APPIAH SARAVANAN CHETTY ( A S CHETTY) - ONE OF THE STRUGGLE HEROES

(MR A S CHETTY HOSTING PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA DURING A VISIT TO PIETERMARITZBURG AFTER BEING ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE NEW, NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA) In my ongoing series on our "Struggle Heroes and Heroines", I am, in this edition, bringing you the life of Appiah Saravanan Chetty (or A S Chetty), another South African of Indian-origin who committed his entire life to the freedom of South Africa. Mr Chetty of Pietermaritzburg in the country's KwaZulu-Natal province was a dedicated member and official of the Natal Indian Congress and the African National Congress. Mr Chetty combined his involvement in the freedom struggles with his love for culture, arts, music and the Tamil language. He died at the age of 72 in 2001 when he was serving as deputy mayor of Pietermaritzburg. I interviewed Mr Chetty at his office in central Pietermaritzburg in 1996 about his involvement in the struggle for a free, non-racial and democratic South Africa. I compiled this radio documentary in 2008 at a time when some people were talking about the establishment of a lobby group within the community. Mr Chetty had expressed some interesting views about whether the Natal Indian Congress should have been allowed to continue to operate alongside the ANC.