HSY3704
ASSIGNMENT 1
DUE DATE: MARCH 2026
, HSY3704 ASSIGNMENT 1 2026
DUE MAY 2026
Founding and Rise of the ICU: Key Sources and Their Contributions
Introduction
The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), founded in Cape Town in 1919,
emerged as one of the most significant mass movements in early twentieth-century
South Africa. Under the leadership of Clements Kadalie, the union rapidly expanded
beyond its origins as a dockworkers’ organisation to become a broad-based
movement representing urban workers, rural labourers and disenfranchised African
communities. The founding and rapid rise of the ICU in the 1920s can be understood
through the political, economic, and social conditions that shaped the period. Its
growth was driven by widespread dissatisfaction with racial discrimination, low
wages, land dispossession, and state repression, combined with a powerful
message of unity and liberation that resonated deeply with oppressed communities.
At the same time, the movement’s organisational strategies and ideological
influences strengthened its appeal and expanded its reach. Together, these factors
explain why the ICU became the largest and most influential African-led organisation
of its time.
P.L. Wickins, The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa (Oxford Univ.
Press, 1978). Wickins’s monograph remains a foundational study of the ICU. A
revision of his doctoral thesis, it provides one of the earliest comprehensive
narratives of the union’s formation and growth. Wickins carefully traces the ICU’s
ASSIGNMENT 1
DUE DATE: MARCH 2026
, HSY3704 ASSIGNMENT 1 2026
DUE MAY 2026
Founding and Rise of the ICU: Key Sources and Their Contributions
Introduction
The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), founded in Cape Town in 1919,
emerged as one of the most significant mass movements in early twentieth-century
South Africa. Under the leadership of Clements Kadalie, the union rapidly expanded
beyond its origins as a dockworkers’ organisation to become a broad-based
movement representing urban workers, rural labourers and disenfranchised African
communities. The founding and rapid rise of the ICU in the 1920s can be understood
through the political, economic, and social conditions that shaped the period. Its
growth was driven by widespread dissatisfaction with racial discrimination, low
wages, land dispossession, and state repression, combined with a powerful
message of unity and liberation that resonated deeply with oppressed communities.
At the same time, the movement’s organisational strategies and ideological
influences strengthened its appeal and expanded its reach. Together, these factors
explain why the ICU became the largest and most influential African-led organisation
of its time.
P.L. Wickins, The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa (Oxford Univ.
Press, 1978). Wickins’s monograph remains a foundational study of the ICU. A
revision of his doctoral thesis, it provides one of the earliest comprehensive
narratives of the union’s formation and growth. Wickins carefully traces the ICU’s
