Federal Independent Democratic Alliance

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Federal Independent Democratic Alliance (FIDA) was a South African black conservative group set up in 1987. It was later established that it was a front organisation for Apartheid government.

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Background

It was established in July 1987 by an East Rand businessman, John Gogotya. [1] It had its origins as a cultural organisation called Operation Advance and Upgrade. [1] Gogotya would later claim his organisation had 600,000 members. [1] Gogotya made statements that the organisation was opposed to Apartheid but willing to talk to the government. [2] Some of the statements made by the organisation included supporting the state of emergency declared by the government in the mid-80's and opposed Western disinvestment imposed on the country. [1] Other policies included supporting the homeland system, a federal system that would replace the provincial system and included the existing homelands at the time and opposed a "one man, one vote" as a political solution. [1]

Front organisation

During the mid-eighties, the SADF Military Intelligence (MI) organisation created Project Capital. [3] The object of the project was to create front organisations consisting of a moderate alliance of Black South African organisations to combat violence occurring in their communities. [3] One of these groups was FIDA. [4] SADF ended the project with FIDA in September 1991, when the MI projects were closed and FIDA received a final payment of R1.47 million. [3] At its height, it had an annual budget of R3 million in 1991, was based in Johannesburg, with offices in thirteen regions in South Africa and employed sixty-eight employees. [3] Supplied information to the MI on the protest movement in the townships through the Joint Management Centres. [1] [3] There, it also distributed anti-protest and anti-boycott pamphlets. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kotzé, H. J. (Hendrik Jacobus) (1991). Political organisations in South Africa : A-Z. Cape Town: Tafelberg; Centre for South African Politics at the University of Stellenbosch. pp. 109–10. ISBN   978-0-624-03042-3.
  2. ↑ "Weighing Change in Pretoria". U.S. News & World Report. 3. Vol. 103. Washington DC. 20 July 1987. p. 38.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa report. Cape Town: The Commission. 1999. pp. 300–1. ISBN   978-0-333-77615-5.
  4. ↑ Ottaway, Marina (1993). South Africa : the struggle for a new order. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. p. 108. ISBN   978-0-8157-6716-9.
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