance of underground political structures to lead the struggle inside SA.  The ultimate goal was to return the leadership into the country.   Underground structures had to be set up inside the country to initiate and support mass political activity, which in turn, would be supported by armed activity.  Bobby internalized the slogan which described it best:  between the anvil of mass struggle and the hammer of the armed struggle, we will destroy the apartheid regime.  

It sounds simple doesn’t it.  But it was highly complicated and very difficult.  Comrades coming out of the country had to be crossed illegally into Mozambique, security screened, trained both political and militarily,if possible, housed, fed, clothed and transported – without anyone knowing.    
Nothing glamorous.  Just hard work.  

And Bobby set about this in a way that was quite extraordinary.  He built a network, an infrastructure in Maputo, secretly.  This network providedsecret accommodation for cadres, and other supporting infrastructure.  But most of all he made contacts.  From comrades in the Soviet Embassy, the Cuban Embassy and comrades from the GDR Embassy, to Dutch, and Italian co-operantes based in Mozambique who had responded to Frelimo’s call for help to support the new government.  For Bobby, this was what international solidarity was all about.  And he did all this with that fabulous sense of humour of his, always looking on the bright side, but always critical and outspoken.

He was extraordinary in another way too.  The ANC in Maputo was an interesting mix of comrades.  Heading the administration were two senior comrades who were very strict about dispensing money and adhered to proper administrative procedures.  At the same time, heading the military machineries were senior commanders of MK impatient to go and fight.  Then there were the cadres of the machineries, nearly all of them MK trained, poised to be sent back into the country to operate underground.  Then there was the huge influx of students coming to join MK.  Thestudents were influenced and politicized through Black Consciousness butjoined the ANC to fight.  And lastly there were South Africans who were in Mozambique because they had personal links with Mozambicans like marriage etc.   They also provided support.  Bobby traversed these generations with ease, paying equal respect to all.  This was an unusual quality, reflecting a high level of political maturity.  His warmth and love of telling jokes and funny stories made him accessible to all.  

Bobby internalized the basic foundational principles of the ANC as expressed in the Freedom Charter, of unity, of non-racism and equality of all.  He encompassed all that in his very person.

Bobby loved the ANC, its politics, its leadership and the goals to which we aspired.  At the same time, like most ANC cadres, he was often angry with the movement and frustrated by the difficulties we faced in setting up structures in dangerous conditions.  But his commitment remained till the end.  

He was vocal and extremely worried and concerned about where we are at today and many of us share that concern.

Bobby, may your beautiful revolutionary spirit rest in peace.

A luta continua!