Clements Kadalie

Clements Kadalie (1896-1951), South African trade union leader of the 1920s. Born in Nyasaland (in what is now Malawi), he emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa, where he became the most important black trade union leader of his day. In 1919 he assisted a strike of black dockers and later that year formed the Industrial and Commercial Union (ICU), originally consisting of 24 black and Coloured (mixed race) dock workers. Kadalie became the national secretary of the ICU, which he reorganized in 1921 as he consolidated his influence in Cape Province. He tried to present the ICU as no more than a trade union and did not attempt to compete in political terms with the African National Congress (ANC). He opposed the harsh handling by Prime Minister Jan Smuts of the 1922 miners' strike on the Witwatersrand, and he threw the support of the ICU behind the Nationalist-Labour Party of James Hertzog in the 1924 elections.

The Nationalist-Labour Party was victorious, but Kadalie found that the new government was even more reactionary than that of Smuts. As a result of this experience, he became increasingly antiwhite and overtly political. By 1927 the ICU claimed more than 100,000 members and had become the largest black movement and South African trade union of the time. He moved the ICU headquarters to Johannesburg in 1927, but no white unions or organizations would enter into relations with the ICU except for the Communist Party. Kadalie faced growing opposition from Communists and radicals within the ICU after the failure of several regional strikes and his reluctance to lead a nationwide strike. Although Kadalie expelled all Communists from the movement, his influence began to decline. He went to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927 and then on to Britain in hopes of receiving international recognition of the ICU. When he returned to South Africa he found his position in the ICU had been undermined. A split developed and in 1929 Kadalie resigned. The ICU became less effective and broke apart in 1933. Nevertheless, it provided a model for later mass movements. Kadalie remained active in small local unions until his death.