Drum Magazine social history photographs, South Africa edition 1755

South Africa, 1955. The 4-in-1 Congress: On June 26, 1955, the Congress of the People met at the Kliptown football grounds, drawing 3,000 delegates. This significant gathering was comprised of four member-bodies: the ANC, the Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Organisation, and the Congress of Democrats. During the event, the Freedom Charter, which the Congress of the People adopted on that very day, was read and signed by delegates. Many speakers on the Freedom Charter emphasised that the day might not be far off when its demands would be met, acknowledging that while the road might be long, a united democratic front was the only solution. ANC president Albert Luthuli, in his message read to the Congress, stated, among other things, that "it should have been plain to the architects of the Union that by excluding from the orbit of democracy the majority of the population, the non-Whites, they were laying a false foundation for the new state and making a mockery of democracy to call such a state democratic". The Freedom Charter says that "The people shall govern; All national groups shall have equal rights; The people shall share in the country's wealth; The land shall be shared among those who work it; All shall be equal before the law; All shall enjoy equal human rights; There shall be work and security; The doors of learning and of culture shall be opened; There shall be houses, security and comfort; There shall be peace and friendship".