founded a nationwide organization that became known as the African
National Congress. It survived official obstruction and was destined to
become a formidable instrument of resistance in the second half of the
century.f In the late 1920S, the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union
ofSouth Africa grew to be a massiverural movement of national liberation,
with a membership of at least 150,000 before it fell apart in the face of
officialrepression and internal conflict." By 1948, urban African workers
had experimented with various forms of trade unions, even though the law
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