Role of Three Doctors’ Pact in Freedom Struggle of South Africa

Abstract

This article is trying to investigate the role of Three Doctors’ Pact in the South African freedom struggle within its historical context. Alfred Bitini Xuma was elected president of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1940. It was also under his leadership that the ANC forged closer relationships with the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress, and when the leaders of the three organizations signed what became known as the Doctors’ Pact or the Dadoo-Xuma-Naicker Pact. This pact stood for a united front between Indian and African people. The three doctors precipitated a series of non-racial antigovernment campaigns around the country which sought to bring together Africans and Indians in the freedom struggle.