ABSTRACT
This article deals with the ambiguities relating to the use of violence on the part of Chief Albert Luthuli, president of the African National Congress (ANC) until his death in 1967, the first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The article examines what Luthuli said and did and what are argued to be multiple meanings attached to these. The article does not set out a definitive reading but uses statements of Luthuli and others to probe ambiguity and symbolism, which point to the possibility that much of his work may have opened up debate on the apparent fruitlessness of non-violence against an intransigent regime. Whether adoption of violence was Luthuli’s desire is not argued, but he appears to have come to terms with it. The counter-arguments that stress absolute opposition to violence are not rebutted on a point-by-point basis to argue Luthuli’s preference for violence, rather than possible pragmatism.
