Participatory democracy: the legacy of the UDF in the eastern Cape

Abstract

It is tempting to idealize the days of struggle, and to remember uncritically our heroes and our organizations; to present MK, for example, as the 'glorious peoples' army' and to forget the frustrations endured and the mistakes made. Similarly, it is tempting to remember the UDF as a militant, mass-based front of organizations which made a decisive contribution to the ending of apartheid and the creation of a democratic society. The moments of terror and intolerance are easily forgotten. And yet, perhaps it is time for us to reflect critically - on this twentieth anniversary of the founding of the UDF - on the lessons we learnt through our experience of organization in the 1980s.