JAMES CALATA

The ANC's revival in the early 1940s owed itself as much to James Calata as it did to Xuma. As the Congress's secretaty general since 1936, Calata proved to be loyal, tireless organizer unswervingly committed to Xuma and the cause of African political advancement. Calata, two years Xuma's junior, worked as an Anglican clergyman in Cradock in the eastern Cape. He and Xuma quickly struck up a friendship and became the ANC's top political partners. Throughout Xuma's tenure as ANC president, Calata regularly kept Xuma abreast of political developments both inside and outside of the ANC. His correspondence provided Xuma with a mixture of advice, appraisal, encouragement, and support. . . . Xuma clearly valued Calata's advice, and fully appreciated the benefits of this extraordinary partnership. With Calata's long-term planning skills and Xuma's vigorous new leadership, the ANC would re-establish itself as a major player in black South African politics in the 1940s.

-Steven D. Gish, Alfred B. Xuma, 1893-1962: African, American, South African (Stanford University dissertation, 1994), p.177-8.