It was a gradual process that evolved from his wide-ranging experience of life as a black person enduring the oppression and the slights of apartheid. Clearly Dyanti was an important early influence, and while in East London Sisulu came briefly into contact with Clemens Kadalie, a fiery orator who formed the first black trade union in South Africa. Back in Johannesburg, Sisulu became involved in union activity and organised several strikes. He also joined an organisation called the Orlando Brotherly Society, which promoted an interest in tribal history and encouraged economic independence from whites. Gradually he drifted into the ANC and became treasurer of its Youth League.The Youth League was his university and the platform for his first revolutionary actions.

Mandela, Sisulu, Tambo and several other young Turks formed the group in 1944, and after the National Party came to power in 1948 and began implementing its apartheid programme they became increasingly impatient with the old guard’s ineffectual tactics. It was a time when Mahatma Gandhi was leading passive resisters to jail in India and the Youth Leaguers wanted to transform the ANC into a militant protest organisation.They drafted a “programme of action” and at an historic congress in 1949 forced its acceptance. They also won a fiercely contested vote to elect Sisulu Secretary-General of the ANC, with a majority of one. Sisulu closed his estate-agency business and became a full-time party organiser.From then on life was a head-on confrontation with the government for the next 30 years.

The “programme of action” formed the basis of a nation-wide civil disobedience campaign that involved hundreds of thousands of protesters, 8,500 of whom went voluntarily to jail. As the chief organiser, Sisulu bore the brunt of the government’s repressive action. He was arrested repeatedly and subjected to restriction orders.In 1956 he was one of 156 dissident leaders of all races charged with high treason. The trial dragged on for five years, finally ending with the acquittal of all the leaders But it was a Pyrrhic victory. Following the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960, in which police machine-gunned a crowd of demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180, the government banned the ANC and all other black political organisations.The ANC took the fateful decision to turn to guerrilla struggle.