TheSouth African Congress of Democrats (SACOD) was a radical left-wing white, anti-apartheid organization founded in South Africa in 1952 or 1953 as part of the multi-racialCongress Alliance,[1] after theAfrican National Congress (ANC) invited whites to become part of the Congress Movement.[2]
The establishment of the COD sought to illustrate opposition to apartheid among whites. The COD identified closely with the ANC and advocated racial equality and universal suffrage. Though small, COD was a key organization of the Congress Alliance. The COD took part in every Congress Alliance campaign until it was banned by the South AfricanApartheid government in September 1962.[3]
The ANC viewed the COD as a way to put its views directly to the white public. Moreover, asNelson Mandela wrote, "The COD served an important symbolic function for Africans; blacks who had come into the struggle because they were anti-white discovered that there were indeed whites of goodwill who treated Africans as equal."[4] Though COD was not itself a communist organization, many members of the bannedSouth African Communist Party (SACP) joined the COD.
COD never had more than 700 members and was based mainly inJohannesburg andCape Town. Members of COD included:[5]
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