Yusuf Dadoo - Return To South Africa and Revitalisation of The Struggle

Return To South Africa and Revitalisation of The Struggle

Shortly after his return home, Yusuf bought a house and set up a medical practice in Doornfontein, Johannesburg. He soon became involved with the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), an organisation that had been involved with the earlier Gandhian protests, but found it to be dominated by the interests of wealthier Indians over the working class, and by moderates reluctant to engage in passive resistance against the government. In 1938, Yusuf became a founding member and the secretary of the Non-European United Front (NEUF). In 1939, along with both younger members and veterans of Gandhi's campaigns, he founded a nationalist bloc within the TIC, with the goal of commencing a passive resistance campaign against the recently passed Asiatic Land Tenure Act. This view rapidly gained in popularity, and despite the misgivings of its leadership, the TIC set the date of 1 August 1939 for the commencement of passive resistance. At the time, neither the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) nor the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) officially endorsed the campaign, despite popular support among Indians. The campaign was postponed, however, at the personal request of Gandhi, leaving Yusuf to join the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and focus on anti-war activism with the outbreak of World War II.

In 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union prompted the CPSA to drop its opposition to participation in the war, and change to a position of support for what it saw as a "people's war". Inspired by the exploits of the Red Army in the defence of the Soviet Union, non-European protest movements in South Africa became more militant. By the end of the war, the African National Congress was dominated by leaders such as Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, while the TIC and NIC were dominated by Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker, respectively. In 1946 Yusuf and Monty led the Indian Passive Resistance Campaign against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Bill, which continued until 1948 but did not succeed in having any of the legislation it opposed repealed. In 1947, the two, along with Alfred Bitini Xuma signed the "three doctors pact" of cooperation between the ANC, TIC and NIC, calling for the right to vote, freedom of movement, education and equal opportunity for all non-European South Africans.