South African Native Convention

The South African Native Convention was an unofficial gathering of Black African representatives held in Bloemfontein in 1909. It was convened in response to the official constitutional convention that was drafting the South Africa Act, which unified four British colonies into the Union of South Africa. The delegates at the Native Convention were excluded from the official process, which was entirely white-led.

The primary goal of the South African Native Convention was to voice Black African opposition to the discriminatory provisions of the proposed South Africa Act. This act ultimately established a unitary state with a constitution that largely disenfranchised the Black majority, limiting political power to whites. The convention was a crucial step toward the formation of a permanent national Black political organization, leading to the founding of the South African Native National Congress in 1912, which later became the African National Congress (ANC).12