Teachers' League of South Africa

The Teachers' League of South Africa (TLSA) was an organization for coloured teachers founded in Cape Town in June of 1913. The group, while originally focused on issues surrounding education, became increasingly political in the mid-1940s and started to agitate against apartheid. Due to state suppression, the group became defunct in 1963.

History

TLSA was started in Cape Town in June of 1913 as a group for coloured teachers.[1][2] One of the founding members was Harold Cressy and the African Political Organization (APO) laid the foundations that allowed TLSA to grow.[3][4] Abdullah Abdurahman had a large influence on the early group.[5] There were less than a hundred members to start with, but grew to around 1,500 in the mid 1940s.[6] The official publication of TLSA was the Education Journal.[7]

In 1934, TLSA changed its constitution so that membership was no longer limited to coloured teachers.[8] TLSA began to agitate against the South African government, starting around 1937.[7] In 1943, the group affiliated with the Non European Unity Movement (NEUM).[7] It also affiliated with the Natal Indian Teachers' Society (NITS).[9] TLSA began to expand from its original mandate of improving working conditions for teachers and began to fight apartheid.[7][10] As TLSA became more radical, some moderates left in 1944 to form the Teachers' Educational and Professional Association (TEPA).[11]

After the Sharpeville massacre, TLSA became defunct, due to "state repression."[6] Around 1960, the current president of TLSA, Willem P. Van Schoor, was banned.[12][8] In June of 1963, TLSA had its final conference.[7]

Notable members

References
  1. Adhikari 1994, p. 101.
  2. Wieder 2008, p. 13.
  3. "UCT Names Residence After First Coloured student to Obtain a University Degree in South Africa". OkayAfrica. 2017-10-04. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  4. Adhikari 1994, p. 115.
  5. Adhikari, Mohamed (1997). "Voice of the Coloured Elite: APO, 1909-1923". In Switzer, Les (ed.). South Africa's Alternative Press: Voices of Protest and Resistance, 1880-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-521-55351-3.
  6. Adhikari 1994, p. 125.
  7. "Teachers League of South Africa (TLSA) conference in 1925". South African History Online. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  8. Wieder 2008, p. 60.
  9. Chisholm, Linda (2019). Teacher Preparation in South Africa: History, Policy and Future Directions. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-78743-694-7.
  10. Fraser-Moleketi, Geraldine (3 August 2018). "The essential key to SA's liberation". The Mail & Guardian Online. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  11. Wieder 2008, p. 61.
  12. "Bans S. Africa Leaders On Bogus 'Red' Charges". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1960-01-09. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-01-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Dulcie Evonne September". South African History Online. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  14. "Dorothy Adams". South African History Online. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

Sources


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