The UDF: a history of the United Democratic Front in South Africa, 1983-1991

Abstract

The new South Africa cannot be understood without a knowledge of the history of the UDF and its role in the transition to democracy. As Professor Gail Gerhart has written, Without the UDF, the politics of the contemporary ANC would have been entirely different, its accession to power more difficult, and the character of its subsequent actions undoubtedly both different and probably much less successful. The UDF was far more than a John the Baptist to the ANC's second coming: it was actually the mechanism through which the ANC, in exile for 30 years, effected its successful return, adaptation and reintegration as South Africa's post-apartheid government. This is a major study of an organisation that transformed South African politics in the 1980s. By co-ordinating popular struggles on the ground and promoting the standing of the African National Congress, the UDF played a central role in the demise of apartheid and paved the way for South Africa's emergence as a democracy. Based on extensive documentary and interview sources, this title traces the UDF's birth, career and dissolution. It is a remarkable tale of strategic and tactical decision-making: of how opponents of apartheid made choices that helped to seal the fate of white domination whilst avoiding the general bloodbath that always threatened. Jeremy Seekings is an associate professor in the sociology department at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of a book on youth politics in the 1980s as well as many articles on politics and society in South Africa.