Congress, noun

Forms:
Also with small initial.
colloquial
1. A shortened form of the name of any of several parties or organizations, particularly the African National Congress (see ANC noun1), but also the Congress of Democrats, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (see Sactu), and the (Natal -, Transvaal -, South African -) Indian Congress. Also attributive. See also NIC, TIC.
c1914 R.W. Msimang Natives Land Act 1913: Specific Cases of Evictions & HardshipsThe President of the Congress..made strong allegations of people being turned out from their homes and their ancient residences.
1941 R.G. Baloyi in Bantu World 25 Jan. 4The question of leadership today occupies the first and foremost place in the minds of all followers of Congress.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 114The Congress states that it was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894. It would be more accurate to say that the Mahatma helped to found it.
1952 in Drum July 10Desai, (editor of The Spark, a Transvaal Indian Youth Paper): Congress educates people through the day to day struggle.
1953 in Drum May 10Can Congress claim to be truly representative? [A. Luthuli:] Yes. We genuinely represent organised African opinion in this country.
1956 A. Sampson Drum 131Mayibuye Afrika — that means ‘Come back, Africa’...It’s one of the slogans of Congress; it means back to the old days of freedom before the white man came.
1958 A. Sampson Treason Cage 4By assembling all the leaders of the Congresses in one place and keeping them there day after day in confinement, the Government were not only trying the opposition, they were creating it.
1959 Contact 21 Feb. 3When Africanists began singing ‘Nkosi Sikele’ Congress supporters had first stood up instinctively then when called on to do so by leaders, sat down.
1963 K. Mackenzie Dragon to Kill 137They are going to start singing the congress songs just now. You really should be here for that.
1966 Survey of Race Rel. 1965 (S.A.I.R.R.) 238The left-wing S.A. Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu) has, in the past, allied itself with the A.N.C. and other members of the (political) Congress Group.
1990 G. Slovo Ties of Blood 254There’s a new mood inside Congress — a new militancy.
2. In historical contexts. In the phrase Congress of the People, a gathering organized by the Congress Alliance at Kliptown near Johannesburg in June 1955, at which the Freedom Charter (sense 1) was adopted.
1953 [see Freedom Charter sense 1].
1958 A. Sampson Treason Cage 37Chief Albert Luthuli and Oliver Tambo..had been deeply implicated in..the Congress of the People.
1958 A. Sampson Treason Cage 106The Congress of the People was held on a private football field at the African township of Kliptown, fifteen miles from Johannesburg.
1964 M. Benson Afr. Patriots 211The Congress of the People..was about to take place...The A.N.C., forming an Alliance with the S.A. Indian Congress, the C.O.D., the S.A. Coloured People’s Organization, and the S.A. Congress of Trade Unions, had invited not only other non-white organizations but a wide range of white parties to take part.
1972 Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. V. 33Freedom Charter, Socialist propaganda manifesto adopted by the African National Congress and the Congress of Democrats at a congress convened by the ‘Congress of the People’..in June 1955.
1983 Educating for Change (Nusas) (pamphlet) 13The most significant campaign was the organisation of the Congress of the People.., where 3000 delegates from organisations around the country accepted the Freedom Charter.
1990 New African 25 June 5When the Congress of the People was convened in 1955, it provided a forum for all strata of the racially oppressed — workers, professional artisans, and business people alike.
3. combinations in historical contexts.
Congress Alliance, see quotations 1983 and 1989;
Congressman, a member of the African National Congress, or of any other organization belonging to the Congress movement;
Congress movement, a collective name for the organizations which adhered to the Freedom Charter (sense 1);
Congress salute, a thumbs-up gesture formerly used by members of these organizations as a salute.
1981 E. Weinberg Portrait of a People 126The preparations for the Congress [of the People] were planned by the ‘Congress Alliance’, headed by the African National Congress. Other members of the Alliance were the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions, the Coloured People’s Congress and the Congress of Democrats (an organisation of white supporters of the ANC).
1983 Educating for Change (Nusas) (pamphlet) 12It was only in the fifties that SA saw the emergence of a popular mass movement for democratic change, led by the ANC. This movement included the SA Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats, the SA Coloured People’s Congress, and the SA Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). These organisations together formed the Congress Alliance.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 487Congress Alliance, Agreement in 1953 between the ANC, CAIC, Coloured People’s Congress and South African Congress of Trade Unions following the Defiance Campaign to work towards the congress of the People..and the adoption of the Freedom Charter.
1952 H. Nxumalo in Drum Dec. 12Congressmen as a body seldom know what line to follow until they are influenced by lobbying at conference and then vie with the popular vote.
1958 A. Sampson Treason Cage 41There are times of sudden indignation in the locations when nearly everyone claims to be a Congressman, others when congress appears to consist of only a hard core of enthusiasts.
1956 M. Rogers Black Sash 154An eleventh group..was the Congress movement, composed of the African National Congress, the Indian Congress, and the Congress of Democrats, linked with the Congress of Trade Unions. Its aim was, and is, perfectly straightforward and based on the United Nations Charter of Human Rights — in one word, equality.
1959 B. Bunting Story behind Non-White Press 9The only newspaper with a large national circulation..stands four-square with the Congress movement in the struggle for liberation.
1990 Sunday Times 1 Apr. 20The national symbols of the congress movement and the homeland symbols of Inkatha.
1952 Bantu World 27 June 1There was loud and prolonged cheering, singing and cries of ‘Afrika’ while the Congress salute was also given.
1964 M. Benson Afr. Patriots 215The whole crowd rose to their feet, hands raised in the Congress salute, thumbs pointing at the police, and burst into singing ‘Mayibuye’ to its gay tune of ‘Clementine’.
A shortened form of the name of any of several parties or organizations, particularly the African National Congress (see ANC noun1), but also the Congress of Democrats, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (see Sactu), and the (Natal -, Transvaal -, South African -) Indian Congress. Also attributive.
In the phrase Congress of the People,a gathering organized by the Congress Alliance at Kliptown near Johannesburg in June 1955, at which the Freedom Charter (sense 1) was adopted.
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