Abstract
The Black Radical Tradition is a marginalized area of study in South African scholarship in general and in particular political philosophy by Afrikan thinkers. There are several figures in South Africa who are located within the Black Radical Tradition. These figures include the prominent ones such as Anton Lembede, Robert Sobukwe and Steve Biko. This study seeks to correct the abovementioned marginalization. In order to accomplish this, this study will foreground the political philosophy of Anton Lembede. We will demonstrate the ideological connection between the Garvey movement in South Africa and its battle cry of Afrika for the Afrikans with Lembede’s political philosophy of Afrikanism. This implies tracing the genealogy of Garveyism in South Africa and drawing the connection between this Black Radical Tradition from the Afrikan Diaspora and its influence on Lembede’s thought. To strike a balance between the continent and the diaspora this study will foreground the idea that there is a radical indigenous tradition which preceded Garveyism in South Africa and influenced Lembede. This tradition is designated by this study as the Indigenous Fundamentalist Tradition. Lembede’s Afrikanist stream within the Black Radical Tradition comprises of Garveyism and this radical indigenous tradition. Following this archaeological work, we will then foreground Lembede’s political philosophy of Afrikanism. In doing so, we will hermeneutically engage with his intellectual contribution by underscoring seminal concepts which comprise his political philosophy of Afrikanism.