Militant Migrants

Born in colonial Malawi, Clements Kadalie dramatically rose to global prominence as general secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of Africa (ICU) during the 1920s. A famed orator, journalist and trade union organiser, Kadalie electrified huge meetings with his call for economic freedom and all-in mass organisation, eclipsing nationalist contemporaries and unionising anywhere between 100,000 and 250,000 workers throughout South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. A global l