Mandela wrote this 1953 presidential address to the Transvaal African National Congress (ANC). He opens by noting that Black South Africans have been resisting white domination since 1912 but that their resistance has encountered government repression. However, the upsurge in national consciousness in 1952 indicates that earlier efforts at resistance were not in vain. He points to the spread of the Defiance Campaign on a national scale and notes that it has been the best tactic for exerting pressure on the government because it threatens the stability and security of the state. 

Government repression nevertheless continues in the form of meeting prohibitions and penalties for defiance; the passage and extensive use of discriminatory laws aimed at undermining the freedom struggle; banning significant leaders from political organizations; and manipulation of the media. In the face of these government tactics, the ANC must reassess its own plans and tactics and adjust them to the prevailing conditions. Besides government repression, these conditions include worsening poverty, high food costs, unemployment, rampant disease, and high infant mortality. Mandela asserts that government policy exacerbates the economic situation because it deters foreign investors, causing businesses to close and unemployment rates to rise. Furthermore, Black South African workers on farms and mines face slave-like conditions that much of the world would frown upon.