South African Congress of Democrats
The called South African Congress of Democrats ( SACOD ), often only briefly Congress of Democrats ( COD), was carried by a white political movement in South Africa, which existed 1953-1962. Their objectives were to calls of human rights and equality in the exercise of political rights for all South Africans.
In the aftermath of the Defiance Campaign, the African National Congress agreed, the South African Communist Party ( SACP ), the South African Indian Congress (SAIC ) and other organizations and individuals to promote cooperation, which was known as the Congress Alliance. From this group, a small group of white activists took place in January 1953 in Johannesburg together who entered under the name of Johannesburg Congress of Democrats for the idea of a non-racial democracy in South Africa. At its peak stood Bram Fischer and Cecil Williams. At a meeting on 11 and 12 October 1953 by like-minded groups from different cities of South Africa, the South African Congress of Democrats formed.
The establishment of the South African Congress of Democrats followed the experiences in the ANC, after which his concern should be more worn in the "white" population. It was a small organization, which had more than 700 members connected, including individuals and well-known organizations. Their actions, however, were very impulsive. Known members were, for example, Benjamin Turok, Lionel Bernstein, Jack Hodgson, Helen Joseph, Ruth First and Leonard Lee - Warden. In public, it became clear through the work of the members, that whites in South Africa stood in opposition to the apartheid conditions.
On September 14, 1962, the South African Congress of Democrats with a Bannungsverfügung based on the Suppression of Communism Act and by recent legislation by the General Law Amendment Act (Act No. 76/1962 ) R by means of Proclamation 218 was for " unlawful organization " explained. Other member organizations of the Congress Alliance were ungebannt at this time, but many of their leaders were already individually marked spell dispositions. Among the affected in this way member organizations included the Coloured People's Organisation, the South African Congress of Trade Unions, the South African Indian Congress and the Federation of South African Women.