The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

econstituted APDUSA represented an attempt on the part of activists loyal to I.B.
Tabata to rebuild political structures in South Africa. 125 Part of this initiative in
rebuilding a movement also saw the launch a few years later of the APDUSA Youth
Movement (APDYM). Younger activists also availed themselves of the opportunity to
meet with the leadership in exile, and visits were arranged to Harare to visit the Tabata‐
Gool home, which was also the movement headquarters. Harare was where the ageing
Tabata and Jane Gool had moved shortly after Zimbabwean independence, where they
were accorded a place of honour as esteemed veterans of the anti‐apartheid struggle. 126
And there, the APDUSA activists from South Africa heard about the trials and
tribulations of Tabata’s political life.
In April 1985, a new political organisation that claimed a connection with “the traditions
of the Unity Movement” was launched. This was the New Unity Movement, which
emerged after two years of “intensive negotiations” among organisations, and “a
searching re‐examination of the liberatory struggle”. According to an official account,
this “revival” brought together “all those persons and organisations” which had
“adhered unswervingly” to the NEUM’s programme and policy. The Ten Point
Programme was “sharpened and extended to take account of the giant strides made in
the liberatory struggle” and the policy of Non‐Collaboration was “given new emphasis”.
A “Declaration to the People of South Africa” was issued, signalling a reference to
another ‘Declaration’ made by the NEUM 30 years previously. R.O. Dudley, who had
been one of the Anti‐CAD delegates to the 1958 AAC conference, at which internal
125 It seems, though, that APDUSA was only formally re‐established as “a fully fledged national
organisation” in July 1990 with the relaxation of repressive controls, and I.B. Tabata was once again
elected as its president. See Unity Movement of South Africa (UMSA), ‘I.B. Tabata’, Memorial Pamphlet,
Issued by the Unity Movement of South Africa, Eikefontein, October 1990.
126 No doubt, the fact that ZANU (PF)’s historic alliance had been with the PAC and not the ANC helped.
Tabata and Gool developed close connections with Victoria Chitepo and Amina Hughes, who held
positions in the Zimbabwe government. In addition, as veterans and ‘comrades’, their opinions were
regularly sought in Zimbabwean political forums, such as those convened by the SAPES Trust (a radical
forum of research and publishing in Southern African political economy) and they were also sought out
by international figures, such as PLO ambassador, Ali Halimeh. From that time, Jane Gool began to be
referred to as Mrs Tabata.
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