COMPREHENSIVE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT ABOUT PROGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP FROM THE EARLY 1970s to 1990s BY VETERAN JOURNALIST SUBRY GOVENDER

     NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS IN THE 1970s, 1980s, AND EARLY 1990Ss

 

It’s a crying shame that at a time when we experienced untold looting, burning, chaos and violence in the second week of July (2021), the people affected in certain parts of Durban, Pietermaritzburg and other parts of KwaZulu-Natal were left leaderless.
Communities that once, up to the early 1990s, looked to progressive organisations for guidance in their social, economic and political lives were stranded. In view of this tragic void, racial divisions sprang up once again and criminal elements took advantage of the situation.
In the aftermath of the tragic events, one national radio station continued to stir up emotions of racial hatred in its news items, current affairs and other  programmes. All kinds of racial mongers phoned in to stoke the fires of racial animosity and genocide.
While some former progressive leaders had tried to promote a climate of peace and co-existence, the situation at the grass-roots levels does not provide any confidence whatsoever for the people.  
In view of this stark void of progressive leadership, I would like to recall some aspects of our Rich History when organisations such as the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), Transvaal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) provided leadership and guidance for the people at grass-roots levels.
 

                           NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

 

When I started work on a full-time basis for the Daily News early in the 1970s, one of the organisations that I paid particular attention to was the Natal Indian Congress. I covered most of the developments surrounding the newly-revived organisation and its leaders and had the stories published in the Daily News at a time when the apartheid regime was conducting a relentless campaign against all anti-apartheid organisations and its leaders.

The NIC was revived in 1971 at a meeting in Bolton Hall in the former Prince Edward Street (now Dr Goonam Street) by Mewa Ramgobin and a string of struggle leaders such as Mr R Ramesar, Mr D K Singh, Mr Rabbi Bugwandeen, Mr George Sewpersadh, Mr Thumba Pillay, Mr A S Chetty, Dr Farouk Meer, Mrs Ela Ramgobin (Ms Ela Gandhi), Dr Dilly Naidoo and Dr Jerry Coovadia.

But no sooner had the NIC been brought back to life, its newly-elected leader, Mewa Ramgobin, was slapped with a five-year banning order and restricted to the District of Inanda.

His position was taken over by George Sewpersadh, who practicised as a lawyer in Verulam on the North Coast. Mr Sewpersadh was not the only anti-apartheid leader who was based in Verulam. The others included Mr Ismail Meer, a Congress veteran who was banned at that time; Mr Clive Vawda, a struggle stalwart who was associated with the Non-European Movement; and his brother, Dr Errol Vawda, who was involved with non-racial sport.

The newly-revived NIC not only promoted the political ideals of a non-racial and democratic society for all people, it also made its voice known in almost every aspect of the country’s social, educational, labour and economic areas of life.

Only a few months after I joined the Daily News as a full-time journalist in early 1973, the first story I wrote was  about the NIC expressing its misgivings regarding the wage scale for unskilled workers.
The story was published under the headline: “Indians object to wage scale” on May 26 1973.

INDIANS OBJECT TO WAGE SCALE

The article read:

The Natal Indian Congress has objected to the minimum wage scale for unskilled workers announced in the Government Gazette  this week, particularly in view of “the recent rises in the price of food staple to the African man”.
In a letter to the Secretary for Labour, Mr D J Geyser, the Indian Congress says that the recommendations of the Wage Board in respect of minimum rates for unskilled workers are unsatisfactory.
“An increase to R15 over a period of three years seems absurd, particularly when one realises that many firms are already paying R15 and more per week to their employees.“No consideration seems to have been given to the existing regional effective minimum level or the poverty datum line.

                            

                      

                   CONSIDERATION

“We wish to emphasise that for any effective and realistic recommendation to be determined it is essential that due consideration be given to the existing socio, economic and political milieu in the country.”
In its letter, the Indian Congress says that for the Wage Board to play an effective role in protecting the thousands of workers excluded from the Industrial Conciliation Act “it is incumbent that that due recognition be given to the cries of the African workers for higher wages”.
Failure to satisfy the aspirations of African workers could only leave the workers at the mercy of employers and vulnerable to exploitation.
“It is our recommendation that the minimum level be realistically increased and that the annual increment be revisited to a level commensurate to the spiraling price index.”  Ends – Daily News Reporter, May 26 1973

          NIC CHIEF SCORNS CLAIMS

                                              

Six days later on May 31 1973, I spoke to Mr Sewpersadh about claims by the then Minister of Indian Affairs, Senator Owen Horwood, that the National Party white minority government was doing a great deal to improve the lot of the country’s Indian-origin people.
Mr Sewpersadh disputed the claims and said in fact the National Party Government was frustrating the Indian people in their attempts to improve their social, economical and political lives.
The story was published on May 31 1973 under the headline: “NIC chief scorns claim”.
The story read:
The president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr C Sewpersadh, today rejected claims by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Tourism, Senator Owen Horwood, that the Government was doing everything in its power to assist the Indian people.
Senator Horwood said in Parliament last night that the Government had run up an impressive list of achievements in respect of the Indian people.
But Mr Sewpersadh said that there was no truth in the statement that the Nationalist Government had done its best for the Indian community.
“In fact, over the last 25 years the Nationalist Government has deliberately and carefully endeavoured to break the economic power of Indians,” he said.
“Through the Group Areas Act it has taken away large tracts of land and drastically reduced the opportunities for economic expansion.”
The Indians had been barred from setting up businesses in the most lucrative commercial areas, he said.
“In Durban, for instance, Indians have been kicked out of and are not wanted in the main streets – Smith Street and West Street.”
On the Durban-Westville University issue, Mr Sewpersadh said there was grave disatisfaction among the Indian community about the manner in which it was being run.
“The massive student boycott in 1972 and the overwhelming sympathy the students received from the non-white newspapers and the Indian community as a whole is sufficient proof of this,” said Mr Sewpersadh.
“It is the view of Indians that the regulations which the students are forced to obey are unduly harsh and rigid. Moreover, Indians would prefer the staff of the university, especially the teaching staff, to come from all races, chosen on merit and not limited to whites and Indians.
“The fact that the university is under white control is definitely regretted.” Ends – Daily News Reporter May 31 1973

                    CALL TO BOYCOTT RACIAL SPORT

                                

Early in June 1973 one of the leaders who played a role in the revival of the Natal Indian Congress, Mrs Ela Ramgobin (Ms Ela Gandhi), was the main speaker at a mass meeting where it was resolved to boycott all racial sport.
Mrs Ramgobin, wife of the banned former leader of the NIC, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, was invited by a local youth organisation, Sentinel. 
The meeting, held at the former Natraj Cinema, resolved to boycott all racial sport, especially professional football matches under the auspices of the National Football League at New Kingsmead and other grounds.
The story was published on June 4 1973 under the headline: “Call to boycott racial sport”.
The story, after the first three introductory paragraphs, read:
Mrs Ela Ramgobin, wife of the banned former leader of the Natal Indian Congress Mr Mewa Ramgobin, said in her address at the anti-apartheid meeting that sport was no longer a free enterprise unaffected by race, colour or creed.
“It is rather a highly-restricted and politically-designed field. To us, who love our country and want to see it high up in the international scene, such interference and drawbacks are annoying.”
She attacked the thousands of Indians who “flock like sheep to New Kingsmead and other white grounds”.
“That we are the backbone of the NFL in Natal is a sore point and a serious indictment on us,” she said.
“The time has now come for us to take stock and actively work towards the achievement of our non-racial aspirations.
“Tireless efforts and unflinching faith in our beliefs, and values which are universally recognised but are denied in South Africa, must one day bring success.”
Mrs Ramgobin appealed to the Government to leave the sportsmen alone “to solve their own problems”.
The president of the non-racial South African Amateur Swimming Federation, Mr Morgan Naidoo, was also one of the speakers at the meeting.
He said “non-whites” were only allowed to see NFL matches “because of our money”.
“Keep them away and see if they don’t feel the pinch. The NFL is surviving in Natal because of our support.”
Giving a comprehensive outline of sponsorship for white and non-white professional soccer, Mr Naidoo said white soccer received much more than non-white soccer.
“We give them our support but get nothing in return. Therefore, I appeal to you people to pass the message round that non-whites should refrain from attending white NFL matches.
“The sooner we do this the better it will be for our children.”
The president of the South African Soccer Federation, Mr Norman Middleton, said that if  sport was left to sportsmen and women, South Africa would soon be accepted into the international scene.
“Because our sport is continuously influenced by politicians we are shunned and ostracized by the rest of the world.” Ends – Daily News Reporter, June 4 1973

 

                 WORK CURB ON BANNED MAN

 

 

 

A week later, I spoke to Ela Ramgobin about the restrictions imposed on her husband, Mewa Ramgobin, and the Minister’s refusal to allow him to continue his insurance business in the Grey Street area of Durban.
The story was published on June 13 1973 under the headline: “Work curb on banned man”.

The story read:

Mr Mewa Ramgobin, the banned former leader of the Natal Indian Congress, has been refused permission by the Minister of Justice, Mr P C Pelser, to continue his insurance brokerage in Durban.
Mr Ramgobin was banned in 1971 for five years under the Suppression of Communism Act and was restricted to the magisterial districts of Pinetown, Durban and Inanda.
In April this year he was served with a new banning order which restricted him to the magisterial district of Inanda only.
Mrs Ela Ramgobin, wife of the banned man, said today that Mr Ramgobin applied about one and half months ago to the Minister to have the restrictions removed “so that my husband could continue his business in Durban”.
Mrs Ramgobin said the Minister was “absolutely unfair” in his decision.
“He did not take into account how we are going to earn a living. I think he was not moved in the least by his Christian conscience.”
She said she was very angry because Mr Ramgobin had not been convicted of any offence. He was neither a communist nor a saboteur,” she said.
Mrs Ramgobin said they were fortunate that they had a number of friends “who have come to our aid”.
Mrs Ramgobin said she might start a job next year to help support her family. The Ramgobins have five minor children. Ends – Daily News Reporter June 13 1973

            BE POLITE AND PROMOTE GOOD RACE                                        RELATIONS

 

In mid-July 1973 I covered a seminar in the Grey Street area of Durban where shop-keepers and others were told to be polite to their customers.

The story was published on July 18 1973 under the headline: “Be polite and promote good race relations”.

The story read:

An executive member of the Natal Indian Congress last night appealed to all people, particularly shop keepers, to adopt a more polite attitude to all their customers.
Mr Durag Beharee, who is a student member of the Institute of Public Relations (London), was speaking on “public relations as a basis of establishing understanding and communication in a separate society” at the M K Gandhi Library, Queen Street, Durban.
Mr Beharee said that a survey he had carried out in Grey Street showed that shop-keepers adopted an “arrogant” attitude towards customers.
“The shop-keepers and other people should start a re-think of their attitude and begin to behave like human beings.
“Bank tellers, post office clerks, counter assistants and even bus conductors also have a role to play in this ‘clean up’ of human relationships,” he said.
Mr Beharee said conflict and contempt was the legacy apartheid had bequeathed to all South Africans.
He said the different race groups had become obsessed with apartheid and were no longer motivated by reason and humanity.
“Instead, our life is replaced by arrogance, hostility and prejudice to one another,” said Mr Beharee.
The white community had to abandon white consciousness and employ restraint and compassion in dealings with black people, he said.
“All of us need plain ‘good manners’ in our dealings with each other. This will be worth more than all the money one could contribute to buy good race relations.” Ends – Daily News Reporter July 18 1973

                  NIC MEMBERS CAN SERVE ON LACs

 

Later in July 1973 I wrote a story about a controversial move by the Natal Indian Congress to allow its members to participate in the local affairs committees in towns and cities.

The LACs were part of the move by the ruling National Party Government at that time to give the impression that it was providing some representation for people of Indian-origin and coloured people at local government level. For the majority African people, it had established local town councils in the urban African townships.
The story was written at a time when some members of the NIC felt that by involving themselves at the grass-roots levels, they could be in a better position to inform the people about the struggles for a non-racial and democratic South Africa.

The story was published on July 23 1973 under the headline: “NIC members can serve on LACs.”

The story read:

The Natal Indian Congress has agreed to members serving on government-instituted local affairs committees.
Mr C Sewpersadh, president of the NIC, said that it was to be left to the members to decide whether they should involve themselves in local government or not.
“We are not going to instruct our members what to do. They could take part in their own capacity,” he said.
A move by the Pietermaritzburg branch of the NIC to change the organisation’s name to the South African People’s Congress, and to open the doors of the NIC to all race groups, was withdrawn after the motion failed to get enough support.

Mr A S Chetty, chairman of the Pietermaritzburg branch of the NIC, said that the Congress should learn to identify itself with other race groups.
“My concept of non-racialism is not black exclusiveness. We want all people, including whites, to join us.
“The sooner we could create a united nation we would go a long way,” said Mr Chetty.

                                                                                        Mr A S Chetty

                        NIC EXPLAINS STAND

 

In early July 1973 I wrote an article about the difference of opinions between Natal Indian Congress and the KwaZulu leader, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The difference of opinion mainly revolved around the calls for economic sanctions against South Africa and about leaders of the country.
The article was published on July 4 1973 under the headline: “NIC explains stand”.
The article, after two introductory paragraphs, read:
KwaZulu leader, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, told the leaders of the NIC yesterday that they were creating an explosive situation by implying that he was not the true voice of the African people.
He made the accusation after the NIC had issued a statement expressing its admiration and support for the exiled Coloured academic, Professor Dennis Brutus.
Professor Brutus accused Chief Buthelezi of being a “stooge of the Vorster Government” while he was in America.

In a statement today, Mr Sewpersadh said Chief Buthelezi had done the NIC a “grave injustice” by linking it with a call for the withdrawal of foreign capital from South Africa.
“Such a call has never been made by the NIC. Why Chief Buthelezi has linked the NIC with demands for withdrawal of foreign capital from South Africa is beyond my comprehension,” Mr Sewpersadh said.
Asked if he supported Professor Brutus’s claim that Chief Buthelezi was a “stooge”, Mr Sewpersadh said he did not want to become involved in the quarrel between Chief Buthelezi and Professor Brutus.
When he had issued his statement “I was expressing the admiration of the NIC, as this body is entitled to do so, for a man who laboured strenuously against racial discrimination.”
Commenting today, Chief Buthelezi said praise for Professor Brutus was “irrelevant, because we all know that he graduated from Robben Island”.
Turning to the NIC claim that it had never supported the withdrawal of foreign capital from South Africa, Chief Buthelezi said: “I do not want to embarrass the Natal Indian leader who made this call by mentioning her name.
“But it was mentioned at a public meeting attended by more than a 1 000 people that she spoke for the NIC, which had taken a resolution in the name of 10 000 supporters calling for a withdrawal from South Africa.”
Commenting on a further statement by Mr Sewpersadh that the NIC stood for non-violence, Chief Buthelezi said the NIC should remember that Professor Brutus was now committed to violence.
Indian leaders, in opposition to the NIC, also entered the debate.
Mr J N Reddy, an executive member of the South African Indian Council, said the Indian people fully supported Chief Buthelezi’s plea for greater foreign investment in South Africa.
Mr Reddy said the Indian people appreciated the urgent need for the economic upliftment of the African people.
“Every South African, irrespective of his political leanings, must lend full support to Chief Buthelezi’s plea. To do otherwise will be a grave injustice to the well-being and social progress of all non-whites.”
Mr Pat Poovalingam, a leading member of the Indian community, said if Mr Sewpersadh represented the views of the Natal Indian Congress in “giving tacit approval to the insult directed by Mr Brutus to Chief Buthelezi”, he could not claim to represent the Indian community.
He said it was unfortunate that a headline in The Daily News had given the impression that Chief Buthelezi had warned the Indian community as a whole. This was not the case because Chief Buthelezi had only warned the ANC.
Chief Buthelezi said he wished to assure the Indian community that his warning yesterday was directed at the NIC and not the community. Ends – Daily News Reporter July 4 1973

           HE CANNOT ATTEND FUNERAL

 

In August 1973 the banned founding president of the newly-revived NIC, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, was denied permission to attend the funeral of a comrade, Mr Ephraim Mbele, in the township of Umlazi in Durban.
I wrote this story and it was published under the headline: “He cannot attend funeral” on August 17 1973.

The story read:

The magistrate at Verulam has refused permission for the banned former president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, to attend the funeral at Umlazi tomorrow of Mr Ephraim Mbele, a former Robben Island prisoner and personal friend of Mr Ramgobin.
Mr Mbele, who was released from Robben Island last year after serving a six-year sentence, died at Umlazi earlier this month.
Mr Ramgobin is confined to the magisterial district of Inanda and applied for a relaxation of his banning orders to attend the funeral.
A friend of Mr Ramgobin said today permission had been refused on the same day the application was made. Ends – Daily News Reporter August 17 1973

                       RAMGOBIN CAN VISIT SISTER  

Later in the same month of 1973 I wrote another story about Mr Mewa Ramgobin, the former Congress leader, being granted permission under strict conditions to visit his sister at the R K Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, Durban.
The story was published under the headline: “Ramgobin can visit sister” on August 22 1973.

The story read:

Mr Mewa Ramgobin, the banned former president of the Natal Indian Congress, has been granted permission by the Verulam Magistrate, Mr D A Collen, to visit his sick sister at Chatsworth’s R K Khan Hospital.
Mr Ramgobin, who is confined to the magisterial district of Inanda, applied last Friday for a relaxation of his banning orders. He was granted permission to visit his sister on Saturday and for one week from Monday, August 21, to Friday, August 24.
Before visiting his sister, he will have to report to the Verulam police and then to the Chatsworth police. On his return he will have to report again to the Chatsworth police and the Verulam police.
Mrs Ela Ramgobin, wife of the banned former leader, said her husband would have to travel about 161km every day to visit his sister.
Mrs Ramgobin said security policemen visited her sister-in-law on Saturday and asked if Mr Ramgobin was her brother.
“They even wanted to know if she was sick and what was wrong with her.”
They called on her twice on Monday.
“We have taken up the matter with the hospital authorities and are going to report the matter to the head of the security police. You cannot worry people when they are sick,” she said.
Mrs Ramgobin said security policemen kept a close watch on Mr Ramgobin when he visited his sister.
“They want to see that he does not break his banning order by speaking to or visiting any other patient at the hospital.”
Both Mr and Mrs Ramgobin were prevented last week from attending the funeral of Mr Eprahim Mbele, a former Robben Island prisoner, at Umlazi. Ends – Daily News Reporter August 22 1973

WOMAN SEEKING RELAXATION OF BANNING ORDER

(Ela Gandhi in front with Ebe Ebrahim and Saras Chetty)

 

It seemed that for a few months in mid and late 1973, the Ramgobins with the revived Natal Indian Congress background captured the news about their battles with the apartheid authorities.
In late September 1973 I wrote a piece about Mrs Ela Ramgobin trying to get her banning order relaxed so that she could accept a work offer in the central Durban area.
The story was published under the headline: “Woman seeking relaxation of banning order” on September 25 1973.

The story read:

Mrs Ela Ramgobin, banned granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, has appealed to the Minister of Justice, Mr P C Pelser, to relax the terms of her banning order so that she can accept a job in Durban.
Mrs Ramgobin, whose husband, Mewa Ramgobin, is also a banned person, was served with a five-year banning order on August 31.
She is restricted to the magisterial district of Inanda and may not leave her Phoenix home between 7pm and 7am on weekdays and weekends.
Mr Ramgobin, who made the appeal three weeks ago, is waiting to hear from Mr Pelser whether she can take up a job with the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society.
Mrs Ramgobin has also appealed to Mr Pelser to relax her banning orders over weekends so that she can take her children to the beach and on picnics.
She has worked for the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society previously and is an expert in the field. She holds degrees in social science and arts. Ends – Daily News Reporter Sept 25 1973

          THIRD INDIAN LEADER GETS BAN ORDER

 

The white minority regime in the 1970s was determined to crush all peaceful struggles for a free, non-racial and democratic society.
This was demonstrated in October 1973 when it banned the second leader of the Natal Indian Congress after it was revived in 1971. He was Mr George Sewpersadh.
I wrote the story and it was published on October 29 1973 under the headline: “Third Indian leader gets ban order”.

The story read:

The president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Chanderdeo Sewpersadh, was today served with a five-year banning order, restricting him from attending all social and political gatherings.

He is the third leader of the 78-year-old Congress, recently revived, to be banned. The others are Dr Monty Naicker and Mr Mewa Ramgobin.
Mr Sewpersadh, 38, was served with his banning order by security policemen at 9am today in his office in Verulam, where he practises as an attorney.
The order, served under the Suppression of Communism Act, prevents him from attending any social or political gathering or any gathering of pupils or students.
Mr Sewpersadh lives in Reservoir Hills. He graduated with a law degree from Natal University in 1960 and became president of the Natal Indian Congress in April last year.
He was to have attended a symposium on South Africa’s race problems, convened by Mr Donald Woods, in East London next month.
An emergency meeting of the NIC’s executive committee would be held tonight, a spokesman said.
Mrs Fatima Meer, Natal University lecturer, said that the government was sowing the seeds of a future explosion in the surest of terms by the banning of Mr Sewpersadh and other black leaders.
“It has shut up some 30 or more black voices in recent months and has now added to these that of Mr Sewpersadh.
“While on the one hand the Government pleads for dialogue with the rest of the world, on the other hand it is prepared to speak only to its own appointed voice and to hear that voice alone.
“Black South Africans in particular are driven into a position where they must recoil in silence.
“Each spate of banning aggravates black hostility, already supposed to have reached its limit, and the speechless silence they compel breeds newer brands of racial hatred, dooming South Africa to interminable strife.” Ends – Daily News Reporter October 29 1973

                  NAIDOO TAKES OVER NIC HELM

 

A few days later on October 31 1973 I followed up the banning of Mr George Sewpersadh with a report that his position had been taken over by another attorney.

(M J Naidoo (third) with Mewa Ramgobin, George Sewpersadh with rs Winnie Mandela at her home in the town of Ginsberg in the Free State Province in July 1983. Mrs Mandela at this time was banished to this town by the former apartheid regime.)  

The story was published under the headline: “Naidoo takes over NIC helm”.

The story read:

A Durban attorney, Mr M J Naidoo, has been chosen acting chairman of the Natal Indian Congress following Monday’s banning of its president, Mr Chandradeo Sewpersadh.
Mr Naidoo was chosen as acting chairman at an emergency meeting of the NIC’s secretariat.
He is an executive member of the NIC and will hold his new post until the NIC’s annual congress in the middle of next year.
The secretariat decided to appoint Mr Sewpersadh honorary president of the organisation even though he is no longer able to take active role because of his banning order.
It also issued a statement condemning the Government’s action against him. Ends – Daily News Reporter Oct 31 1973

NO REPLY TO APPEAL FOR BAN ORDER RELAXATION

 

A month later in November 1973 I wrote a story about banned NIC official, Mrs Ela Ramgobin, being frustrated at her banning order not being relaxed so that she could take up a job in Durban.
The story was published under the headline: “No reply to appeal for ban order relaxation” on November 26 1973.

The story read:

Mrs Ela Ramgobin, banned grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, who appealed to the Minister of Justice, Mr P C Pelser, two-and-half months ago to relax the terms of her banning order so she could accept a job in Durban, has still not heard from the Minister.
Mrs Ramgobin, who was served with a five-year banning order on August 31, has been offered a job with the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society.
Mrs Ramgobin, whose husband is also a banned person, had worked for the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society previously and is an expert in the field.
She holds degrees in social science and arts.
She has also appealed to the Minister to relax her banning orders over the weekend so that she could take her children to the beach and on picnics.
A request to the Verulam magistrate for Mr and Mrs Ramgobin to report on Saturdays at either the Inanda or Verulam police station has been referred to the Minister of Justice.
Currently Mr Ramgobin reports at Verulam and Mrs Ramgobin at Inanda. Ends – Daily News Reporter Nov 26 1973

               BANNED MAN TO HOLD EASTER FAST

 

It seemed that the Ramgobins continued to dominate the Congress story when in April 1974 I wrote an article about Mr Mewa Ramgobin holding an Easter fast against banning and other repressive actions by the apartheid regime.
The story was published under the headline: “Banned man to hold Easter fast” on April 9 1974.
The story read:
The banned former leader of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, will start his annual Easter fast on Friday in protest against banning, house arrest and other apartheid laws in South Africa.
A close friend of the family said today that Mr Ramgobin would be joined in the fast by his wife, Mrs Ela Ramgobin, who is also banned under the Suppression of Communism Act.
They will fast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
This will be the third year in succession that Mr Ramgobin will hold an Easter fast. In 1972 and 1973 he fasted for periods of five days each.
Last year Mr Ramgobin received the support of Pope Paul and the British Labour Party. He was also supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Michael Ramsey; the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Rev Robert Selby-Taylor; the Archbishop of Durban, the Most Rev Denis Hurley; and the Director of the Christian Institute, Dr Beyers Naude.
The Ramgobin family friend said the fast was a protest against “all the injustices in South Africa”.
“Easter is one of the most holiest periods for Christians, and South Africa, being a Christian country, should take stock of the oppressive laws.” – (News by M. Subramoney, 85 Field Street, Durban). April 9 1974

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS TO SEND FRELIMO MESSAGE

 

The Natal Indian Congress, being one of the leading voices for democracy and the freedom of the people, wasted no time when Frelimo took power in neighbouring Mozambique in 1974.
I covered this story and it was published under the headline: “Natal Indian Congress to send Frelimo message” on September 23 1974.

The story read:

The Natal Indian Congress decided yesterday to send a congratulatory message to the new Frelimo Government in Mozambique.
The decision was taken at the annual conference of the Congress in Durban’s Kajee Hall after delegates said Frelimo was the true representative of the people of Mozambique.
“With Mozambique liberated and Rhodesia on the verge, we will be next,” said one delegate.
In another development, Dr M G H Mayat, a member of the Northern Durban Indian Local Affairs Committee, announced his resignation from the Congress today after he was removed as one of the vice-presidents.
The decision to remove Dr Mayat as one of the vice-presidents was initiated by the president, Mr M J Naidoo, who said that as a member of the local affairs committee, Dr Mayat could not be on the NIC executive.
The NIC earlier resolved to have nothing to do with the Indian Council and other “Government-created” institutions because they were “created for subjugating the oppressed people of South Africa”.
In a statement, Dr Mayat said the NIC had once more adopted a negative attitude – an attitude of withdrawal and isolation.
“It chooses to remain on the periphery, passing resolutions and devoting its energies solely to the task of making press statements,” he said.
In another move, Mr R A Moodley, a member of the Southern Durban Indian Local Affairs Committee, yesterday announced his resignation from the LAC after the NIC decided to reject the Indian Council and become a non-racial body. Ends – Daily News Reporter September 23 1974

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS TO ADMIT ALL RACE GROUPS

 

On the same day on September 23 1974, I had another story published about the Congress opening membership to all race groups.
The story, under the headline, “Natal Indian Congress to admit all race groups”, read:

 

The anti-apartheid Natal Indian Congress has decided to admit all race groups as members and has rejected any participation in the Indian Council.
These two decisions were taken at a lively meeting of the Congress conference in Durban’s Kajee Hall yesterday.
In amending its constitution to allow all race groups to become members, the NIC resolved that with the changing events in Africa it could no longer remain an Indian-only organisation.
After some discussion about the Indian Council, the conference resolved on a 22-12 motion that the NIC and all its members should have nothing to do with the council.

Mr D K Singh, who was elected as one of the new vice-presidents, said the problems of South Africa could only be solved by the creation of a non-racial and democratic society.
He said Mr Sonny Leon and the Labour Party had proved that Coloured Representatives’ Council “a dummy body”, and it would now be a  waste of time for the Indian community to undertake the same exercise.
The Indian Council, he said, was another institution created for the sole purpose of dividing and subjugating the oppressed people of South Africa.
“We believe that to destroy racial discrimination and domination it is necessary to end the divisions which have been created and which are being perpetrated by the present ruling class through separate racial institutions.
“We further believe that these institutions only serve to divert the energies and blur the goals of the people and operate to arrest real change.
“We call upon the people to dissociate themselves from these institutions and to continue with the struggle to establish a democratic and non-discriminatory society by uniting the people of the country with a common goal and a common society.”
Mr M J Naidoo, who was re-elected president, said the NIC movement looked towards the events in Africa with joy.
“We look forward to the day when South Africa will join the free nations of this continent.” Ends – Daily News Reporter 23 Sept 1974

 

                             NO INDIAN MANDATE – MRS MEER

              (Struggle stalwart Fatima Meer with Ismail Mahomed, Norman Mailer and Bobby Mari)

One of the country’s leading anti-apartheid opponents, Mrs Fatima Meer, also spoke at the Natal Indian Congress conference. She pulled no punches in her official address.
This story was published under the headline: “No Indian mandate – Mrs Meer” on the same page as the above story.

The story read:

Members of the government-constituted electoral college had no mandate from the Indian people to elect members to the Indian Council in November, Mrs Fatima Meer, Natal University lecturer, said in Durban at the weekend.
Addressing the annual conference of the Natal Indian Congress, Mrs Meer said those in the electoral college were there at the behest of the National Party Government and vote, at the behest of the government.
Those who were members of it, she said, must, therefore, stand accused of usurping the rights of the Indian people.
“A proclamation from the State President has already decreed those they may not ‘elect’, including people in South Africa most eligible for nomination, not only from an Indian point of view, but from a South African point of view.
“The new Indian Council will not have elected members in it. It will be composed of 15 members nominated directly by the Government and 15 members nominated indirectly by the Government, through the electoral college,” she said.
She said the proposed Indian Council was very different from the Coloured Persons’ Representative Council.
“Sonny Leon pushed the Coloured Representative Council to its present position of deadlock, and is able to make the demand he does for its abolition, and for parity, because the elected position of the Coloured Representative Council constitutes a majority.
“Sonny Leon speaks in the manner he does because he feels the strength of the Coloured people.
“On whose strength will the 30 members of the proposed South African Indian Council lean? They cannot lean on the strength of the Indian people. Half of them owe them nothing at all, having wholly been appointed by the government, and the other half can only lean on the strength of electoral college members – and what kind of strength is that?”, she asked. Ends – Daily News Reporter Sept 23 1974

 

                      NEW BAN ORDER ON DOCRAT

 

During this period, one of the stalwarts of the Natal Indian Congress came under the hammer of the Pretoria regime. On October 31 1974 I covered the story about new banning orders imposed on struggle activist, Mr A K M Docrat, who lived in a flat in Victoria Street in Durban.
The story was published under the headline: “New ban order on Docrat”.

The story read:

A Durban man, Mr A K M Docrat, who has been under house arrest for the past ten years, has been served with another two-year banning order under the Suppression of Communism Act. He has, however, been allowed complete freedom of movement.
He now no longer has to earn a living only as a four-hour-a-day second hand bookseller.
The new order, signed by the Minister of Justice, Mr J T Kruger, was served on Mr Docrat at his Victoria Street flat yesterday afternoon by Captain K Nayagar of the Security Police.
According to the order, the Minister said he was satisified Mr Docrat engaged in activities which were furthering or calculated to further the achievement of the objects of communism in terms of section 9(1) of the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950.
The new order does not restrict his movements but he is prohibited from attending any social gathering or political gathering and is prevented from instructing, training or addressing pupils or students. During his 10-year banning he was only allowed to leave his flat from 10am to 2pm.
Mr Docrat, a 59-year-old bookseller, had been subject to one of the most extreme house-arrest orders.
He has been banned since 1964 and, when his second five-year banning order was imposed in 1969, a 22-hour-a-day house arrest order was also imposed.
After an appeal his hours of freedom were extended from 10am to 2pm. Ends – Daily News Reporter October 31 1974
 

FOOTNOTE: Mr Docrat, who was born in India’s Gujerat state in 1915, was a member of nearly all the anti-apartheid groups that operated in the country at that time. His life and political involvement was profiled by the late political activist and attorney, Phyllis Naidoo. Docrat passed away in Durban in 2003 at the age of 88. Although he sacrificed his life for the freedom we enjoy today, he has not been recognised in any way by the new order.

 

             NIC ADD ITS VOICE IN RELEASE DETAINEES CALL

 

In late November 1974 when anti-apartheid leaders came out condemning the Pretoria regime for the detention of leaders who organised the pro-Frelimo rally in September of that year, the Natal Indian Congress was also one of the organisations that added its voice.
I wrote the story which was published under the headline: “NIC adds its voice in release detainees call” on November 22 1974.
The story read:
The Natal Indian Congress has added its voice to the mounting demand that the “Frelimo” detainees held under the Terrorism Act either be charged in a court of law or released.
At least 26 SASO and BPC members from all parts of South Africa are being held incommunicado following their arrests after the pro-Frelimo rally at Currie’s Fountain on September 25.
The NIC appeal follows a flood of telegrams received this week by black leaders from parents and wives of detainees.
Mr M J Naidoo, president of the NIC, said today that no one could feel safe in a society where there was indefinite detention and no redress in a court of law.
If the detainees were brought before a court of law, people’s fears and suspicions would be allayed, he said.
“The agony being caused to detainees, their friends, relatives and the black people as a whole cannot be described in words.”
Mr Naidoo said the purpose of law in a democratic and civilised society was to safe guard the liberty of the individual and not to destroy it. Ends – Daily News Reporter November 22 1974
 

                FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS MEETINGS IN SA

 

On the same day on November 22 1974, I had another article published about the Natal Indian Congress joining a nation-wide effort to observe Human Rights Day in the country.
The story was published under the headline: “First Human Rights meetings in SA”.

The story read:

 

United Nations Human Rights Day will be commemorated in South Africa for the first time in 10 years at meetings in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban on December 8.
The meetings, being held by the Human Rights Committee in the three centres, will discuss South Africa’s position at the United Nations and the Government’s attitude to the United Nations Charter on Human Rights – to which it is not a signatory.
The committees are headed by Mr Geoff Budlander in Cape Town, Mrs Fatima Meer and Professor Barend van Niekerk of the University of Natal, Mr Harry Pitman, Progressive Party leader in Natal, Mr T L Skweyiya, a Durban lawyer, and Mr M J Naidoo, president of the Natal Indian Congress, among others, are members of the Durban Committee. Ends – Daily News Reporter November 22 1974

                    BANNING ORDERS RELAXED

 

During this period another fiery political activist, Mrs Phyllis Naidoo, had her banning orders relaxed to allow to represent her clients in court.
I was in constant contact with her at this time and I had the story published on March 17 1975 under the headline: “Banning orders relaxed” and a top sub-headline: “Attorney can go to court”.

The story read:

The Minister of Justice, Mr Jimmy Kruger, has relaxed the banning orders of Durban attorney, Mrs Phyllis Naidoo, to allow her to appear in court to represent her clients.
Mrs Naidoo, a mother of three young children who has been banned since March 1966, was told of the relaxation in her banning orders last week. Representations to the Minister had been made by the Natal Law Society and Mrs Helen Suzman, the Progressive Party MP.
An attorney friend of Mrs Naidoo told the Daily News today that representations had also been made to the Prime Minister, Mr B J Vorster, protesting against the restrictions.
He said Mr Vorster had referred Mrs Naidoo’s representations to the Minister of Justice.
“Although this relaxation will not give her complete freedom it will at least allow her to conduct her activities like any other attorney,” he said.
Mrs Naidoo, who was admitted as an attorney in May 1973, has been under house arrest for the past nine years. She may leave her Brickfield Road flat only during 7am and 6pm. On Sundays and public holidays, including Christmas Day, she may not leave her home at all.
She is also restricted to the magisterial district of Durban and is prohibited from attending any gathering, including children’s birthday parties. She has to report to the police every Monday.
Mrs Naidoo is the former wife of Durban advocate Mr M D Naidoo, a Robben Island detainee who was released in 1972 after a five-year sentence. Ends – Daily News Reporter March 17 1975
 

             FISCHER’S RELEASE “HUMANE”

 

In mid-March 1975 reports of the health of Communist leader, Mr Bram Fischer, in prison began to emerge and calls were made for his release.
The Government surprised the South African people when it released Mr Fischer into the care of his family. This action was welcomed by the Natal Indinan Congress and other anti-apartheid organisations and leaders.
I covered this story and it was published under the headline: “Fischer’s release ‘humane’ ”, on March 18 1975.

The article read: 

The release of Bram Fischer by the Minister of Justice and Prisons, Mr J T Kruger, into the care of his family for a month indicated there was still “a lot of humanity and sanity” in South Africa, Mr M J Naidoo, president of the Natal Indian Congress, said today.
Mr Naidoo said although the Minister’s decision was somewhat late it was still “very good news for the sake of humanity in our country”.
“It is a very kindly gesture on the part of the Minister and I hope and pray that Bram Fischer will be allowed to stay with his family for more than a month.
“I hope the day will come when all other people in Mr Fischer’s position will also be given similar treatment.
“I also hope those opposed to the government will not be banned or put behind bars,” he said.
The Natal leader of the Labour Party, Mr Norman Middleton, said everybody in South Africa would be happy for Mr Fischer.
“Fischer has suffered enough and this decision to allow him to spend the last days of his life with his family is very welcome indeed.
“It is a pity the Minister only released him after being pressured by various people.
“Fischer can never be a threat to the security of the State in his present condition,” he said.
Dr Monty Naicker, a former leader of the Natal Indian Congress and the S A Indian Congress, who was banned for 16 years, said that in the present climate the Minister’s decision was correct.
“The Minister’s action will surely be welcomed by all well-meaning people because Fischer will not suffer the indignity of dying in prison.
“I am sure this will be a great relief for the Fischer family,” he said.  Ends – Daily News Reporter March 18 1975
 

SECURITY POLICE AT BRAAM FISCHER MEMORIAL

 

And when Bram Fischer passed away in May 1975 the Natal Indian Congress organised a memorial service for the former leader of the Communist Party. The event attracted undue attention from the notorious security police.
I spoke to NIC leaders and wrote a story about 43 members of the security police attending the memorial service as part of the nearly 400 activists who attended.
The article was published on May 13 1975 under the headline: “Security police at Bram Fischer memorial”.

The story read:

The head of the Security Police in Durban, Colonel F. Steenkamp, and “about 43 Special Branch policemen” were among a multiracial gathering of more than 400 people who attended the memorial prayer meeting for Bram Fischer, the former Communist leader, in Durban last night, the secretary of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr R Ramesar, claimed today.
Mr Ramesar said he personally counted 45 Special Branch policemen but other Congress officials had counted 43 policemen.
He said Colonel Steenkamp approached him on the stage and introduced himself to him. He wanted to know who organised the meeting and who some of the speakers were.
“After giving the information he was quite satisfied,” he said.
Colonel Steenkamp would not confirm that he had attended the meeting when approached by The Daily News.
He said he was not obliged to account to anyone for his movements.
“It was a public meeting and I am a member of the public,” he said. Ends – Daily News Reporter May 13 1975

ROBBEN ISLAND PRISONER’S WIFE LEAVES FOR BRITAIN

 

At the same time, I covered a story about a close relative of one of the Natal Indian Congress leaders leaving the country on an exit permit after repeatedly being denied a passport.
 I wrote the story and it was published under the headline: “Robben Island prisoner’s wife leaves for Britain” on May 14 1975.

The story read:

Mrs Omprakash Maharaj, wife of a Robben Island prisoner, Mr S R Maharaj, left South Africa on an exit permit on Saturday after having repeatedly been refused a passport.
Mrs Maharaj (40) was a night matron at Durban’s St Aidan’s Hospital.
Mr M J Naidoo, president of the Natal Indian Congress, who is a brother of Mrs Maharaj, said today his sister would take up an appointment at a hospital in England.
Mr Maharaj, who obtained his BA degree from Natal University, was arrested in Johannesburg immediately after the Rivonia Trial. He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 1961. He is expected to be released next year. Ends – Daily News Reporter May 14 1975

        BLACKS ENTER FISCHER’S ASHES ROW

 

Only a few days after the Natal Indian Congress had organised a memorial service for the former Communist leader, Abram Fischer, in Durban, in May 1975, the NIC responded to the demand that his ashes should be handed to the Prisons Department.

The story was published under the headline: “Blacks enter Fischer’s ashes row” on May 18 1975.

The president of the NIC, Mr M J Naidoo, said it was sickening to note that the Government was still interested in Mr Fischer even after death.   He said Mr Fischer was one of South Africa’s greatest sons and a truer man than him would be hard to find today.

“Mr Fischer was born in the real tradition of an Afrikaner and he could have taken a back seat and enjoyed his life to the full.

“But he saw the wrongs being committed and set himself to do justice. For this he was punished by his own people.”

A South African Indian Council member, Mr Y S Chinsamy, said he was disappointed and disgusted at the behaviour of the Government.

“I cannot believe that the Government can stoop to such a low level. The ashes of Mr Fischer will definitely not rouse the people against the State.

“Mr Fischer belonged to a highly-respected family in South Africa and I think the Government should show some sympathy by allowing the family to keep the ashes.

“Why should the family be persecuted for whatever crime Mr Fischer might have committed against the State.”

Mr Bill Hendrickse, Coloured Representative Council member for Wentworth, said the Government had laid down the conditions for Mr Fischer’s funeral because it was afraid the funeral might become “a rallying point”.

He said the death of Mr Fischer was a great blow.

“His death should now not be made a comedy by the Government demanding his ashes. What is the Government’s aim? Does it want to hold the man behind bars even after death?

“He was a martyr to all black people because he stuck to his principles to the last. Because of this respect,” he said. Ends – Daily News Reporter May 18 1975

                         NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS RIFT

              

 

 

Late in February 1976 the Natal Indian Congress was faced with the issue of whether Congress should contest the Government’s Indian Council elections scheduled for 1977.
This led to a bitter row between those supporting the move and those totally opposed to giving any credibility to an apartheid institution.
I wrote this article and it was published under the headline, “Natal Indian Congress rift”, on February 27 1976.
The story read:
The Natal Indian Congress is heading for a split following moves by certain members to get the NIC to contest the first Indian Council elections to be held sometime next year.
A resolution to this effect will be moved and seconded by top NIC officials at its conference on March 26.
Although this move is being supported by the entire NIC executive committee, it is, however, expected to create a storm as it is opposed by the more militant members of the organisation.

A similar resolution last year moved by the president, Mr M J Naidoo, was rejected after the majority of members decided that the SAIC and other similar institutions were created by the Government “solely for the purpose of dividing and subjugating the oppressed people of South Africa”.

Mr Naidoo confirmed that a few members would renew the call at the conference.

He said he would not raise the matter himself as he was aware that some members would oppose any move by the NIC to become involved with the SAIC.

“But if the matter is raised I will support it. Although the SAIC is an ineffective and useless institution, we believe that it can be used to further the aims and objects of the NIC.”

A spokesperson for the militant group in the NIC said he would oppose the move because he did not believe the SAIC could be used to further the objectives of the NIC.

“Once you are in it you become part of the system. I believe that to end racial discrimination and domination it is necessary to end the divisions which have been created and which are being perpetrated by the present ruling class through separate racial institutions.” Ends – Daily News Reporter February 27 1976

DURBAN MAN HOME AFTER 12 YEARS ON THAT ISLAND

 

A day later on February 28 1976 I wrote a story about a Congress activist gaining his freedom after being imprisoned on Robben Island for 12 years.
The story was published under the headline, “Durban man home after 12 years on that island”.
The story read:
In September 1964, a 30-year-old Merebank father of five had the last glimpse of his 10-month-old baby girl, Lalitha, before leaving for Robben Island to serve a prison term after being convicted of sabotage.
Yesterday when Mr Kisten Doorsamy was re-united with his family after 12 years he had another glimpse of his daughter who, since then, has blossomed into a young woman.
Mr Doorsamy, now 42, was not only welcomed by his “baby”, but also by four grand-children. His eldest daughter of 22 and his son of 21 married while he was on Robben Island.

Mr Doorsamy was one of 18 Africans and Indians who were given sentences of between five and 20 years when convicted at the 1963 Natal sabotage trial in Pietermaritzburg.
He was found guilty on two of the 28 counts that arose during the trial. It was alleged that he and another man, Mr K Moonsamy, fixed and detonated charges of dynamite on a power transmission line carrier on December 5, 1962, at Umlazi bridge.
It was also alleged that on January 15, 1963, at Montclair, he and Mr Moonsamy placed and detonated charges of dynamite in a telephone communications chamber.
Yesterday, Mr Doorsamy said all he wanted was to settle down and lead a normal life with his wife, children and grand-children.
“I am happy to be back in society. I now only want to find a job and lead a new life,” he said.
Mr Doorsamy was released from Robben Island a month ago, but was kept at a rehabilitation centre in the Transvaal. He was brought to Durban on Wednesday by car and kept at the Durban Central Prison for one night. Ends – Daily News Reporter Feb 28 1976

NIC CHIEF RE-ELECTED AFTER THREAT TO RESIGN

 

On March 29 1976 I wrote another story on the NIC congress about the re-election of M J Naidoo as president despite his indication that he was prepared to step down.

The story read:

Mr M J Naidoo, president of the Natal Indian Congress, has accepted re-election after at first indicating that he was prepared to vacate the position.
Mr Naidoo issued his resignation threat at the NIC conference at the weekend when he defended his right in calling for NIC members to use the “Government-created SAIC” as a vehicle for political advancement.
Dr Jerry Coovadia, Dr Farouk Meer and Mr Rabbi Bhagwandeen (vice-presidents) and Mr Yunus Suleman (treasurer) were other officials elected. Ends – Daily News Reporter March 29 1976

INDIANS TO FORM NEW POLITICAL PARTY

I wrote another story from the conference about moves to establish a new political by those who had lost the bid to get the conference to support their call to fight the “system” from within.
The story was published under the headline: “Indians to form new political party” on March 29 1976.

The story read:

A new Indian political party, the Peoples’ Congress Party of South Africa, is to be established soon following the weekend decision of the Natal Indian Congress not to become involved in Government-created bodies like the Indian Council.
Attempts by some members to get the NIC conference to give its blessings to members to fight the “system” from within petered out when a strong body of young radicals rejected the move.
The president of the NIC, Mr M J Naidoo, however, appealed to the members not to criticise or vilify those members who wanted to use the SAIC “as a vehicle in our freedom struggle”.
He said he agreed with the NIC members that the SAIC was an “empty shell” which could not achieve anything desirable for the people.
But, he said, the SAIC must be used by leaders who would be able to reflect the true feelings of the Indian community.
“If our leaders make their demands in the SAIC, our voices will be heard and we will be able to politicise our people.”
One of the delegates, who is closely associated in the formation of the new party, told The Daily News that the People Congress Party would be formed soon despite the attitude of certain members of the NIC. Ends – Daily News Reporter March 29 1976

LIFTING OF BAN “NOT FREEDOM”, SAYS ATTORNEY

 

While covering the stories around the Natal Indian Congress I also kept a close watch on activists and others who could be considered to also support the ideals of the congress. One of these leaders was Phyllis Naidoo, who was a behind the scenes activist of the highest order in helping those detained, banned, restricted and in jail. She also assisted their families.
On April 5 1976 I wrote a story after talking to her about the lifting of her banning orders.

The story, published under the headline: “Lifting of ban ‘not freedom’ says attorney”, read:

 

Mrs Phyllis Naidoo, a Durban attorney whose banning order under the Suppression of Communism Act has been lifted, still does not consider herself to be free after 10 years of restrictions.
“How can I be free in a society that is not free?”, asked Mrs Naidoo, 45, and mother of three young children.
Her banning order, which was first imposed in March 1966, expired last week. She was barred from attending any social or political gathering and any gathering of pupils of students, and from addressing such gatherings.
Mrs Naidoo, who was admitted as an attorney in May 1973, after a long battle with the Natal Law Society and the Minister of Justice to be allowed to practice, said today:
“The lifting of my banning orders allows me superficial freedom and nothing more. I am still not allowed to live where I want to or go where I want to.
“My freedom is nothing compared to the freedom of the people.
“There is nothing to celebrate because the society we live in is an unjust one. Until all racial barriers in this country are lifted, we will never be free,” she said.
Mrs Naidoo said that for the first time in 10 years she was able to accompany her children to a swimming gala in Pietermaritzburg. Ends – Daily News Reporter April 5 1976

            FREED MAN BANNED FOR FIVE YEARS

 

The oppression instituted by the former apartheid regime showed no mercy when it came to silencing activists. On December 17 1976, another activist closely aligned to the Natal Indian Congress, Mac Maharaj, was slapped with a-five year banning order after being released from Robben Island after 12 years of imprisonment.

The story was published on December 18 1976 under the headline: “Freed man banned for five years.”

The story read:

A former Robben Island prisoner, Mr S R “Mac” Maharaj, who was released yesterday after 12 years, has been banned for five years.
Maharaj, 40, who was convicted in 1964 for sabotage and offences under the General Laws Amendment Act, was served with the banning order before he left the Durban Central Prison yesterday.
He was transferred from Robben Island to Durban a month ago.
A friend of Mr Maharaj told The Daily News that the former Robben Island prisoner walked out of the Durban Central Prison with the order in his hand.
In terms of the banning order signed by the Minister of Justice, Mr Jimmy Kruger, Maharaj has been prohibited from leaving his new home at Nirvana Court, Merebank, from 6pm to 6am on weekdays and on Sundays and public holidays.
While on Robben Island, Maharaj studied through the University of South Africa and obtained BA, BA Social Science and B.Admin. degrees.
His wife, who was a matron at St Aiden’s Hospital, left the country two years ago on an exit permit. She is now in London.
A Daily News correspondent reports from Johannesburg that the Government will have to free all people detained under the Internal Security Act by the end of this month unless their detention orders are renewed.
The Minister of Justice, Police and Prisons, Mr Jimmy Kruger, has announced that 81 internal security detainees would be freed in time to spend Christmas at home.
According to the Institute of Race Relations, which says 102 people are known to be detained under the Internal Security Act, this would leave at least 21 in custody.
But unless their detention orders are renewed, they will be free by December 31.
The names of the 81 detainees to be released could not be obtained today. Mr Kruger said he had considered their cases, and taking into account the prevailing circumstances he had decided to release them now. Ends – Daily News Reporter Dec 18 1976 
 

RELEASED ROBBEN ISLAND MAN FLEES TO TANZANIA

 

In July 1977 I followed up reports about a Congress-affiliated former Robben Island prisoner, Mac Maharaj, skipping the country and seeking refuge in Tanzania.

(Mac Maharaj with Premier Zihle Zikhalala)

The story was published under the headline, “Released Robben Island man flees to Tanzania”, in mid July 1977.

The story read:

Former Robben Island prisoner, Mr S R “Mac” Maharaj, who was released at the end of last year (1976) after serving a 12-year term, has fled the country.
He is the seventh former Robben Island prisoner to have skipped the country in the last 15 months.
The others are Mr Sonny Singh of Durban who served 10 years; Mr Andrew Masondo of Durban who served 13 years; Mr Indres Naidoo of Johannesburg who served 10 years; Mr Stephen Dlamini of Bulwer, Natal, who served 10 years; Mr Riot Mkwanazi of Zululand who served 10 years; and Mr Eli Wynberg of Johannesburg. They are all believed to be active workers of the African National Congress (ANC) in Dar Es Salaam and Maputo.
Another former prisoner, Mr Marius Schoon, and his wife, Jenny (formerly Jenny Curtis), skipped the country last month. They are believed to be in Botswana.
Mr Dlamini, who has been head of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), has been heard over Radio Maputo in an ANC programme directed to South Africa.
Mr Maharaj’s Durban attorney, Mrs Phyllis Naidoo, said today that she received a telephone call on Saturday night from him in Dar-es-Salaam.
She said he only wanted to know how his ageing mother was keeping.
Mr Maharaj, who was serving a five-year banning order in terms of the Internal Security Act, was convicted of sabotage in 1964 with five other men.
He recently complained to the Press Council about alleged inaccuracies published in several newspapers about conditions on Robben Island. The reports were written after journalists were allowed to visit Robben Island by the former Minister of Justice, Mr Jimmy Kruger, recently.
His complaints were not considered because they were not lodged within the required time of objections. Ends – Daily News Reporter July 14 1977

FORMER BANNED LEADER TO ADDRESS CONFERENCE

In July 1978 I published a story about the former banned president of the NIC, Mr George Sewpersadh, being one of the leaders who would address the NIC congress in November.

The story on July 10 1978 read:

The former president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr George Sewpersadh, whose five-year banning order expired last week, will be one of the speakers at the NIC conference in Durban on December 17, 18 and 19.
Mr Sewpersadh, who was banned in terms of the Communism Act, will address the NIC working session at the Kajee Hall on possible constitutional alternatives for South Africa.

He is expected to take over the presidency of the NIC at the meeting following the announcement by the current president, Mr M J Naidoo, that he would step down in favour of Mr Sewpersadh. Ends – Daily News Reporter July 10 1978

    GANDHI’S DESCENDANT BANNED AGAIN

(Ela Gandhi with Dr Khorshed Ginwala during a function at the Dr Monty Naicker Museum)

 
With the Natal Indian Congress busy preparing for its congress in November 1978, another top leader of the organisation was issued with another banning order.
I wrote the story and it was published under the headline: “Gandhi’s descendant banned again” on August 1 1978.

The story read:

The banned grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, Mrs Ela Ramgobin, has been banned for a further three years and two months in terms of Section 9 (1) of the Internal Security Act by the Minister of Justice, Mr J T Kruger.
Her previous five-year banning order expired yesterday.
The latest order was served on her at her home in Verulam by two Indian members of the Security Police.
In terms of the banning, she is restricted to the magisterial district of Inanda and is prohibited from entering any African rural or urban areas and any coloured or Indian group areas.
She is also restricted from entering schools and colleges and attending any social or political gathering. She has been given special permission to entertain some of her close relatives.
Her husband, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, is restricted by his third five-year banning order.
Mr Ramgobin, whose banning order will expire at the same time as his wife’s on September 30 1981, was the chairman of the Committee for Clemency  for political prisoners and the first president of the Natal Indian Congress after it was revived in 1971. Ends – Daily News Reporter August 1 1978 

CONGRESS PRESIDENT TO URGE CONVENTION

When the Natal Indian Congress was preparing for a major congress in November 1978, the president, Mr M J Naidoo, spoke to me about the need for a national convention to overcome the country’s racial problems.
The article was published on November 17 1978 under the headline: “Congress president to urge convention”.
The story read:
The president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr M J Naidoo, will urge the holding of a national convention in South African when he delivers his presidential address at the official opening of the NIC congress at the Orient Hall tonight.
Mr Naidoo will be making his final presidential address as he has already indicated that he will be stepping down in favour of Mr George Sewpersadh, former president of the NIC whose five-year banning order expired a fortnight ago.
The other speakers at tonight’s congress opening will be Mrs Helen Joseph, South Africa’s first house-arrested person in the 1960s; the Rev Ernest Baartman, general secretary of the mission department of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa; and Mr Onwell Msomi, general secretary of the Umlazi New Generation.
The NIC working session will be held at the Kajee Hall tomorrow, when possible constitutional alternatives for South Africa will be discussed.
Mr Naidoo said 20 branches of the NIC would be represented at the congress sessions. Ends – Daily News Reporter Nov 17 1978

HOUSING BOYCOTT TO PROTEST AGAINST RENTS

 

 

In February 1980, the Natal Indian Congress joined a group of other progressive organisations in supporting the campaigns against the Durban municipality’s decision to sell low-cost houses at unreasonably high prices.
The campaigns had seen a number of housing action committees emerging in Chatsworth, Phoenix, Merebank, Durban, Asherville, Wentworth, Verulam, Tongaat and other residential areas.
I covered many of the meetings organised by these organisations.
At one mass meeting in Chatsworth on February 17 1980, more than 1 500 people turned up to listen to the support expressed by leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and other progressive forces.

    MANDATE GIVEN TO FIGHT COST OF HOUSES

The story I wrote was published under the headline: “Mandate given to fight cost of houses”. The story read:

 

          SELL HOUSES AT COST

 

More than 1 500 people yesterday gave the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee a unanimous mandate to contest legally the high selling price of sub-economic houses in the huge Indian township.
They gave this mandate at a lively meeting organised by the action committee at the township’s Unit Six Twin Cinema.
It was attended by representatives of ratepayers’ and civic associations from Phoenix, Tongaat, Asherville, Merebank, Wentworth and Pietermaritzburg and also included representatives of Diakonia, the Natal Indian Congress, Phoenix Trust, Anti-SAIC Committee and the Democratic Lawyers’ Association.
The meeting responded vociferously to calls for legal action when they were earlier told by a number of speakers that the Durban City Council had steadfastly refused to lower the selling prices and that the Minister of Community Development, Mr Marais Steyn, had turned down their appeal to him to intervene in the matter.
The meeting was told that the council was selling the sub-economic houses at prices ranging from R4 000 and more when in fact it had cost only about R1 800 each to build them.
A number of speakers condemned the city council and the Government for trying to make a profit from “the people who can least afford it and from those who are voteless and voiceless”.
The meeting thunderously whistled and applauded when Mr I C Meer of the Phoenix Trust and a veteran leader of the old Natal and South African Indian Congresses said people were tired of being denied their fundamental basic rights as human beings in South Africa.
He said the local affairs committees and the South African Indian Council (SAIC) were “badges of slavery” and the people wanted nothing to do with them.
He said the people of Chatsworth had a right to own their own houses, but at the same time they should not be exploited.
“We are not asking for charity when we ask the authorities to lower the selling prices of the sub-economic houses,” he said.
Mr Mike Govindsamy of the action committee told the meeting that Chatsworth residents were being treated shabbily.
“I am certain that if this matter concerned whites the city councillors would be present here because they would rely on the votes to get back to office.
“We invited Mrs Sybil Hotz, chairman of the Health and Housing Committee, to come here and face the people, but I find that she is not here. Why is she afraid?” he asked.
Another speaker, Mrs T Naidoo, said the people of Chatsworth were living in houses “that are falling apart and they may not last 30 years”.
“I would like the Minister to come here and see how we are suffering,” she said.
Reacting, Mrs Hotz said she did not attend the meeting because she had already explained to the Croftdene Residents’ Association the reasons for the new selling prices of the sub-economic houses.
She rejected claims that the council was making profit from the sale of the houses. The extra money was “surplus” which was ploughed back to provide houses for other sub-economic families.
“The families in Chatsworth have enjoyed housing at low rentals for many years and they are now in an economic position to buy the houses,” she said. Ends – Daily News Reporter Feb 18 1980 

 HOUSING BOYCOTT TO PROTEST AGAINST RENTS

 

Later that month on February 24 1980, the Natal Indian Congress once again rallied to the support of residents in Verulam, north of Durban, against rent increases and prices of council houses.
The NIC’s M J Naidoo joined the residents at the protest meeting.

The article I had written was published under the headline: “Housing boycott to protest against rents” on February 25 1980.

The story read:

More than 300 people yesterday decided to boycott Verulam’s new R3 500 000 housing project in protest against the rents and prices.
The meeting, which was convened by the Action Committee for Mount View Phase Two, was held at the Luxmi Theatre in Verulam.
The chairman of the Committee, Mr Mannik Kisten, told the meeting that the rents charged and the selling prices were not within the scope of those people who had applied for the houses.
The housing complex consists of sub-economic and economic houses. The A-type economic house has been put on the market for R16 000 and the monthly instalment will be R147.
The B-type will sell for R17 000 and the monthly instalment will be R155.
The sub-economic scheme features 122 two-bedroomed flats with A and B type schemes. The rentals will be R39.75 and R56.02 respectively.
Mr Kisten said that the houses were not worth the money that was being asked by the Verulam Town Council.
Mr M J Naidoo, a leader of the Natal Indian Congress and a member of the Tongaat Civic Association, said that 20 percent of a wage-earner’s salary should go on rent. He said that in Verulam this was impossible for the people on the lower rungs of the ladder.
After a lengthy discussion it was decided to hold urgent talks with the Verulam Town Council with a view to getting the rentals and the prices reduced.
The committee had obtained an interview with the town clerk, Mr Dick Naicker, for today. Ends – Daily News Reporter Feb 25 1980

DRIVE AGAINST CHATSWORTH HOUSE COSTS GETS SUPPORT

 

The active role that the Natal Indian Congress in supporting local communities in the struggles for decent living conditions continued in April 1980. The NIC’s vice-president, M J Naidoo, was elected to chair the Support Housing Action Committee that was established by progressive organisations to lend support to the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee in its fight against high selling prices of sub-economic houses in the township.
I wrote this article and it was published on April 1 1980 under the headline: “Drive against Chatsworth house costs gets support.”

The story read:

A support committee, known as the Support Housing Action Committee, has been formed to help the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee in its fight against the prices of sub-economic houses in Chatsworth.
The organisations associated with the new committee are: The Asherville Ratepayers’ Association, Merebank Ratepayers’ Association, Croftdene Residents’ Association, Tongaat Civic Association, Chatsworth Community Projects, Natal Indian Congress, Anti-SAIC Committee, Northern Durban Ratepayers’ and Tenants Federation, Democratic Lawyers’ Association, Black Sash, Women for Peaceful Change Now, La Mercy Ratepayers’ and Tenants Association, Greenwood Park Ratepayers’ and Tenants Association, Greenwood Park Ratepayers’ Association, Moorton Housing Action Committee, University of Westville Students and Merewent Ex-Students’ Association.
Diakonia, Phoenix Working Committee, Pietermaritzburg and District Combined Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association and Marburg and Port Shepstone Ratepayers’ and Civic Association are the other organisations that have given their support.
Mr M J Naidoo, vice-chairman of the Natal Indian Congress, has been elected chairman with Mrs Anne Colvin of Black Sash as vice-chairperson and Miss Daya Pillay secretary/treasurer.
Mr Naidoo said in a statement that the purpose of the committee was to persuade the Minister of Community Development, Mr Marais Steyn, to reduce the selling price of the sub-economic houses in Chatsworth and to pressurise the Minister to meet a delegation of the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee. Ends – Daily News Reporter April 1 1980 

DURBAN CITY COUNCIL TOLD TO CUT RENTS

 

In early April 1980, the Natal Indian Congress supported the people of Phoenix against the rent increases imposed by the city council on residents in housing schemes.
Mr M J Naidoo, vice-president of the Natal Indian Congress,  lashed out at the city council when he addressed a meeting convened by the Phoenix Rent Action Committee on April 6 1980.
The story I had written after the meeting was published under the headline: “Durban City Council told to cut rents” on April 7 1980.

The story read:

The Durban City Council should decrease rents in housing schemes instead of increasing them at regular intervals.
This was the unanimous call of more than 500 residents who attended a mass meeting at the Greenbury community hall in Phoenix to oppose the 15 percent rent increase to be introduced by the council next month.
The meeting, which was punctuated by repeated shouts of abuse about the city council, decided to fight the rent increase at all levels and if their representations failed the people would be called upon not to pay the increased rental.
The meeting, convened by the Phoenix Rent Action Committee, was addressed by Mr M J Naidoo, vice-president of the Natal Indian Congress; Mr J Hoover, chairman of the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee; and Mr M Crocker, chairman of the Newlands East Ratepayers and Residents Association.
All the speakers condemned the rental increase as a further “heartless and unjudged act”.
Mr Naidoo, who was the main guest speaker, was applauded when he said the city council had no concern for the black people and that it wanted them to remain “slaves forever”.
Mr Naidoo, who is also chairman of the Chatsworth Housing Action Support Committee, said the suffering of the black people would only be solved when they attained political rights.
“Without political rights and the right to vote our suffering will continue to be endless,” he said.
He called on people to give their unstinted support to those democratic forces that were demanding political rights for all people.
Mr Hoover, in his address, called for unity among all people in the struggles against unjust acts.
“If we are united then I am certain victory will be ours,” he said.
Mr Crocker, who was the third guest speaker, said the city council was supposed to be “liberal and verlig” but its actions against black people disproved this. Ends – Daily News Reporter April 7 1980

 

OPPOSITION TO RENT INCREASES GETS BIG SUPPORT

 (NIC President George Sewpersadh addressing rent protest meeting in Phoenix in April 1980)

In April 1980 the NIC gave their full support to the people of Phoenix who came out strongly against the Durban City Council’s decision to increase rents of council houses.
The new president of the NIC, Mr George Sewpersadh, who took over from Mr M J Naidoo, joined other progressive leaders and organisations in opposing the city council’s move.
The story was published on April 14 1980 under the headline: “Opposition to rent increases gets big support”.

The story read:

More than 1 000 people yesterday reaffirmed their opposition to any plans by the Durban City Council to increase housing scheme rents, in spite of the council’s assurances that rentals would not go up from May 1 as widely believed.
The opposition to higher rents was voiced at a meeting called by the Phoenix Rents Action Committee at the Stonebridge Community Hall.
The meeting was addressed by Mr D K Singh, chairman of the Durban Housing Action Committee (DHAC); Mr Virgil Bonhomme, Natal leader of the Labour Party and joint secretary of DHAC; Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress; Mr N Draai, chairman of the Sydenham Heights Residents’ Association; Mr Joe Hoover, chairman of the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee (CHAC); Mrs N Naidoo, an executive member of CHAC; and Mr Jackie Nair, chairman of the Phoenix Rents Action Committee.
Representatives of 20 religious, social, educational and welfare organisations were also present to support the campaign against rent increases.
A letter from the office of the Mayor, Mr Haydn Bradfield, was read to the meeting. It said that he and the deputy mayor, Mrs Sybil Hotz, were unable to attend because of prior commitments.
In spite of this, the mayor was unanimously condemned for “not showing any interest in the black people of Durban”.
It was also decided to reject the South African Indian Council and the Local Affairs Committees and to call for their immediate resignations.
Mr D K Singh suggested the city council talk to “representatives” of the people and not to the SAIC or the LAC.
Mr Bonhomme called for black unity. Ends – Daily News Reporter April 14 1980

100 WOMEN MARCH TO CITY HALL IN PROTEST AT RENT HIKES

 

On April 21 1980 about 100 activist members of the Natal Indian Congress, the Durban Housing Action Committee and other progressive organisations participated in a protest march to the Durban City Hall to protest the rent increases.

This story was published under the headline: “100 women march to City Hall in protest at rent hikes” the next day on April 22 1980.
The protestors were from Newlands East, Chatsworth, Phoenix, Wentworth, Sydenham Heights, Merebank and other residential areas in Durban.
A spokesperson for the protesting women, Mrs L Naicker, of Chatsworth told the Daily News that they had handed a memorandum to the Mayor, Mr Haydn Bradfield.
She said: “We told the mayor that we were not worried what he did as long as the rents were not increased. If the rents were increased against our wishes we would refuse to pay and take further action.
“We told him that we were fed up.”
The mayor, Mr Bradfield, responded by saying that they were looking at the matter and would travel to Cape Town to discuss the issues raised with the Minister of Community Development, Mr Marain Steyn.  ends - Daily News Reporter April 22 1980

                   STEYN SHOWS WILLINGNESS TO NEGOTIATE

COMMUNITY LEADERS, LED BY THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS, FLY TO CAPE TOWN TO MEET MINISTER ABOUT SCHOOLS BOYCOTTS

While the communities in Durban were protesting against high rental increases by the all-white city council, at the same time school pupils and university students were embarking on protest actions against the inferior education for the African, Coloured and Indian-origin pupils in April 1980.
The children from these schools started to boycott classes in Phoenix, Chatsworth, Verulam, Tongaat, Chatsworth, Merebank, Wentworth, KwaMashu, Umlazi, Isipingo  and other areas in support of the demands for equal education.
The Natal Indian Congress once again took the leading role in highlighting the demands for equal education for all and established the The Parents Support Committee with participation by all role players.
On April 20 1980 I wrote a story about a delegation of prominent activists flying to Cape Town to meet the apartheid Minister in charge of Indian and Coloured Affairs in order to avert the crisis that was to grip the schooling and university environments.
The story was published under the headline: "Steyn shows willingness to negotiate".

The story read:

The Minister of Coloured and Indian Affairs, Mr Marain Steyn, yesterday met a six person Natal delegation on the school boycott issue, and agreed to negotiate on most of the proposals put before him.
The meeting took place at his offices in Cape Town, after the Natal delegation arrived there unannounced and without an appointment.
The delegation, made up of the Parents Support Committee, was led by Dr Jerry Coovadia, vice-president of the Natal Indian Congress; Mr Virgil Bonhomme, Natal leader of the Labour Party; Father C Langlois, Vicar General of the Archdiosece of the Catholic Church in Durban; and three students – Mr A Karrim of the University of Durban-Westville, Mr V Ramlackan of the Durban Medical College, and Mr S. Badat of the University of Natal.
The Parents Support Committee decided at short notice decided to Mr Steyn in Cape Town after the Committee held an emergency meeting in Durban on Thursday night to discuss the growing school boycott in Indian, Coloured and in some African schools.
The delegation presented the Minister with a hurriedly-prepared four-page memorandum which listed the immediate, inter-mediate and long-term demands of parents and students.
Some of the immediate demands were:
·       Student representative councils in universities, colleges and schools should be allowed to operate without any interference.
·       Objectively written text books should be available freely for all students and pupils for possession.
·       An immediate commitment to provide and maintain equal facilities from school buildings to sporting facilities.
·       The Minister takes all steps to abolish oppressive security systems within universities and forbid police interference in schools.
·       The requirement that Afrikaans be one of the compulsory languages be abolished immediately, and that provision be made for pupils and students to choose their own second language.
 
Mr Bonhomme said in an interview today that the Minister told them that he could not see anything wrong with their demands except on the question of Afrikaans.
“He told us that Afrikaans was one of the two official languages and that all South Africans must know both languages if they wanted to be citizens,” said Mr Bonhomme.
“When I pointed out to him that if we were to prepare for the future we must immediately take steps to prepare ourselves for a takeover by the majority, the Minister became angry and said that I was confronting him and not negotiating.” Ends – April 20 1980.  

         PUPILS WARNED TO APPEAR IN COURT

 

THEY WERE REPRESENTED BY OFFICIALS AND LEADERS OF THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

 

Despite the negotiations with the Government, there appeared to be no move by the apartheid officials to improve the education system for the African, Coloured and Indian-origin children.
The protests continued in all the main residential areas, including Chatsworth, Merebank, Isipingo, Phoenix, Verulam, KwaMashu, Tongaat and Umlazi.
The police used the most brutal methods to break-up and disperse protesting pupils.
Many pupils were arrested and they were charged in various courts for trespassing.
I reported on one such case on April 30 when arrested pupils appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court.

The story read:

Eight Chatsworth high and primary school children appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrates’ Court today on a charge of trespassing.
Their appearance in court follows an incident on Friday at the Chatsworth High School when police allegedly used batons to disperse a crowd of more than 1 000 high school children.
More than 150 parents and school pupils packed the court to listen to the case.
The magistrate, Mr Krishna Maharaj, warned the accused that they should make it their duty to appear in court on June 10 or face arrest. He also the parents to attend court on thate date.
The high school and primary school children were represented by 11 members of the Democratic Lawyers’ Association. Most of them were also leaders and members of the Natal Indian Congress.
They were Mr D K Singh, Mr Thumba Pillay, Mr Monty Moodley, Mr Krish Govender, Mr Rabbi Bugwandeen, Mr M J Naidoo, Mr H Rappiti, Miss S Pather, Mr S Nadasen, Mr B B Mahabeer, and Mr Charles Pillay.
Mr S H Brimiah appeared for the state. Ends – Daily News Reporter April 30 1980

 
            PRESS TRUST OF SOUTH AFRICA

(Neil Lewis, Fawzia Moodley, Diane Coetzer and Fawzia Moodley at the offices of Press Trust of SA in the early 1980s)

 

In December 1980 I left the Daily News to take charge of the Press Trust of SA News Agency and to head the Ukusa newspaper. But my career was disrupted when the Pretoria regime slapped me with a banning order at the end of December 1980.
Despite this, the Press Trust of South Africa continued with its work and we continued to supply the Press Trust of India with stories from South Africa. These stories revolved mainly around the struggles for freedom and justice for the majority of the people.
The stories included those on the Natal Indian Congress and its leaders.

                          PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

ANOTHER 5-YEAR BAN ON SOUTH AFRICAN LEADER

 

In October 1981 we covered another story about the banned former leader of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, being issued with a further five-year banning order.

(Mewa Ramgobin addressing a protest meeting at the Verulam Civic Centre when he was not banned during the struggle years)

The information about this new banning order on Mr Ramgobin was relayed to us by his wife, Ela Ramgobin.
We wrote the article and submitted it to the Press Trust of India. The article was published in several newspapers, including the Indian Express, the Hindu, and the Hindustan Times under the headlines: “Another 5-year ban on S. African leader” and “Fresh ban on S.A. black leader”.

The story read:

Nairobi, Oct 1 (PTI) In one of the harshest measures, the South African Government has imposed a fourth five-year ban on a prominent black leader, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
Mr Ramgobin (48), whose 15 years of house arrest and restriction orders were to have expired yesterday, was served with a fresh five-year order at his life insurance offices in Verulam, about 25km north of Durban.
The order was given to him in a sadistic manner, the agency said.
Two members of the South African security police, who called on him, told him that the Minister for police had decided not to re-impose the ban order and that he was now a free man.
When Mr Ramgobin responded by saying: “Thanks a lot, I need the freedom”, one of the security branch men pulled out the order from inside his coat pocket and handed it to him.
They then called on Mr Ramgobin’s wife, Ela, and told her that the ban order on her had been lifted. But they warned her that she would be watched and she should not get involved.
Mrs Ramgobin, who is a grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi (her father was Manilal Gandhi), had been banned for eight years.
The latest ban order on Mr Ramgobin has come as a shock to all progressive organisations, leaders and the black people in general.
The secretary of the Release Mandela Committee, Mr Paul Devadas David, said the ban on Mr Ramgobin would not deter the people from fighting for freedom and justice in South Africa.
He said detentions and imprisonment would not stop the majority from “freeing itself from the claws of apartheid”.
Mr Ramgobin had visited India in 1974 when by a stroke of luck he and his family had been allowed to leave to see a sick relative. He was given semi-diplomatic status by the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius during his visit.
During his four-month absence from South Africa, Mr Ramgobin had addressed several meetings in India and represented the black people of South Africa at several diplomatic functions. The freedom and liberty that he enjoyed in India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius was short-lived and he returned to South Africa to find the government on a warpath against the opponents of apartheid.
In September 1976 he was banned for a further five years with his wife.  Ends – Press Trust of SA October 1 1981

            ANOTHER PUPPET SHOW BY PRETORIA

 

(Dr Kesaval Goonum, who was one of the veteran leaders with Dr Monty Naicker, who supported the struggles against the apartheid regime's move to co-opt the Indian -origin people)

In early November 1981 when the Pretoria regime tried to entice the Indian-origin people to vote in the so-called South African Indian Council (SAIC) elections, the Natal Indian Congress, the Transvaal Indian Congress and other progressive organisations succeeded in their efforts to get the majority of the people to boycott the elections.
We wrote several articles about the boycott of the apartheid elections and they were published in several newspapers in India via the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The articles were published under the headlines: “S. Indians reject apartheid”, “Pretoria Indians boycott elections”, “South African Indians boycott polls”, “Another puppet poll in South Africa” and “Another puppet show by Pretoria”.

The story read:

Durban, November 5 (PTI): The Pretoria regime has staged yet another costly puppet show – the South African Indian Council (SAIC) elections yesterday.
In the days before the elections, Indians in South Africa aged above 18 had been warned by the government that if they failed to register themselves as voters they were likely to face a fine of 50 rands or three months jail, reports the Press Trust of South Africa.
The election was the first of its kind for Indians. Earlier, the so-called “coloured” people of South Africa had been put through a similar exercise, the Coloured Representative Council (CRC). The CRC, however, proved that the government would not tolerate criticism against its policies and its only function was to show the outside world that the “coloured” people enjoyed representative powers, which, in fact, they did not under the government’s policy.
Leaders of the Indian community throughout South Africa had called for a boycott of the SAIC elections.
Arguing that the SAIC is an ethnic and racist body, and a powerless showpiece, they had also set up anti-SAIC committees in every area.
The Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee chairman, Dr Essop Jassat, told PTSA: “We believe the SAIC has no actual powers. The only concession that has been won by the SAIC in its 17 years of existence that Indian men are allowed to marry outside the country and then come here to live. Before that they had to marry in the country.
“Experience has shown us that Coloured involvement with the President’s Council was futile. Meaningful change during these 17 years has taken place outside the government bodies. An example is that community organisations take up issues like housing.”
Another Indian leader, Dr Ismail Cachalia, whose sons, Azhar and Firoz, were recently barred from all political activities, said: “First the government put people into group areas. Then after 10 years they found that these people still had their heads above ground, so they went for education.”
The anti-SAIC leaders have called for a national convention, similar to the one held in Kliptown in 1955 when representatives from all over South Africa assembled to draw up a blueprint for a non-racial and democratic society. It is on this blueprint, called the Freedom Charter, that the Natal Indian Congress, Transvaal Indian Congress and the Anti-SAIC committees base their principle.
The Freedom Charter has for the ownership of the land by those who work on it, the right to free education for all, and homes for the homeless. The national convention must be attended by all leaders imprisoned on Robben Island, those in exile and even by those currently in the apartheid parliament. These people then discuss and decide on the future of South Africa, on terms acceptable to everyone, regardless of race or colour.
Indentured and passenger Indians first came to South Africa in 1860, and from that time onwards there have been opposition to white domination. In 1894, Mahatma Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) as a base for Indian people to give expression to their grievances and their determination to resist.
Mahatma was also instrumental in setting up the Transvaal British Indian Association (TBIA), which waged continuous battles against the legislative restrictions of the Asiatic Affairs department. When the Asiatic Law Amendment Act was passed with the aim of registering every Indian above the age of eight and demanded a set of finger prints, Mahatma Gandhi immediately formed a passive resistance association which refused to obey the Act.
The campaign was enormously successful – only 500 out of 13 000 Indians registered, and on August 16 1908 an angry Johannesburg crowd burnt 2 000 registration certificates in  Johannesburg.
In 1946, the Natal Indian Congress organised a massive protest to demonstrate their opposition to the Asiatic Land Tenure Bill, which threatened the rights of the Indian people. Over 6 000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Durban, chanting: “To hell with the Ghetto Bill”.
Came 1952, and the South African Indian Congress (not to be confused with the government’s South African Indian Council), joined forces with the African National Congress to take up the challenge of the nationalist regime.
Thousands of resistors were arrested for defying discriminatory and oppressive laws.
More than 8 000 people eventually served terms of imprisonment, but the defiance campaign had an electrifying effect on the local populace and attracted world attention on apartheid.
It is with this history of defiance that the Anti-SAIC movement took root. Ends – Press Trust of SA Nov 5 1981

      PRETORIA BID TO SILENCE OPPOSITION

(Pravin Gordhan)

                             

                           

                                                

                                  (Yunus Mahomed) 

In late December 1981 the apartheid 
regime went on the rampage to silence anti-apartheidforces by detaining more the 170 activists.
Once again young leaders of the Natal Indian Congress came under attack along with trade unionists, lawyers, and community activists.
We wrote this story and it was published in several newspapers in India and other parts of the world.                                  
The Tribune in India published the article under the headline: “Pretoria bid to silence opposition” on December 22 1981.

The article read:

Durban, Dec 22 (PTI) In the most wide-ranging Government action against opponents of its policies since the early 1960s – when the African National Congress was banned – the South African authorities have detained more than 170 persons under its draconian laws.
They are not expected to be released before Christmas and nobody, except the State, knows why they have been arrested, reports the Press Trust of South Africa.
They include entire families, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers and community leaders – both blacks and whites.
Some of them have been in prison – without access to lawyers, family or friends – since June.
Among them is Mr Zwelakhe Sisulu, president of the all-black Media Workers Association, the son Mr Walter Sisulu, who is serving a life sentence on the infamous Robben Island prison. Mr Sisulu was secretary of the ANC at the time of his arrest.
Also in custody is Miss Hannchen Koornhof, a West Rand school teacher  who is the niece of the South African Minister of African Affairs, Mr Piet Koornhof.
In one day alone, the country’s dreaded security police swooped down on the homes of 17 persons and took them away to jail without giving any reasons for the action.
The hardest hit by the Government are the independent unregistered trade unions. All office-bearers of the Allied Workers Union – which has come out strongly in support of the ANC in recent months – have been imprisoned. On the same day that their secretary general, Mr Sam Kikine, was detained here, the General and Allied Workers Union also lost its Organising Secretary, Miss Rita Ndzanga, and President, Mr Samson Ndawu, to the security police.
Also, on that day, the Natal Indian Congress – still flushed with the success of its anti-South African Indian Council campaign – was deprived of two of its hardest working members, Mr Yunus Mahomed and Mr Praveen Gordhan.
Through its campaign, the organisation had persuaded the majority of the Indians residing in South Africa to stay away from the polls when the racist regime’s puppet body was elected.
Initially, the detainees were held under Section 22 of the General Laws Amendment Act. Under this law, a person can be jailed for 14 days without access to anyone. The period of detention can be extended only after an application has been made to the court.
However, on expiry of the 14-day period, detainees were re-arrested under Section 6 of the wide-ranging Terrorism Act – which means they can be held incommunicado indefinitely.
Those of the outside can only speculate on the reasons for the wave of arrests. They believe the detentions are aimed at smashing all effective opposition to the Pretoria regime’s policies. The regime apparently hopes that by cracking down on the leadership of the organisations opposed to the Government, the members of these organisations will be intimidated into silence.
Instead, the reverse is happening.
The youth are becoming more militant and conservative parents are taking a strong stand against the country’s draconian laws and Government which has jailed their children without giving any reasons.
As one speaker at a meeting held to protest against the detentions put it: “They (the authorities) have detained and banned people for a long time. They have put people on Robben Island for years. But the struggle for our liberation has gone on.
“They should have learned by now that these things will never work. These detentions make us more determined to do the work that will bring our victory even closer. The spirit of the people can never be killed.” Ends – Press Trust of SA Dec 22 1981 

DURBAN INDIAN LEADERS UNDER HOUSE ARREST

 

In May 1982 we highlighted the situation of two prominent officials of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr M J Naidoo and Mr Pravin Gordhan, when they were banned and placed under house arrest.

The stories were published by several newspapers in India, including the Hindustan Times, Patriot and the Hindu under the headlines: “2 Indian leaders in Durban under house arrest” and “Durban Indian leaders under house arrest.”
The first story that was published read:

Durban, May 19 (PTI): The South African authorities in a fresh crackdown, put two prominent leaders of the Natal Indian Congress under house arrest in Durban.
They are Mr M J Naidoo, acting president, and Mr Pravin Gordhan, an executive member of the Congress.
Mr Naidoo has played an active role in the fight for justice and freedom for all South Africans and the ban on his movements will be for two years, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
Mr Naidoo, a Durban lawyer, was earlier detained in 1980 for more than three months during the Indian school children boycott of classes against inferior and unfair education.
The ban on political activities for Mr Gordhan is also for a period of two years. Mr Gordhan was already under detention for 161 days without trial and the latest restrictions came immediately after his release.

Mr Gordhan and another Congress executive member, Mr Yunus Mahomed, were arrested in November 1981 along with more than 150 political activists, trade unionists and students in a massive crackdown by the South African security police.

Just before his release Mr Gordhan spent more than a week in the psychiatric ward of a Durban hospital.  Ends – Press Trust of SA May 19 1982

 
DURBAN INDIAN LEADER UNDER HOUSE ARREST

 

The article we submitted on Pravin Gordhan was published under the headline: “Durban Indian leader house arrest.”

The article read:

Durban, May 19 (PTI) A 33-year-old executive member of the Indian Congress, Mr Pravin Gordhan, has been banned and placed under house arrest for two years immediately after being released from detention without trial for 161 days.
Mr Gordhan and another Congress executive member, Mr Yunus Mahomed, were arrested in November 1981 along with more than 150 political activists, trade unionists and students in a massive crackdown by the South African security police.
Just before his release Mr Gordhan had spent more than a week in the psychiatric ward of a Durban hospital.
As a banned person, reports the Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA), Mr Gordhan is not allowed to leave his house from 7pm to 6am every weekday and during weekends and holidays.
He is also not allowed to communicate with more than one person at a time and he may not enter any residential area set aside for Africans, coloured people and Indians. He is also prohibited from entering any industrial complex, educational institution and publishing or broadcasting house.
At the time time of his arrest, Mr Gordhan played a leading role in the Anti-SAIC Committee, which was established by the Congress and other progressive organisations throughout the country to persuade the Indian people not to vote in the “sham” elections of the Government-created South African Indian Council.
The campaign was a major success with the majority of the Indian people boycotting the elections and rejected discrimination and apartheid in all its forms.
Mr Gordhan’s wife, Pravina, told PTSA that she was very bitter about the banning and detention of people without trial.
Mrs Gordhan, daughter of Mr Natu Babenia who was imprisoned on Robben Island for 16 years for his anti-racist stand against the Pretoria Government, said that her husband’s release did not make her totally happy.
“How can one be happy when many other people are still in detention?”, she asked.
Mr Gordhan joins a number of other Indians who have been banned and placed under house arrest.  Among them are Mrs Fatima Meer, a sociology lecturer at the University of Natal and a close friend of Mrs Indira Gandhi; Mr Mewa Ramgobin, a former president of the Natal Indian Congress; Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Congress; and Mr Marimuthu Subramoney, a Durban journalist who founded the PTSA news agency.
There are altogether about 150 persons of this category in South Africa, including Mrs Winnie Mandlea, wife of the leader of the African National Congress, Mr Nelson Mandela, who is serving life imprisonment. Ends – Press Trust of SA May 19 1982

        “MULTI-RACIAL” BEACH IN DURBAN

(Mr D K Singh)

 

In June 1984, the Natal Indian Congress expressed its disgust at local whites squabbling about whether a “multi-racial” beach should be set aside in Durban at a time when the people were more concerned about everyday social and economic conditions.
This story was published by The Hindu and other newspapers in India under the headline: “ ‘Multi-racial’ beach in Durban”.

The story read:

Durban, June 23 (PTI) The whites living in Durban in South Africa are embroiled in a controversy  about whether or not there should be a multi-racial beach in their midst.
The beaches here are segregated along racial lines for the four main race groups – whites, Africans, Indians and coloured people.
In view of their privileged status as voters, the white minority has allocated for itself the best and largest section of Durban’s Marine Parade or Golden Mile, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
The other groups have been allocated small and ill-equipped “for Africans only”, “for Indians only” and “for Coloureds only” beaches.
But now to give the city a more progressive outlook, the all-white Durban City Council has decided to create a “multi-racial” beach the Marine Parade and to open a swimming pool for all race groups.

                           PROTESTS

While a few liberal whites have accepted the decision, the majority of the city’s privileged race group has opposed it with letters to the local press. They have also asked the Mayor to hold a public meeting on the issue.
In one letter to a newspaper, a white leader said the white population in Durban and the rest of South Africa was being threatened from all sides. If the “multi-racial” beach was created, the whites would be outnumbered and in no time the “Golden Mile” would be crawling with thousands of blacks. The whites must protect themselves and their properties before they faced the same situation as the whites of “Rhodesia”.
Another reader said a “multi-racial” beach would only create friction between the race groups. It will take a long time and plenty of education before all the races could be thrown together, he said.

                       UNIMPRESSED

The black people, on the other hand, are unimpressed by the new move of the city council.
An executive member of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr D K Singh, said there were more important things in life than to worry about “multi-racial” beaches.
Mr Singh, who is also chairman of the Durban Housing Action Committee, said the black people of Durban had to cope with ever increasing unemployment, lack of decent educational facilities, overcrowded housing and inadequate health facilities than to concern themselves with the luxury of a beach.
The all-white city council, said Mr Singh, must first make itself multiracial before tackling insignificant issues.
“How could we take a city council seriously when it decides to create a ‘multi-racial’ beach, while putting up boards on another beach declaring it for whites only?,” he asked.
Another leader, Dr Nthatho Motlano, of Soweto in Johannesburg said there were so many urgent problems facing the country than “multi-racial” beaches.
“We have to resolve the democratic rights of the people rather than worry about mixed beaches.” - Ends – Press Trust of South Africa June 23 1982

INDIAN WOMAN INVOLVED IN S. AFRICA STRUGGLE DIES

 

In August 1982 we filed an article about the untimely passing of one of the women activists of the Natal Indian Congress, Miss Poomanie Moodley, at the age of 56.
This story was published in India in several newspapers, including the Evening News, under the headline: “Indian woman involved in S. Africa struggle dies”.

The story read:

Durban, Aug 19 (PTI): One of South Africa’s first Indian woman to be involved in the political struggles against white minority rule in the country died at Durban’s King Edward V111 Hospital  on August 11 – three days after she had taken part in the national women’s day gathering in the city.
Miss Poomanie Moodley died after a heart attack. She was 56.
Miss Moodley, a leading activist of the Natal Indian Congress at the time of her death, became introduced to the harsh realities of South African life when she used to follow her father to protest meetings at Durban’s famous “Red Square”, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
She joined the youth wing of the Congress and later the Congress Alliance, which was made up of the African National Congress, South African Indian Congress, Coloured Peoples’ Congress and the white Congress of Democrats.
As a member of the Congress Alliance, Miss Moodley played a leading role in organising black women in the anti-pass campaigns, the defiance campaign, protests against the Bantu Education Act and in the trade union movement.
She worked closely with stalwarts such as Lilian Ngoyi, Florence Mkhize, Bertha Mkhize, Winnie Mandela and Helen Joseph.
Miss Moodley, a nursing sister by profession, started a trade union for nurses at the King George V TB Hospital in Durban in 1960 in order to improve the conditions of black nurses.
But her efforts were short-lived when she became one of the first persons to be detained under the “90 day law” without any access to lawyers, friends or families. She was detained again for 90 days in 1964 – this time for allegedly being a member of an unlawful organisation.
And in 1965 she was detained under a new 10-day detention law for participating in literary classes organised by the Congress Alliance. The Pretoria Government found the literary classes to be subversive and communist in nature. Ends – Aug 19 1982 Press Trust of SA 

INDIAN COLLABORATORS TOLD TO MEND THEIR WAY

 

(Dr Farouk Meer (extreme right) of the Natal Indian Congress who called on people of Indian-origin to stay clear of the white minority government)

Early in August 1982 the Natal Indian Congress once again came to the fore to issue a warning to those Indians collaborating with the apartheid regime to stop their actions.
The Congress referred to the Indian-origin collaborators as apartheid “yes men” who did not represent the views of the majority of the people.
The story we wrote was published in several newspapers in India. The Indian Express published the story under the headline: “ ‘Racist Indians’ told to mend their ways”.

The story read:

Durban, Aug 10 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress, the authentic and representative political organisation of South Africa’s million Indian-origin people, has called on those Indians collaborating with the white minority government to desist from their actions and instead join the struggle for justice and equality for all.
The Congress, which was first started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, made the call while members of the government-created South African Indian Council (SAIC) met in Durban recently, reports the Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
NIC President, Dr Farouk Meer, pointed out in a statement that SAIC members, who were businessmen, did not have the mandate of the Indian people because they were rejected by 90 percent of the people in the sham elections in November last year.
Dr Meer issued the statement following reports that the SAIC chairman Amichand Rajbansi, and his “fellow collaborators”, had stopped the Pretoria Government from negotiating directly with the Cato Manor Residents’ Association over the controversial Cato Manor land issue in Durban.
Dr Meer stated that the toothless SAIC had convinced the white Government that all dealings with the Indian people should be channelled through the SAIC.
Because of this underhand action, he said, the Government had refused to meet the Cato Manor Residents’ Association to discuss the question of housing for all people affected by the cruel Group Areas Act.
The suburb of Cato Manor in Durban had been settled by Indians for more than a century but after the introduction of the Group Areas Act in 1950 more than 40 000 Indians and Africans were displaced. They were shunted to townships some 32km to 40km away from Durban.
But recently the Government relented under pressure to re-declare a small section of the area for Indian occupation.
The Cato Manor Residents’ Association, which has the support of the overwhelming majority of the people affected by the original removals, took up the matter and petitioned the government to build houses for all people who were affected.
The association had stated that it was opposed to the area being put on sale on the open market because this would attract the speculators and the poor working class would be left out. Only the rich merchant class would be able to buy on the open market.
“The association wanted to remedy this action but the SAIC stooges are obstructing our struggle through its collaborators,” said Dr Meer.
Dr Meer, who succeeded Mr M J Naidoo who was banned for two years recently, labelled Mr Rajbansi and his “fellow yes-men as willing servants of apartheid” and said that if they had any conscience, they should resign immediately. Ends – Press Trust of SA Aug 10 1982  

 
       LALOO CHIBA RELEASED AFTER 18 YEARS

 

Early in February 1983 we wrote a story about the life of one of South Africa’s Indian-origin freedom fighters, Laloo Chiba, who was released from Robben Island after 18 years.
The article was published in several newspapers in India, including the Patriot which carried the story under the headline: “Freedom comes to ANC leader”.
We wrote the story after interviewing Chiba about his life and involvement in the struggles for a free, non-racial and democratic South Africa.
Chiba was an underground member of the ANC’s Umkhonto We Sizwe during the struggle years in the 1950s and 1960s.
He passed away at the age of 87 on December 8 2017 at his home in the former Indian residential area of Lenasia in Johannesburg.

The story that was published in the Patriot in India read:

Durban, Feb 8 (PTI): A former South African political prisoner of Indian-origin, Mr Lalloo Chiba, has been released from Robben Island prison near Cape Town after serving an 18-year sentence.
Mr Chiba was convicted and sentenced in 1964 after a marathon sabotage trial in which top-ranking African National Congress (ANC) members, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada were also convicted for treason and given life sentences, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
Mr Chiba, who is now trying to re-adjust himself as a “free” person, has taken the first steps towards his re-integration into society by getting to know his three daughters and wife from whom he had been separated for so long.
At the time of his imprisonment only Mr Chiba’s eldest daughter, Kaylash, who was eight-years-old at the time, was big enough to know what had happened. Mr Chiba’s other two daughters, Gita 24, and Yasvanti, 21, were too young to know that their father had gone to jail because of his struggles for a just society.
And when his two elder daughters married while he was still in prison, it caused Mr Chiba a great deal of sadness, but now he is looking forward to his youngest daughter’s wedding, which will take place in May.
Expressing his sorrow at missing his children’s most cherished moments, Mr Chiba said: “My wife and I spent 18 years apart as parents of three little girls. Now that we are re-united, it is as proud grand-parents of three little boys, only she and I and those placed in a similar situation know of the missing, intervening years.
Speaking of his incarceration and release, Mr Chiba who kept fit in prison by following a programme of exercise and Yoga, said he now understood how a bird that was freedom from a cage, felt.
However, he expressed sadness at the fact that so many of his friends were still on Robben Island and hoped prisoners such as Mr Mandela, who he considered to be the true leader of the people, would soon be released.
Mr Chiba said he was convinced that South Africa’s problems could only be solved if the true leaders (those in prison, exiled, banned or restricted) were allowed to negotiate with the ruling regime.
While her husband propagated his political convictions, his overjoyed wife, Luxmi, said she hoped that her husband would now remain with her forever, so that they could bridge the gap of the lost years.
Mrs Chiba said that though she had missed her husband a great deal and had to be both “father and mother” to her three daughters, she was happy that they had managed to live those 18 years with dignity and courage. Ends – Press Trust of S A Feb 8 1983

TRANSVAAL INDIAN CONGRESS LEADS THE WAY IN JOHANNESBURG FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT AGAINST PRETORIA

 

In late January 1983, anti-apartheid forces gathered in Johannesburg to re-launch the Transvaal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front in opposition to the apartheid regime’s plans to co-opt the Indian-origin and coloured communities.
We wrote the story and it was published in several newspapers in India. One newspaper, the Evening News, published the story on January 25 1983 under the headline: “New anti-government body in South Africa”.

The story read:

Durban, Jan 25 (PTI): A new political organisation, the United Democratic Front (UDF), aimed at thwarting the Pretoria Government from co-opting coloured and Indian-origin communities, was mooted at the anti-SAIC congress in Johannesburg on Sunday.
At the same time the old Transvaal Indian Congress which was a powerful movement in the 1960s, was revived to give the Indian people of the Transvaal a political platform.
The United Democratic Front, reports the Press Trust of South Africa, will consist of the TIC, the Natal Indian Congress, the black trade unions such as the South African Allied Workers Union (SAAWU), anti-apartheid sports organisations and the various cultural and religious organisations.
The United Democratic Front will be similar in form as the old Congress Alliance which was made up of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), the Coloured Peoples’ Congress, the white Congress of Democrats and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU).

(Dr Essop Jassat)

The chairman of the anti-SAIC Committee, Dr Essop Jassat, said the UDF was not concerned whether the Pretoria Government recognised it or not. Ends – Press Trust of SA Jan 25 1983

TWO INDIAN APARTHEID OPPONENTS SET FREE

(Prema Naidoo)

 

In April 1983 two prominent anti-apartheid opponents of Indian-origin were released from prison after having been convicted two years earlier of harbouring three political prisoners who escaped from prison.
This story was published by several Indian newspapers, including the Evening News, which carried the article under the headline: “Two Indian apartheid opponents set free”.
The story read:

Durban, April 22 (PTI): Two prominent Indian opponents of the apartheid South African Government, Prema Naidoo and Sarish Nanabhai, were released last week from a Johannesburg prison after having served a one-year sentence for harbouring three escaped political prisoners in 1981.
The two men had been sentenced to three years imprisonment, two years of which were suspended for five years in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court last April, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
Also convicted and sentenced with them was the brother of one of the escaped prisoners, Michael Jenkins, who was released six months ago.
All three were convicted of assisting long-term political prisoners, Stephen Lee, Timothy Jenkins and Alexandra Moumbaris who escaped from Pretoria Central Prison in 1979 and later fled South Africa.
Both Nanabhai and Naidoo are veteran anti-apartheid political activists with Nanabhai having served 10 years on Robben Island prison for sabotage from 1964 to 1974. After his release he was placed under house arrest for five years.
Both men are active members of the Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee, which was instrumental in instigating a boycott campaign against the Government-created South African Indian Council (SAIC) in 1981.
At the time of his conviction under the Prison’s Act, Prema Naidoo caused a stir in court when he became involved in a scuffle with a court policeman after he shouted “Amandla” (power) at hearing his sentence.
Another vociferous opponent of apartheid, who invoked the wrath of a South African judge because of his contempt for South African laws, has completed a two-year prison sentence under the country’s security laws and is now a free man. Weaver Magcayi from Diepkloof township in Soweto, near Johannesburg, was convicted in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court in March 1981 by Justice Solomon after he had refused to testify as a state witness in a political trial of a colleague, Kholekile Mhlana.
After detaining Magcayi in terms of Section 6 of the so-called Terrorism Act and later Section 12B of the same law, the State decided to call him in a State witness instead of charging him. - Ends – Press Trust of SA April 22 1983

INDIAN-ORIGIN LEADERS CHOSEN AS OFFICIALS OF NEW ANTI-APARTHEID ORGANISATION

(George Sewpersadh)

 

When the national anti-apartheid organisation, United Democratic Movement (UDF), was launched in Cape Town in August 1983, three South Africans of Indian-origin were appointed to top positions in the UDF.
I attended the launch and filed stories to the PTI and media outlets around the world.
The article was published in the Indian Express, among others, under the headline: “S. African Indians in UDF cabinet” on August 22 1983.

The story read:
Durban, Aug 22 (PTI): Three prominent South African Indians have been elected to the cabinet of a newly-established anti-apartheid organisation, the United Democratic Front (UDF), to fight for full political rights for the country’s 24 million African people.

                                                                                                                

((Professor Jerry Coovadia) 

Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, executive member of the Congress, and Professor Jerry Coovadia were all elected when the UDF was launched in Cape Town on Saturday, reports the Press Trust of South Africa.
The other officials include Mrs Albertina Sisulu, wife of the jailed leader, Mr Walter Sisulu; Mr Oscar  Mpetha, prominent black trade union leader; and Mr Archie Gumede, president of the Release Mandela Committee.

The conference, which was attended by more than 10 000 black and white people representing more than 400 organisations, unanimously resolved to reject the Pretoria Government’s new constitutional proposals which aim to co-opt the coloured and Indian-origin people into the apartheid decision-making processes.
The conference elected a number of patrons, including the imprisoned leader, Mr Nelson Mandela, and his fellow prison leaders, Mr Thabo Mbeki, Mr Ahmed Kathrada, and Mr Walter Sisulu. Ends – Press Trust of SA Aug 22 1983

SOUTH AFRICAN INDIANS FLAY POLL PROPOSAL

 

(Dr Alan Boesak, anti-apartheid leader who joined the Natal Indian Congress in calling on Indian-origin and Coloured people not to participate in the apartheid regime's elections) 

In February 1984, the Natal Indian Congress once again came out very strongly against the Pretoria Government’s decision to proceed with elections for the Indian-origin and coloured communities. The move was part of the regime’s attempts to co-opt the coloured and Indian communities to become part of the tri-cameral parliament for whites, Indians and coloured people. The majority African people were told that they should seek their political rights in the bantustans such as the Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana, KwaZulu, KwaNdebele and Venda.
We wrote this story and it was published in several newspapers in India. One of the newspapers, Indian Express, published the article under the headline: “S. African Indians flay poll proposal”.

The story read:

Durban, Feb 15 (PTI): The majority of South Africa’s Indian and coloured leaders on Wednesday reacted with shock and anger at the Pretoria Government’s decision to hold elections on August 22 for the two communities so that they can be given legislative representation under the new constitution.
The president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr George Sewpersadh, condemned the decision and said it was an abrogation of the rights of the people without first trying to find out through a referendum whether they wanted to participate in a system that excluded the majority African people, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Mr Sewpersadh said his organisation had supported a referendum to test the views of the people because they wanted the people to show the white Government and the world at large that they rejected the new constitution.
“We demand that a national convention be convened so that the majority of the people can formulate a new constitution. We don’t want a constitution that has been planned and formulated by the white ruling class,” he said.
Mr Sewpersadh also attacked the newly-established Solidarity Party, allegedly a creation of the white Government and the National Peoples’ Party for choosing to participate in the elections on August 22 (1984).
The Solidarity Party is led by Pat Poovalingam, who is a former member of the Government President’s Council and the NPP is led by Amichand Rajbansi, who is the leader of the government-established South African Indian Council (SAIC).
“These two parties are playing ball with the Government and they are prepared to sacrifice the principles of the Indian people for short-term financial gains,” Mr Sewpersadh said.
“We will urge the Indian and coloured people to boycott the elections so that the world will know that the majority of the coloured and Indian people have not forsaken the struggle for justice and freedom for all people in South Africa,” he said.
The president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Mr Alan Boesak, who is a prominent local black leader, said the coloured and Indian people who participate with the government become junior partners in the oppression of the majority African people.
“They will become the junior partners in the implementation of apartheid,” Mr Boesak said. Ends – Feb 15 (1984) Press Trust of SA

 PROGRESSIVE FORCES EMBARK ON CAMPAIGNS AGAINST TRI-CAMERAL ELECTIONS

 
In April 1984 the Natal and Transvaal Indian Congresses announced their plans against apartheid collaborators after the regime announced that it has set wheels in motion for the tri-cameral coloured and Indian elections.
The story was published in several newspapers in India. One newspaper, the Patriot, published the story under the headline: “Tri-racial elections in S. Africa in August” on April 11 1984.

The story read:

Durban, April 11 (PTI): While the Pretoria Government has set its wheels in motion for elections in the Indian and coloured chambers in its tri-racial parliamentary scheme, leading anti-apartheid organisations in the country have correspondingly launched mammoth campaigns to expose the new constitution.
South African Minister in-charge of the new constitution, Chris Heunis, recently announced that elections for the Indian and coloured chambers in the new parliament will be held on 22 August this year.
Nomination day would be 16 July by which time the zoning of the various constituency areas would be completed by a special delimitations commission, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
While it is not compulsory to vote in the coming elections, the South African Electoral Act makes it an offence for all white, Indian and coloured people over the age of eighteen not to register as voters.
The announcement by Mr Heunis is the first major step this year on the path towards the establishment of the new parliament. Under the new scheme, the Indian and coloured groups will be granted limited power with the whites in a system that will have an executive president at the head.
The 20-million African majority have been completely excluded and instead will be represented by the ten ethnic Bantustan administrations.
The announcement by the Pretoria regime of the exact date and details of elections for the two black groups has also been coupled with an extension drive through its media and information department to coerce the two groups into accepting the new scheme.
But while the authorities continue their assault against the democratic aspirations of the two communities, several leading anti-apartheid political organisations have launched their own high-level campaigns aimed at neutralising Pretoria’s plans.
The Natal and Transvaal Indian congresses, both of which were signatories to the ANC’s Freedom Charter in Kliptown in 1955, have marshalled their forces against Pretoria’s campaign by sending scores of members out into the field.
At the same time, the United Committee of Concern, which has filled a vacuum among the Natal province’s coloured community, and other affiliates of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in other parts of the country, have launched similar campaigns to fight the new constitution with all the resources at their disposal.
At the moment, all the organisations in Natal, Western Cape, where most of the coloured people live, Transvaal and Free State provinces have concentrated their efforts on a million-signature protest petition organised by the UDF. The petition is to be sent to the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Ends – April 11 1984 Press Trust of SA

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS STEPS UP CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRI-RACIAL ELECTIONS

 

The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) continued with its campaigns in the Natal province against the tri-racial parliament for whites, coloured and Indian-origin people in the months before the elections scheduled for August 1984.
The stories we wrote were published widely in India.
On July 29 (1984), the Indian Express published the story under the headline: “Indians’ campaign against voting”.

The story read:

Durban, July 29 (PTI): An intensive drive by anti-apartheid organisations to get the Indian and coloured people to reject an alliance with the white community under the new constitution in August increased dramatically this month.
The Natal Indian Congress and the coloured United Committee of Concern augmented their house-to-house campaign by placing advertisements in local newspapers.
One such advertisement which poignantly carried the photograph of an evicted African family said Indian and coloured people would become jointly responsible for the dehumanisation of the African people. These people have been completely excluded from the new constitution, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
“Don’t vote in August. We must not be used against the African people,” the advertisement read.
This particular advertisement has evoked an enthusiastic response from the common people.
Meanwhile, two leading newspapers, “Sunday Tribune Herald” and “Guardian”, have also criticised sharply the proposed new constitution and the South African Prime Minister, Mr P W Botha’s West European trip to campaign for the constitution.
The 20-million African majority have been completely excluded from the central parliamentary process, the newspapers said.
The new constitution is designed to entrench apartheid and would never work in the longer term, they said.
The “Guardian” also demanded the immediate release of the jailed African National Congress leader, Mr Nelson Mandela, and other political prisoners.
The racist authorities also wooed Mr Y S Chinsamy, a leading politician in the fight for political rights for the Indian community, to participate in the new tri-racial constitution. He was even offered rand 100 000 for the party’s campaign but he has rejected the offer, he said. Ends – PTSA July 29 (1984)
 

HARASSMENT OF ANTI-APARTHEID OPPONENTS CONTINUES

 

State harassment of those opposed to the apartheid regime’s tri-racial plans to co-opt the coloured and Indian-origin people and fights between pro and anti-forces within the communities heightened in the run-up to the elections in August 1984.
The articles we wrote were published in several newspapers in India.
In one article, The Hindu, published the article under the headline: “Harassment of Indians in Durban stepped up” on August 5.

The story read:

Durban, Aug 5 (PTI): South Africa’s security police have stepped up their surveillance and harassment as emotions are beginning to run high among various sections of the people for the August elections in the new tri-ethnic constitution.
In one of the latest incidents, chairman of the Indian Solidarity Party, J N Reddy, is facing charges of assault after a fracas between party supporters and members of the United Democratic Front, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
According to the charge sheet, Reddy is alleged to have kicked and punched a youth who questioned the Solidarity officials about their participation in the new constitution.
The level of state harassment against opponents of the new constitution has also grown significantly.
Early last month, security police tore down scores of posters which advertised a protest meeting organised by the Natal Indian Congress. Ends – PTSA Aug 5 (1984)

In another article we highlighted a concern by a Muslim organisation about inter-ethnic disputes.

The story was published by the Indian Express under the headline: “Muslims warned” on August 19 (1984).

The story read:

Durban, Aug 19 (PTI): The Islamic Council of South Africa (ICSA), which is the supreme policy-making body for Muslims in South Africa, has warned those contestants in the forthcoming elections for the Indian Chamber of Parliament in South Africa to refrain from fanning sectional interests.
Executive director of the organisation, Ibrahim Bawa, issued his stern warning after several Muslim contestants claimed that if the Islamic community did not vote on August 28, the Indian Chamber would be swamped by non-Muslims, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA). Ends – PTSA Aug 19 (1984)

(Hashim Seedat)

GANDHI HISTORIAN WARNS PEOPLE AGAINST COLLABORATION WITH THE APARTHEID REGIME

 

In August 1984 a prominent historian and lawyer of Indian-origin, who specialised in researching the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, came out in support of those activists who opposed any collaboration with apartheid structures.
Mr Hassim Seedat, a former president of the Democratic Lawyers’ Association of South Africa, issued the warning after the Pretoria Government announced that it was going ahead with elections for the Coloured and Indian-origin communities that will see them participating with whites in the tri-racial parliament.
This story we wrote was published by several newspapers in India. One newspaper, Indian Express, published the article under the headline: “S.A. Indians warned against new Constitution” on August 22 1984.

The article read:

Durban, Aug 22 (PTI): A leading South African historian, who has specialised on Mahatma Gandhi’s life and philosophy, has warned the Indian community not to sanction the new Constitution.
Hassim Seedat, former president of the Democratic Lawyers Association of South Africa, sounded the warning when he was asked to comment on what would have been Gandhi’s attitude towards the new system which co-opts the coloured and Indian people into the white political processes and excludes the 20-million African majority.
Seedat pointed out that Gandhi’s beliefs centred around the concept of human dignity, which demanded a fair deal for all human beings, the minimum of well-being in terms of education, health, food, clothing, housing and all other essentials of material well-being.
This could be achieved only in a society in which every man has equal status, opportunity and freedom to develop.”
Seedat said the people should reject the soft options offered to them in anticipation of meaningful change later.
“Let us not lose our dignity and betray the teaching of the gentle soul in whose shoes the white rulers are not worthy to stand,” added Seedat.
The name of Mahatma Gandhi and his attitude towards the new anti-Constitution forces drive to get the Indian and coloured people to boycott the elections.
In a recent full-page advertisement in a mass-circulation Sunday newspaper, the Natal Indian Congress, which was founded by Gandhi in 1894, called upon the people to boycott the August elections, pointing out that Gandhi would have rejected the new parliamentary scheme. Ends – Press Trust of S A Aug 22 1984 

                     INDIAN LEADERS IN SA ARRESTED

 

At the same time as opposition forces were gaining the support of the people against the tri-racial constitutional elections in August 1984, the apartheid regime stepped up its harassment of anti-apartheid leaders.
We wrote several stories about these developments.
The Hindustan Times on August 21 (1984) published the following story under the headline: “Indian leaders in SA arrested”.

The story read:

Durban, Aug 21 (PTI): Four of South Africa’s top Indian leaders and two black leaders who have been campaigning for a boycott of the coloured and Indian racial elections on August 22 and August 28 (1984) respectively, were detained today by the security police for allegedly furthering the aims of a banned organisation.
The four Indian leaders are the president of the Natal Indian Congress(NIC), George Sewpersadh; vice-president M J Naidoo; executive official and former president, Mewa Ramgobin; and Billy Nair, a full-time organiser of the NIC who was recently released from Robben Island prison after 20 years, reports the Press Trust of SA.
Ramgobin is married to Ela Ramgobin, daughter of Mrs Sushila Gandhi, daughter-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi. Ends – August 21 1984 Press Trust of SA  

             NIC “NO” TO LIFTING OF CULTURAL BAN

 

At the same time while spearheading the campaign against the tri-racial elections, the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) also adopted a hard-line stance against any tour to South Africa by India’s musical artists.
The request for the lifting of the ban was made by Rajendra and Nina Mehta who visited the country despite the cultural and sports ban on South Africa.
The husband-and-wife duo, accompanied by three musicians, began their tour of South Africa on July 14. The tour was accorded extensive publicity in several local newspapers with full of advertisements. They toured major centres of the Natal province where most of the Indian community is concentrated as well as a major township outside Johannesburg in the Transvaal province.
The three musicians backing the singing duo are Sharif Ahmed on table, Iqbal Ahmed who plays the santoor and guitarist Biswajit Roy.

It is not known how the group obtained the necessary documents to fly out to South Africa but they are said to have flown direct from India.
This article about the Natal Indian Congress opposed to the cultural visits, published in the Indian Express on August 15 1984, read:

Durban, Aug 14 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) has turned down a request by two visiting Indian singing stars to lift the ban on foreign artists touring South Africa.
The singing couple of Rajendra and Nina Mehta had asked NIC to reconsider its support for a sporting and cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Mr Mehta said he would like the NIC to speak to the Indian Government about what he termed “the desperate cultural situation in South Africa”.
However, NIC president, Mr George Sewpersadh, said there could be no lifting of the cultural ban as long as apartheid and blatant racism was part of government policy.
The NIC founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894 said that it fully supported calls by the Indian press for strong action against the singing duo. Ends – PTSA Aug 14 (1984)

                    

                       PRETORIA BARS INDIAN

 

In another development in August 1984, just before the elections, two prominent officials of the Natal Indian Congress were denied permission to travel overseas.
Mr Thumba Pillay and Mrs Ela Ramgobin were to have attended international events in Greece and Kenya but were thwarted by the Pretoria regime.
The articles were published in the Indian Express on August 6 and August 20 (1984).
The article, published under the headline “Pretoria bars Indian”, read:

Durban, Aug 5 (PTI): A top Durban attorney and prominent member of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Thumba Pillay, has been refused permission to travel abroad by the authorities in Pretoria.
Mr Pillay was due to attend the conference of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in Athens in October, reports Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
He applied for a travel document in March, but the authorities informed him his application was not successful. No reasons for were furnished. Ends – August 5 1984 PTSA

SA’s UNFAIR DEAL

This story, also published by the Indian Express, read:

Durban, Aug 19 (PTI): The South African authorities have refused permission to Mrs Ela Ramgobin, a grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, to attend a world conference on religion and peace, to be held in Nairobi from August 23, reports the Press Trust of South Africa.
The authorities have declined to issue passports and have even turned down a request for travel documents to Mrs Ramgobin and her husband, Mr Mewa Ramgobin.
Mr Ramgobin was a former president of the Natal Indian Congress, which he helped to revive in 1971.
The Ramgobin couple, symbols of unity, peace and justice in this apartheid country, have been put under house arrest and harassed by the authorities on a number of occasions. Ends – PTSA Aug 19 (1984)

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS WELCOMES INDIA’S BAN ON COLLABORATORS FROM ENTERING INDIA

 

The tri-racial elections in August was not only rejected by the local anti-apartheid leaders and organisations, but also by governments such as India.
The Natal Indian Congress, which led the campaign inside the country, welcomed the Indian move and praised India for its actions against the apartheid collaborators.
This story was published in several newspapers, including the Patriot under the headline: “Probe into SA Indian MPs hailed” on November 7 1984.

The story read:

Durban, Nov 7 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress (NIC), founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, has welcomed the investigation by the Indian Government into the status of all those Indian MPs who have joined the tri-ethnic constitution.
A first secretary at the Indian High Commission in Zimbabwe recently told local newspapers that his government did not recognise the recent Indian and coloured elections under the new parliamentary scheme as well as the various Bantustan governments, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
He said India was closely studying the new Indian MPs’ position with the possibility of barring them from entering India.
Several Indian MPs, including the national chairperson of the Solidarity Party, Pat Poovalingam, made frequent cultural trips to India while several businessmen are also known to have extensive financial interests in Bombay and other cities. Ends – Press Trust of SA Nov 7 1984

           

       ‘HARSH REALITIES’ OF SA REFORMS 

Soon after the tri-racial elections in August 1984, six Natal Indian Congress and United Democratic Front leaders sought refuge inside the British Consulate in Durban after they were hunted by the apartheid security forces.
Those who entered the consulate were Mewa Ramgobin, George Sewpersadh, Archie Gumede, Paul Devadas David, M J Naidoo and Billy Nair.
We wrote a feature about the clampdown against the anti-apartheid leaders and organisation and this was published in several newspapers in India.
One newspaper, the Indian Express, published the article under the headline: “ ‘Harsh realities’ of SA reforms” on Oct 11 1984.

The article read:

Durban, Oct 11 (PTI): The six anti-apartheid activists who sought refuge in the British Consulate here have dramatically revealed  the harsh realities of the “reform” package that has been rammed down the throats of the people of the country.
The so-called “new deal” – which caters for the coloured, Indian and white communities but excludes the African majority – was advertised as a scheme which promoted “consensus” and “harmony” among the different race groups, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
However, nothing could be further from the truth. For as Pretoria was going through the motions of introducing its “new-deal”, the authorities used their entire arsenal of security legislation to detain top officials of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Azanian Peoples’ Organisation (AZAPO) – two organisations that are vehemently opposed to white minority rule in South Africa.
As detainees do not have recourse to the law, Pretoria unleashed its security laws in the full realisation that no court in the land could challenge its actions.
The apartheid regime’s main weapon is the Internal Security Act of 1982. This Act is a sophistication of a whole range of laws created in the 1950s to deal with the South African Communist Party (SACP), African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
The three main sections of the Act which deal with detentions are: “Section 29 which allows a detainee to be held in solitary confinement for an indefinite period. Detainees have no access to lawyers, family and private doctors. Detainees under this section are most prone to torture by the police and mysterious deaths.
“Section 31, so-called ‘witness detention’ is similar to Section 29 except that the detainees are held for the purpose of giving evidence in a State trial. People under this Section are never charged and are usually held for long periods, and
“Section 28, perhaps the most obnoxious of all, allows for indefinite ‘preventative-detention’. People held in terms of this Section never appear in court. The State simply removes activists from society believing that they might ‘endanger the security of the State’.”
After detainees have been released from Section 28 that are “listed” – they cannot be quoted by the media and are thus effectively prevented from assuming leadership roles in their organisations, reports PTSA.
Attempts by the Minister of Law and Order, Mr Louis le Grange, to impose similar orders on the “Durban six” failed when they sought refuge at the British Consulate.
Over the past eight years, more than 3 649 people are known to have been detained under South Africa’s harsh security laws.
One of the most disturbing features of the present situation is that despite talk of reform by the authorities there is no indication the system of detention-without-trial will end.
In fact, the figures of detention show that since the announcement of the introduction of the tri-racial Constitution the numbers have risen dramatically.
When the tri-racial Constitution came into being, it unleashed a strong wave of opposition similar to the student uprisings in 1976 and 1977.
The unbridled anger on part of the black people led the Pretoria authorities to react in their customary heavy-handed and brutal manner.
The anti-constitution campaign, spearheaded by the UDF and AZAPO, led to more than 119 people being detained without trial in August alone.
Predictably, these two target groups suffered most heavily together with other community and political workers as well as scholars and students.
So far, this year more than 572 people have been incarcerated by the Pretoria Government and its surrogate Bantustan authorities.
The most obnoxious aspect of the detentions is that virtually none of the detainees will ever appear in court. This year only four detainees were charged and convicted under the security laws, while more than 338 have been released after spending long spells in police cells.
At present, 106 political detainees have been charged and are due to appear in court. Another 122 people still remain – detained incommunicado – without any hope of being brought to court or released.
Three detainees have died in “care” of the security police this year – one died two days later after the polls closed for the “coloured” election. The total number of people who have died in detention since 1963 now exceeds more than 56 persons. Ends – Press Trust of SA Oct 11 1984

TOP INDIAN LEADERS IN SA CHARGED WITH TREASON

 
In December 1984 four top leaders of the Natal Indian Congress along with other struggle leaders were charged with treason after they left the British Consulate in Durban where they sought refuge from the apartheid security police.
This article was published in several newspapers in India, including the Indian Express, which carried the story under the headline: “Top Indian leaders in SA charged with treason”.

The story read:

Durban, December 11 (PTI): Six top coloured leaders – including four Indian leaders who have been in detention for the past four months – have been charged with high treason.
They are George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC); M J Naidoo, vice-president of the NIC; Mewa Ramgobin, national treasurer of the United Democratic Front and former president of the NIC; Essop Jassat, president of the Transvaal Indian Congress; Curtis Nkondo, executive member of the UDF; and Aubrey Mokoena, secretary of the Transvaal branch of the Release Mandela Committee.
They were charged immediately after the government withdrew their detention without trial orders today, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
However, three UDF leaders – Archie Gumede, Billy Nair and Paul David – who have been in the British Consulate office since September 13 – have decided to adopt a “wait and see” attitude before deciding whether to leave the Consulate or not.
It is speculated they may be charged as well in retribution for exposing the repressive policies of the Pretoria Government. Ends – Press Trust of SA Dec 11 1984 

CALL FOR GANDHI-LIKE MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

(Archie Gumede, Archbishop Denis Hurley and Mewa  Ramgobin at one of the meeting in Durban in the 1980s.)

While the apartheid regime was embarking on an extensive and vigorous campaign to wipe out leaders and activists of the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front, their fellow  anti-apartheid leaders and organisations, for their part, continued to provide support for arrested leaders and activists.
The leaders arrested and charged for High Treason in November/December 1984 were Mewa Ramgobin, Archie Gumede, George Sewpersadh, M J Naidoo, Paul Devadas David, Mrs Albertina Sisulu, wife of jailed ANC leader Walter Sisulu; Essop Jassat, Aubrey Mokoena, Curtis Nkondo, Frank Chikane, Ebrahim Salojee, Ismail Mahomed, Richard Gqweta, Sisa Njikelana, Sam Kikine and Isaac Ngcobo.  
At the end of February 1985, the leaders called for the establishment of a “Gandhi-like” movement to confront the apartheid regime.
I attended the meeting in Durban where more than 8 000 people supported such a call for a “Gandhi-like” organisation.
The story I wrote was published in several newspapers in India with the Hindustan Times publishing the article under the headline: “Call for Gandhi-like movement in SA” on Feb 28 1985.

The story read:

Durban, Feb 28 (PTI): More than 8 000 people here last night supported a call for launching a “Gandhi-like non-violent mass movement” to fight for the liberation of South Africa, from white rule.
The call was made by the Archbishop of Durban, Rev Denis Hurley, while addressing a mass rally against the detention of 16 top leaders by the South African security police.
The meeting was called by the United Democratic Front (UDF) as part of a nation-wide campaign against the repressive policies of the Pretoria Government, reports the Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA).
The 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bishop Desmond Tutu; Dr Alan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches; Billy Nair and Rev Msibisi Xundu, both top UDF leaders; and Mrs Sheila Sisulu, were among the main speakers at the meeting.
Strongly condemning the racist Pretoria Government, Archbishop Hurley mooted the idea of the establishment of a non-violent “Gandhi-like” movement that would shake the very citadel of white power.
“How appropriate it would be if a non-violent movement takes root in a country where the great Mahatma Gandhi conceived the Satyagraha (soul force) strategy,” said Archbishop Hurley.
All the other speakers and the more than 8 000 people present said they also should be charged with treason because they, like the 16 UDF leaders, also propagated the idea of a free, just and non-racial South Africa. Ends – Press Trust of SA (PTSA), Feb 28 1985.

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS CONDEMNS THE ARSON IN INANDA, DURBAN IN 1985

 

The apartheid regime, in order to de-stabilise the political struggles, unleashed its right-wing forces in early August 1985.
In this repressive campaign, one community in the Inanda area of Durban was isolated and right-wing forces went on the rampage attacking, looting and burning homes and businesses.
We wrote regular articles and radio stories about these attacks. They were published in newspapers in India and broadcast on international radio stations such as the BBC, Radio France Internationale, Radio Deutsche Welle and Radio Netherlands.
The Indian Express published one story under the headline: “ SA Indians flee amid arson” on August 8 1985.

The story read:

Durban, Aug 8 (PTI): More than 2 000 families of Indian-origin in the port city of Durban fled after unruly mobs looted and burnt their shops, the Press Trust of South Africa reports.
About 17 people are reported to have been killed since the unrest began three days ago in protest against the murder of political trials lawyer, Mrs Victoria Mxenge.
Acting president of the Natal Indian Congress, Dr Farouq Meer, said it seemed “hooligan elements were taking advantage of the situation”.
The area affected is called Inanda – where Indian and African families have been living for more than 100 years. They have been living directly opposite the Phoenix settlement started by Mahatma Gandhi in the early 1900s.
This morning the families hired trucks and vans to move into Inanda to salvage whatever furniture and other belongings they could retrieve.
All Indian schools in and around the Inanda area and in the city of Pietermaritzburg had been closed for the day. Ends – Press Trust of SA Aug 8 1985  

PRETORIA CRACKDOWN “A DESPERATE MOVE”

 

In early September 1985, the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) lashed out at the apartheid regime’s continued clampdown on the NIC and the United Democratic Front (UDF).
The NIC was referring to the detention of another three leaders under the government’s security laws.

The Indian Express published this story under the headline: “Pretoria crackdown ‘a desperate move’” on September 5 1985.

The story read:

Durban, Sept 5 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress (NIC), an affiliate of the United Democratic Front (UDF), has described the latest crackdown against its members and other officials of the UDF as the desperate action of a Government that “is on the way out”.
The NIC issued a statement immediately after three of its leading officials were arrested in a nation-wide crackdown against the UDF recently, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Among the NIC officials detained are the acting president, Dr Farouk Meer; executive member Billy Nair and the Natal regional secretary of the UDF, Mr Yunus Mahomed.

       (Dr Farouq Meer with his wife at a memorial service function for the late Mewa Ramgiobin in Durban in 2019)

                              

Mr Mahomed is also an attorney in the treason trial against 16 top UDF leaders.
Among the UDF officials detained are the president of the Natal Organisation of Women (NOW), Ms Noziwe Madlala; Mr Saleem Badat of a newspaper in Cape Town; Mr Yusuf Adams, treasurer of the UDF in the Western Cape; Mr Abdullah Omar, a Cape Town advocate; and Mr Christman Tinto, vice-president of the UDF in the Western Cape.
The NIC spokesperson said the detention of the entire leadership of the UDF was a desperate attempt to destroy the organisation because it had now become the most formidable political force in the country.
“It is clear that the Government is not interested in a peaceful, negotiated settlement in South Africa. It wants to bludgeon the black people into accepting its policy of apartheid,” he said.
Meanwhile, 11 South African Indians have been arrested on several charges of violence following the recent unrest in the Inanda area of Durban.
The Indians have already appeared in court on charges ranging from murder to possession of explosives. The police took possession of firearms from members of vigilante groups and explosives during a road block in the unrest areas.
The men, including a high school teacher, are reported to have joined vigilante groups to seek revenge against those who looted and burned their homes and businesses in the area.
The same men are reported to have also been responsible for burning some of the buildings at the Mahatma Gandhi Settlement in Inanda. Their case, however, does not include any charges for their alleged attacks on the Gandhi settlement. Ends – Press trust of SA Sept 5 1985

SA INDIANS TO CLAIM DAMAGES AFTER BEING ACQUITTED OF HIGH TREASON

 

(Cassim Salojee with Ahmed Kathrada at Kathrada's relative's home in Lenasia home in Johannesburg after Kathrada was released in October 1989)

In early December 1985 after some of the leaders were acquitted of high treason, they decided to lodge claims against the apartheid government for what they termed their “illegal detentions”.

This story was published in several newspapers under the headlines: “UDF leaders to sue Minister”, “UDF men acquitted of treason to sue Minister”, and “SA Indians to claim damages” on December 25 1985.

The story published in the Indian Express read:

Durban, Dec 25 (PTI): Five of the 12 United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders, who were acquitted early in December after facing charges of high treason, are to sue South Africa’s Minister of Law and Order, Louis Le Grange, for damges.
Mewa Ramgobin, an executive member of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and grand-son-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi, who was one of the accused in the trial, said they would meet with their lawyers shortly to institute legal proceedings against the minister for damages for the period they spent in jail under the Pretoria Government’s notorious Internal Security Act, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
He claimed their arrest under this section was illegal.
“We were detained in August 1984 under Section 28 of the Internal Security Act but 19 days later the Supreme Court set us free. Then new arrest orders were issued against us,” Ramgobin said.
The police could not immediately effect the re-arrest orders because Ramgobin and his colleagues had sought refuge in the British Consulate.

However, when Ramgobin, George Sewpersadh, Archie Gumede, Paul David and M J Naidoo emerged from their sit-in at the British Consulate on October 6 1984, they were re-arrested, again under Section 28 of the Internal Security Act.

Meanwhile, four other accused who are all members of the South African Allied Workers Union and who appeared together with the “UDF 12” in the trial, have not been acquitted by the state and would re-appear in court on Feb 3 next year (1986).

 

 
                UDF BLAST SOUTH AFRICA

 

In January 1986 after some of the United Democratic Front leaders were found not guilty of High Treason, they issued a statement warning the apartheid regime against further acts of repression.
This article, we wrote, was published among others, the Daily newspaper, under the headline: “UDF blasts SA” on Jan 3 1986.
The story read:
Durban, Jan 3 (PTI): Two prominent Indian anti-apartheid leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in South Africa, who were recently acquitted of high treason charges along with 10 others, have said that any further action brought against them by the Pretoria regime can only be viewed as punitive and against the tenets of justice.
This is the view of Dr Essop Jassat and Cassim Salojee, two executive officials of the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Dr Jassat was originally arrested on August 21 in 1984 under Section 28 of the Pretoria regime’s notorious Internal Security Act. He was released on December 10 1984 but was immediately arrested charged with treason.
Salojee was arrested on February 19 last year and brought to Durban to be charged along with Dr Jassat and 14 other UDF and trade union leaders. Ends – Press Trust of SA Jan 3 1986

    THATCHER NOT WELCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

Late in January 1987 we wrote several articles about the former British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, announcing her intentions to visit South Africa. She made this announcement after stating that she would only make such a visit if Nelson Mandela was released from life imprisonment.
But anti-apartheid leaders and organisations responded immediately by stating that Thatcher would not be welcome because of her support for the white minority regime.

This story was published under the headlines: “Thatcher won’t be welcomed in South Africa”, “Thatcher not welcome in South Africa”, and “Thatcher no ‘friend’ of blacks”, “Thatcher not welcome in SA even if Mandela is released”, on January 24 and 25 1987.

The story read:

Durban, Jan 24 (PTI): The British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, will not be welcome in South Africa even if her demands for the release of Mr Nelson Mandela are met by the Pretoria Government.

Anti-apartheid leaders in South Africa took this strong stand against Mrs Thatcher following the British leader’s statements that she would consider visiting South Africa only when Mr Nelson Mandela was released from life imprisonment.
Mrs Thatcher reportedly made the demand after completing her recent visit to Kenya and Nigeria where she stuck to her stance that sanctions would not solve South Africa’s political problems.
The joint president of the United Democratic Front (UDF), Mr Archie Gumede, told the Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA) news agency that Mrs Thatcher would not be welcome in South Africa even if Mr Mandela was released because the British leader was not a friend of the country’s black people.

“Mrs Thatcher would do well to stay away from South Africa because she has no admirers among the black majority. As far as I am concerned her call for the release of Mr Mandela is hollow because she really does not want to change the status quo in South Africa,” Mr Gumede said.
“She only made the call for Mr Mandela’s release because after he visit to Kenya and Nigeria she now fully understands the anger of Africa against apartheid in South Africa”, he said.
An executive member of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, said he concurred with Mr Gumede’s attitude against the British leader because she had never supported the just struggles of the black people in South Africa. Ends – Jan 24 1987 Press Trust of SA (PTSA)  

INDIA INVITES NIC AND TIC LEADERS FOR A MEETING IN NEW DELHI

At this time in January 1987 a number of leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress travelled to Lusaka in Zambia for talks with Indian High Commissioner.
Soon afterwards the Indian Government invited the struggle leaders for talks in New Delhi.
This story was published under the headlines: “Indian invites African Indian Cong leaders”, and “Indian leaders from SA invited” on Jan 11 1986.

The story in the Indian Express read:

Durban, Jan 11 (PTI): Leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress have said that they had received an invitation to meet Indian Government officials in New Delhi, the Press Trust of South Africa reports.
A spokesperson for the Natal Indian Congress said the invitation was extended after their meeting with the Indian High Commissioner in Lusaka, Zambia in October last year.
She said they might hold talks with the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi.
The discussions in Delhi would revolve around the Indian community in a non-racial democratic South Africa, she said.
“We hope the Indian Government will guide us in our efforts to eradicate apartheid in South Africa”, said the spokesperson. Ends – Press Trust of SA Jan 11 1987

GANDHI’S DESCENDANTS DENIED PASSPORTS TO VISIT INDIA
 

In February 1987 Mewa Ramgobin and his family were invited to attend the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, India but the apartheid regime continued with its harassment of freedom leaders by denying them passports to travel to India.
This story was published in the Hindu under the headline: “Gandhi’s descendants denied passports to visit India” and in the Patriot under the headline: “Gandh’s SA kin denied passports”.

The story read:

Durban, Feb 17 (PTI): Several members of Mahatma Gandhi’s descendants in South Africa were prevented from attending India’s 39^th Republic Day celebrations  as official guests of the Government of India, following lack of passports.

Mrs Ela Ramgobin, a grand-daughter of the Mahatma, said in an interview with the Press Trust of South Africa that they had the received the invitations through the Indian High Commissioner’s office in London.
Mrs Ramgobin, her husband, Mewalall Ramgobin, and her mother, 81-year-old Mrs Sushila Gandhi, who is the daughter-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi, were invited, she added.
“We would have loved to attend the celebrations in New Delhi but had no passports. The South African Government has denied us passports for more than a decade,” she said.
Mewalall Ramgobin and his wife are both executive members of the Natal Indian Congress and are top-ranking anti-apartheid activists in South Africa.
They have been banned for more than 24 years while Ramgobin was also on detention on charges of High Treason. He was acquitted along with 15 other leaders of the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1985. – ends Press Trust of South Africa Feb 17 1987
 

 

                        PRAYERS AGAINST DETENTIONS

 

In March 1987, the Natal Indian Congress joined other progressive and anti-apartheid organisations and leaders to condemn the continued detention of struggle leaders.
This story was published by in the Patriot under the headline: “Prayers to protest detention without trial” and in the Daily newspaper under the headline: “Prayers to mark SA detentions” on March 24 and 26  1987 respectively.

The story read:

Durban, Mar 24 (PTI): In one of the biggest expressions of anger against detentions without trial in South Africa, several prayer services were held throughout the country on March 12 to pledge support for detainees and hunger-strikers, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Thousands of people thronged prayer services in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, East London and Port Elizabeth.
In Durban, the Natal Indian Congress and other democratic organisations read out messages of support to detainees and the fight against oppression in the country.
Mr Mewa Ramgobin, vice-president of the NIC, said the organisation was an ally of the ANC and as such supported all democratic actions in support of all oppressed people.
“We are totally appalled that people could just be locked up without being tried in a court of law. We have to continue our struggles until not a single detainee is held in South African jails,” he said.
Mr Ramgobin, who himself is a former detainee and was tried for treason, told the prayer meeting that ultimately the whole system of apartheid should be brought down. Ends – Press Trust of SA March 24 1987

           PRETORIA BLOCKS VISIT TO INDIA

 

While the Natal Indian Congress was stepping up activities in early 1987 against the apartheid regime, the Pretoria Government blocked moves by several struggle activists to visit India to meet government leaders.
This story was published under the headline: “Pretoria blocks visit to India” on March 22 1987 by the Hindustan Times.

The story read:

Durban, Mar 22 (PTI): Seven prominent anti-apartheid leaders in South Africa are still waiting for their passports to travel to India on April 2 as part of an anti-apartheid delegation to meet Indian leaders in New Delhi, says a delayed Press Trust of South Africa report.
The seven leaders are Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress; Mr Mewa Ramgobin, vice-president; Mrs Ela Ramgobin, executive member; Dr Farouq Meer, secretary; Mr Hashim Seedat, treasurer; Mr Thumba Pillay, executive member; and Mr Paul David, executive member.
Mr Ramgobin said in an interview that the Congress would wait until the last minute to nominate the delegation to travel to India.
He said the Congress had decided to choose a non-racial delegation because it would be the first time that an internal anti-apartheid movement would be holding official talks with a foreign government.
He said if it was possible they would also travel to Pakistan to hold talks with the new Prime Minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto.
“In India we would also like to hold a meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi,” he said. Ends – March 21 1987 Press Trust of SA 

DEBATE SPARKED OFF BY NIC LIST IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

Early in December 1987 the Natal Indian Congress compiled a list of all the opportunists who collaborated with the apartheid regime. This list was submitted to the Government of India in an attempt to prevent the opportunists from visiting India.
This article was published in several newspapers, including the Indian Express on December 12 1987. The story, published under the headline: “Debate sparked off by NIC list in South Africa”, read:

Durban, Dec 4 (PTI): A heated debate has been sparked off by Natal Indian Congress vice-president, Professor Jerry Coovadia, compiling a list of South Africans who are participating in Government structures, reports PTI.
The list has been formulated at the request of the Indian Government with a view to barring such “collaborators” from entry to India.
Mr Pat Poovalingam of the Progressive Federal Party accused the NIC of preventing Hindus “who do not follow the ANC line” from their pilgrimage to India.
Mr Amichand Rajbansi, the suspended chairman of the Indian House of Delegates, entered the fray saying “the general public is querying the reason why the NIC was listing people for ban on entry into India and not also into Malaysia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and England”.
Prof Coovadia said that the Indian community in South Africa had long been associated and identified with the oppressed masses in South Africa and would continue to fight against apartheid. 

BARRED SOUTH AFRICAN SLIPS INTO INDIA

 

But despite the ban on apartheid collaborators, one person slipped into India without any problems.
This story was published in the Hindu on December 25 1987. The story read:
Durban, Dec 25 (PTI): A South African Indian, working with the racist Pretoria Government, is understood to have slipped into India for holiday despite the Indian Government ban on all apartheid collaborators, the Press Trust of South Africa reports.
A spokesperson for the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) said in an interview that it had received information that Mr Pat Poovalingam, a member of the Indian House of Delegates in the tri-cameral parliament, had entered India despite being aware that he was not welcome there.
Mr Poovalingam is understood to be holidaying in south India.
The names of the collaborators like Mr Poovalingam are to be submitted to the Indian Government in January (1989) by a delegation of the Natal and Transvaal Indian congresses. Ends – Press Trust of SA Dec 25 1988
 

INDIA INVITES AFRICAN INDIAN CONGRESS LEADERS

 

In January 1989, the Indian Government invited leaders of the Natal and Transval Indian congresses to discuss the ongoing political situation in South Africa.
This story was published in the Indian Express under the headline: “India invites African Indian Cong leaders” on Jan 11.
The story read:
Durban, Jan 11 (PTI): Leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress have said that they had received an invitation to meet Indian Government officials in New Delhi, the Press Trust of South Africa reports.
A spokesperson for the Natal Indian Congress said the invitation was extended after their meeting with the Indian High Commissioner in Lusaka, Zambia, in October.
She said they might hold talks with the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Ends – Press Trust of SA Jan 11 1989

(Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim (right) greeting Swaminathan Gounden at a  function in Durban)

             S A INDIAN FACES DEATH SENTENCE

 

At the time while talks were taking place for the release of Nelson Mandela and other leaders from life imprisonment, the Pretoria regime continued with its efforts to target those involved in the struggles.
One such person who was targeted in the late 1980s was ANC revolutionary, Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, who fled into exile after being being release from Robben Island.
He joined the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and was based in countries neighbouring South Africa.
But in 1987 he was abducted from Swaziland and brought to South Africa to face terrorism charges. This article was published in a number of Indian newspapers, including the Patriot, Indian Express and Hindustan Times.
The Hindustan Times published the article under the headline: “S A Indian faces death sentence” on January 29.

The story read:

Durban, Jan 29 (PTI): Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, an Indian passport-holding South African political refugee, faces the death penalty here after having been found guilty by the Pretoria Supreme Court  along with two others on charges of “treason and terrorism”, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Although holding an Indian passport, Ebrahim, 51, was abducted from Swaziland and brought to South Africa in 1987.
He had refused to attest any evidence during the 16-month-long political trial.
In a memorandum, Ebrahim has asked the court to reconsider its sentence, keeping in mind the circumstance of his having been kidnapped from a foreign state by the South African security forces  at a time when he was carrying a passport issued by the Government of India.
Ebrahim said he and his co-accused were brutally tortured, while the evidence of police witnesses was fabricated.
The court’s sentence merely meant  that the state considered that the struggle for democracy, equality, justice, peace and a non-racial society required suppression by judicial and other means, he said.
Ebrahim said he and two other officials of the African National Congress (ANC) were among the countless who were prepared to sacrifice their lives of the emancipation of South Africa.
“We shall achieve victory soon,” he said. Ends – Press Trust of SA Jan 29 1989

CALL TO DISSOLVE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

 

In January 1990, just when preparations were being made for the release of Nelson Mandela from life imprisonment on February 11, a number of leaders in the Natal Indian Congress started a debate on whether the NIC should remain in existence when Mandela is released and the African National Congress is unbanned.
One of the leaders who set the ball rolling on this debate was one of the top executive members, Mr M J Naidoo.
We wrote an article about the NIC and the role it had played in the struggles for freedom, equality and justice in South Africa since the early 1890s.
The article was published in several newspapers in India, including the Indian Express. The Indian Express published the story under the headline: “Call to dissolve Natal Cong.” on January 21 1990.

The story read:

Durban, January 21 (PTI):  The Natal Indian Congress (NIC), a political organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894 to highlight the oppression of the then indentured Indian sugarcane labourers, has played its role in the South African body politic and should be dissolved, now that the ban of the African National Congress is about to be lifted by the Pretoria regime, according to many prominent anti-apartheid leaders.
The Natal Indian Congress was a member of the Congress Alliance with the ANC in the 1950s and was one of the main participants in the adoption of the historic “Freedom Charter” in 1955, reports Press Trust of South Africa.
When the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) were banned in 1960, the Natal Indian Congress escaped being proscribed but did not survive the onslaught.
Most of the leaders were banned or were forced into exile and the organisation was rendered impotent.
In the 1970s, one of the former banned leaders, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, re-launched the organisation. However, Mr Ramgobin and two other leaders who succeeded him, Mr George Sewpersadh and Mr M J Naidoo, were soon banned and house-arrested.
In spite of this repression, other leaders of the organisation kept the Congress alive and revived the politics of opposition to apartheid. It opposed participation by Indians in the new South African Indian Council (SAIC) that was created by the Pretoria regime to co-opt the Indian community since the 1970s. In 1984 and 1989, it carried out campaigns against the tri-cameral parliament.
In 1983, the Congress was one of the chief organisers of the United Democratic Front and a number of other anti-apartheid organisations over the past decade.
Mr M J Naidoo, a senior executive official,  told PTSA in an interview that the NIC had played its role in reviving the politics of the ANC at a time when the latter was banned.
“But now that the ANC ban is about to be lifted, I don’t think there is any longer a need for an ethnic organisation to specifically cater for the Indian community. Those Indians who support a non-racial and democratic society should instead convert the NIC branches into ANC branches,” he said.
Mr Naidoo is supported by younger activists who believe that there is no longer any need for ethnic organisations.
One of the vice-presidents, Mr Mewa Ramgobin, said he agreed that the NIC had become obsolete in the changing situation in South Africa but he was of the view that until the ANC ban was lifted, the Congress should remain.
“Since the early 1970s we have been espousing the politics of the ANC and I think this role would come to an end soon when the ANC is unbanned. But until then we should not be too much in a hurry. It won’t kill us to wait for another year or two,” he said. Ends – Press Trust of South Africa Jan 21 1990

MAC MAHARAJ AND BILLY NAIR HELD BY THE PRETORIA SECURITY APPARATUS

(Billy Nair)

 

Just when the African National Congress and its allies, including the Natal Indian Congress, were preparing for talks with the Pretoria regime in July 1990, a number of ANC political activists were detained on charges of plotting to overthrow the white government.

                                                                                  (Mac Maharaj)

Among about 40 activists detained were senior leaders of the ANC and the NIC. They included former political prisoners, Mr Mac Maharaj and Mr Billy Nair.
The stories I wrote were published on July 26 (1990) in several newspapers under the headlines: “Another Indian ANC leader held” and “Indian ANC leader held”.
The story published in the Indian Express, read:

Durban, July 26 (PTI): Another prominent Indian leader of the African National Congress in South Africa, Mr Mac Maharaj, has been arrested by the Pretoria authorities in the short spell of three days.
Mr Maharaj (58), who is a national executive member of the ANC and a senior official of the South African Communist Party, returned from exile recently under an amnesty granted by the Pretoria Government.
Media spokesperson for the ANC, Ms Jill Marcus, told PTI on Thursday morning that Mr Maharaj was detained on Wednesday night.
“We don’t have all the details right now and are still investigating the arrest of Mr Maharaj. The Deputy President, Mr Nelson Mandela, is personally handling the matter,” she said.

The South African Government said that the ANC leader’s detention was connected to the alleged armed insurrection to overthrow the Government.
Mr Maharaj was arrested only hours after the ANC announcement on Wednesday that it will hold talks with the Government on August 6 despite its serious concerns regarding the reported arrest of some 40 ANC members who had allegedly entered the country with arms and ammunition.
Mr Maharaj was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1965 for 12 years and on his release in 1977 he joined the ANC in exile.
Mr Billy Nair (60), a leader of the Natal regional committee of the ANC, was the first top-ranking leader of the ANC to be detained this week.

Three other Indian members of the ANC, Mr Pravin Gordhan, Mr Anesh Sunkar and Mr Deepak Patel, all of Durban, were detained about three weeks ago.
The publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front, Mr Popo Molefe, told MTI that the arrest of Mr Maharaj was a violation of the agreement reached between the Government and the ANC during their first meeting early in May.
“We are appalled at the detention of Mr Maharaj and all other ANC members. We will consider widespread protest actions if all detainees are not released immediately.
“The detentions have placed a question mark on the sincerity of the Government to bring about a negotiated settlement of the political situation,” he said. Ends – Press Trust of SA July 26 1990. 

ANTI-APARTHEID LOBBY ANGRY AT DETENTIONS

 

After the unbanning of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela in early 1990, anti-apartheid leaders and organisations embarked on a national drive to recruit members for the ANC.
But at the same time the apartheid regime began to detain anti-apartheid activists as part of its own campaign to deter people from joining the ANC.
Three activists of the Natal Indian Congress were some of the people detained by the security police in late July 1990.
This story was published by several newspapers in India under the headline: “Anti-apartheid lobby angry at detentions.”

The story read:

Durban, Aug 1 (PTI): The detention of three members of the South African anti-apartheid movement, the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), on the eve of a major ANC recruitment drive among the Indian community, has angered the anti-apartheid here, reports the Press Trust of South Africa.
NIC activists Mr Pravin Gordhan, Mr Deepak Patel and Mr Amesh Sankar are being held under Section 29 of the internal security act which allows for indefinite detention without trial by the state.
Both the ANC and the NIC have expressed concern at the detentions especially as the ban on the ANC has now been lifted and government had committed itself to negotiations.
Both organisations have indicated that they will take up the issue with the joint working group, established after the ANC’s May talks with the government.
The JWG consists of members of both the ANC and the Government.
According to NIC spokesperson, Dr Farouk Meer, his organisation is willing to petition even the state President, F W de Klerk, in a bid to gain the release of the detainees.
“We have issued pamphlets in a large number of areas condemning the detentions and we have also enlisted the support of community organisations and cultural groupings to pressure the state into releasing the detainees,” he said.
Dr Meer also said that the NIC had written to Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok, and the commissioner of police demanding an explanation for the arrest and detention of the three men.
“In the light of the latest political developments in the country the NIC would like to ask the government to explain the relevance of the internal security act and its position regarding black and white detainees,” he said. Ends – Press Trust of South Africa Aug 1 1990

CONCERN OVER 2 INDIAN PRISONERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

(Billy Nair - third top right - was one of the leaders who sought refuge at the British Consulate in Durban in 1984  )

 

A few days later we spoke to the families of Mac Maharaj and Billy Nair and wrote a story about their concerns at their continued detentions.
This story was published by several newspapers, including the Hindustan Times, on August 12 (1990) under the headline: “Concern over 2 Indian prisoners in S. Africa”.

The story read:

Durban, August 12 (PTI): Family members have expressed concern about the health of Mac Maharaj and Billy Nair, two senior Indian leaders of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, detained recently in a government crackdown on political activists.
Mrs Zarina Maharaj says her husband is an extremely sick man and she fears he may die in the cold prison conditions in which he is being held.
She also accused the government of a breach of faith, saying her husband would never have returned from exile if it had not promised him immunity from prosecution.
Mrs Elsie Nair, for her part, says her 60-year-old husband needed treatment for a bad knee for which he had been receiving attention from the Addington Hospital in Durban. She fears the cold prison conditions would worsen his knee problem and cause him great pain.
Mr Nair, one of South Africa’s most prominent Indian leaders, was detained on July 23.

His detention came during a crackdown on anti-apartheid activists from the African National Congress and the Natal Indian Congress. Nair, who has been identified with the ANC and the NIC for almost 50 years, is no stranger to state repression.
He spent more than 20 years as a political prisoner on South Africa’s notorious Robben Island, and detained three times after being released in 1984.
Born in Durban on November 27, 1929 in a working-class family of Kerala origin, Nair became politically active during the passive resistance campaigns between 1946 and 1948, and in 1949 joined the Natal Indian Youth Congress and became its secretary in 1950. In 1952 when the defiance campaign was called, Nair became an executive member of the NIC.
He was one of the first resisters and was arrested along with 21 others, charged, convicted and sentenced to one month imprisonment.

After his release, he became fully involved in the trade union movement and in 1955 participated in the Congress of People in Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was drawn up.
In March 1955, Nair was one of several trade unionists who formed the South African Congress of Trade Unions (popularly known as SACTU) and served on its executive committee and as secretary of the Natal region.
One of the 156 people charged with high treason in 1956, Nair and others were found not guilty and discharged after a trial lasting four years.
Nair became one of the most active members of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, established in 1961, and took part in several anti-government strikes until arrest in 1963.
Nair and 19 others were charged with sabotage, and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment which he served on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and other ANC leaders.
After his release on February 27, 1984, Nair became involved once again with the NIC, the UDF and played an active role against the House of Delegates elections in 1984. Later that year, Nair and five other UDF and NIC leaders took refuge at the British Consulate in Durban for nearly five  months.
In 1985, he was detained once again for nearly four months. A few days before the state of emergency was introduced in 1986, Billy Nair went underground along with other comrades. He remained underground until early this year when President F W de Klerk announced the lifting of the state of emergency and the unbanning of the ANC and other organisations. ends – Aug 12 1990 (Press Trust of South Africa).

          NIC REVERSES ITS DECISION TO DISBAND

           

In October 1990, the Natal Indian Congress, decided not to disband after some leaders had questioned the continued existence of the NIC early in the year when the ANC was unbanned and Nelson Mandela and other leaders were freed from prison.
This story was published, among others, in the Hindu, National Herald and Indian Express on October 7 1990.
The story in the Indian Express read:
Durban, Oct 7 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress (NIC), which is one of the major Indian representative bodies in South Africa, has decided after months of discussions that it still has a role to play in the political arena and therefore will not disband.

On the lifting of the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) earlier this year, the NIC stated its intention to close shop, and opening the way for its members to sign with the ANC.
At that time, the NIC indicated that a consultative conference would be held in September when a definite decision would be made.

However, according to NIC president, George Sewpersadh, the NIC has since decided it will not disband.
Mr Sewpersadh said his organisation had been receiving representions 
from its members ever since its controversial decision earlier in the year. He said a large number of NIC members had stated that disbanding the organisation at present would be short-sighted. Ends – Oct 7 1990 
 
 

                NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS TO STAY

 

In mid-November 1990, the leaders of the Natal Indian Congress took a decision not to disband the organisation. This decision was taken primarily at a time when official negotiations for a new South Africa was to get under away in Johannesburg.

This article was published in the Indian Express under the headline: “SA Indian Congress to stay” on November 18 1990.

The story read:

Durban, Nov 18 (PTI): The Natal Indian Congress, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, will not easily be disbanded in spite of calls by radical members of the Indian community here that it should in view of the changing political situation.

The secretary of the Congress, Dr Farook Meer, said in an interview that many people in the community felt that the Congress had a role to play in a post-apartheid society.

He adds: “Initially some people felt that because the Congress espoused the the same policies as the ANC it should fade away from the scene because it would merely be duplicating the work.

“However, on after thought, many people are now saying that because of the multi-cultural nature of South African society, the Congress will still have a role to play on behalf of the Indian community.

“We must emphasise that this will not mean we will be emphasising ethnicity. It will merely mean that in reality the Indian community will exist in South Africa and as such they will have problems that will be peculiar to them.

“The Congress had proved over the years that it has a very proud track record of promoting the interests of the Indian community as part of the broad democratic movement and, therefore, the people believe it should continue to play that role.”

Dr Meer said many stalwart members of the Congress and many influential people in India were also opposed to the idea of disbanding the Congress.

“Even the ANC has not taken a definite decision on this issue,” he said. “They told us that it was up to us whether we should disband or not.”

Meanwhile, a national survey has shown that the African National Congress enjoys the most support among Indians.

The survey by the Durban-based Institute for Black Research concentrated on the attitude of all race groups to the negotiation process between the ANC and the Government.

The survey was supervised by three prominent Indian personalities – Prof Fatima Meer, a retired social scientist; Dr Saths Cooper, clinical psychologist at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town; and Piroshaw Camay, a former secretary general of the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU).

A total of 3 725 people of all race groups and across the economic spectrum were interviewed. An overwhelming 90 percent of the respondents supported the negotiations process with 71.5 percent of Africans, 71.4 percent of whites, 70.6 percent of Indians and 74.6 percent of coloured people giving their sanction.

As far as support for the ANC was concerned, the survey showed that Indians preferred Nelson Mandela’s organisation to other political parties.

The Indian respondents also showed that they preferred the negotiations process to start as soon as possible and for effective measures to be taken to correct the economical injustices of the apartheid era.

Although a significant percentage of Indians (53.4 percent) preferred minority protection in the new Constitution, a relatively large percentage (31.4 percent) at the same time rejected this option.

On the question of violence, while more Africans and whites see South Africa as a violent society, Indians (30 percent) and coloured people (53 percent) do not have the same perception.

Most people express some doubts and fears but want negotiations to succeed so that a new stable, secure, just and fair society could be created in the near future. Ends – Press Trust of SA Nov 18 1990). 

 CAMPAIGN STARTED BY NIC AND TIC TO EXPLAIN NOT TO DISBAND

 

In April 1991, the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress started a campaign to explain their decision not to disband at the time of negotiations for a new South Africa.

The NIC in October 1990 decided not to disband after some members and leaders had early in 1990 expressed the view that the NIC could not function as an ethnic organisation in a new, non-racial and democratic South Africa.

The story about the latest move was published by the National Herald and other Indian newspapers on April 22 1991.

At this time I was the official correspondent of the Press Trust of India (PTI) in Johannesburg.

The story, under the headline: “Ethnic SA units not to disband”, read:

Johannesburg, April 22 (PTI): The Natal and Transvaal Indian congresses in South Africa have launched a massive campaign to justify their recent decision, with the consent of the African National Congress, not to disband.

The NIC, which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1894, and the TIC have embarked on the campaign after their decision drew criticism from certain quarters.

Some people felt that it was insensitive to continue with ethnic political organisations at a time when South Africa was moving towards a non-racial political solution.

However, some South African Indians felt that historical organisations like the two Congresses cannot just be disbanded.

The publicity secretary of the TIC, Mr Firoz Cachalia, said both the NIC and TIC had led the Indian community in South Africa for more than 100 years and it just could not be disbanded without proper consultation and discussion.

“Congress has united conservative merchants and radicals, local workers and plantation workers, Tamil and Telegu speakers, Memon and Surti Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Muslims, men and women, textile workers, hawkers and workers in the hotel industry, militants and passive resisters,” Mr Cachalia said. Ends – April 22 1991 (PTI)

MORE DEBATE ABOUT THE DISBANDING OF THE NIC AND TIC IN JULY 1991

 

In July 1991 the debate about the future of Indian-origin people and whether the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) continued to heighten.

Members of the public took a keen interest in this issue and voiced their views in letters to newspapers.

This article was published in several newspapers in India, including the Hindustan Times, Indian Express and the Patriot, in early July 1991. The articles were published under the headlines: “Indians debate future in SA”, “Indians debate future in South Africa”, “South African Indians ponder over their future” and “Indian S. Africans have a say”.

The article read:

Johannesburg, July 5 (PTI): The political situation in South Africa is changing rapidly and more Indian South Africans are debating about their future in the country.

The debate primarily revolves around whether or not the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) should continue to exist as separate ethnic organisations in a new non-racial South Africa.

Many a letter published in newspapers catering for the Indian-origin community have stressed the need for organisations like the NIC and the TIC to promote their interests in a post-apartheid South Africa.

A letter to the Sunday Times  by an “Indian political observer” takes issue with people who wanted to treat Indians as if they were a “non-entity”.

Dismissing with contempt people calling for the disbanding of the NIC and the TIC, the letter writer says the Indian community has a “personality, an identity and a real existence of its own”.

The presence of the Indian community in South Africa is a nationally and internationally acknowledged fact, and this fact cannot by removed by the demands of politically-motivated argument and thesis, he says.

Other letters in a similar vein have asked whether Indian South Africans would like to be represented by people have contributed to the anti-apartheid struggles or by those who co-operated and collaborated with white oppressors.

Meanwhile, one of the first Indian cadres to be involved in the armed struggle against white minority rule in South Africa, Indres Naidoo, finds it ironic that the ruling National Party wants to recruit Indians as members.

“Our future lies in the ANC and not in a party that has kept us in chains for so many decades,” he said.

Naidoo (55) was convicted and sentenced to Robben Island for 10 years for his guerrilla activities.

On his release in 1973 he was served with a five-year banning order but skipped the country to join the ANC’s military wing.

While in exile, he wrote his now-famous book, “10 years on Robben Island”.

“Indians have contributed tremendously to the struggle against white minority rule and when we are almost there, I believe that Indians have to side with ANC because it really believes in a non-racial and democratic future,” he said. Ends – Press Trust of SA July 5 1991   

                             MAJOR ERROR

 

The major error committed by progressive forces in the early 1990s was to disband the Natal Indian Congress, which was an ally of the ruling ANC during the decades of struggles for freedom and a non-racial democracy. The late former President Nelson Mandela was opposed to the disbanding of the NIC, saying the organisation had an important role to play in the new democratic South Africa. But he was over-ruled by certain elements who feared that the NIC would be too powerful, maintaining and promoting basic freedom values, principles and morals. Even the late anti-apartheid activist and sociologist, Professor Fatima Meer, told me in an interview a few months before she passed on that the demise of the NIC was the greatest tragedy for South Africa. She contended that the NIC could have played a very important role in promoting progressive values and principles. With the demise of a progressive organisation, the ruling ANC entered into partnerships with all kinds of reactionary organisations and individuals within the people of Indian-origin. The ANC found it easier to deal with reactionary elements than progressive organisations and leaders.

South Africa today needs progressive people and organisations to come together and promote the true values and principles of the Nelson Mandelas, Walter Sisulus, Oliver Tambos, Steve Bikos, Monty Naickers, Yusuf Dadoos, Dr Goonams, Fatima Meers, and the thousands of others of all colours who sacrificed their lives for a free and nion-racial South Africa. We are all South Africans and must work together to promote the well-being and advancement of all people. Today, it seems, many of us have forgotten the days and years when we worked and struggled together to bring down a violent and hated political system. We have to overcome the hundreds of years of deprivation and marginalisation of people but we cannot do this with "blinkers". We have to face the reality that we are all South Africans and we have to use all resources to promote the upliftment of all people in all areas of life - socially, economically, and educationally. We cannot use race as an excuse for all our failings and misdemeaners. – January 2010

 

 

RECALLING HISTORY - NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

 

(Mahatma Gandhi with activists who supported his Passive Resistance campaigns in the early 1900s. – Photo Mahatma Gandhi library Phoenix Centre)

 

Researching through my articles and stories on the Natal Indian Congress between the early 1970s and the early 1990s, I came across a lengthy historical feature that I had written sometime in October 1987 for the Press Trust of India. The article is an historical account of how the Natal Indian Congress played a vital role in representing people of Indian-origin while fighting for the full political, social and economic rights of all South Africans. The NIC committed itself to the freedom of all South Africans ever since its formation in 1894 and right up to the early 1990s.

The following was the Introduction and the main article that the Press Trust of South Africa submitted to PTI and other international media outlets at that time. I will publish the other stories in another feature soon.

 

October 1987

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The Natal Indian Congress, one of the oldest political organisations in South Africa which although not banned, faces continuous repressive actions at the hands of the Pretoria Government, has just successfully held its first national conference in nearly a decade at a secret venue somewhere in Durban.

The conference – although organised under the strains of the emergency regulations – attracted more than 200 delegates from 19 branches.

Marimuthu Subramoney (aka Subry Govender) of the Press Trust of South Africa News Agency analyses some of the conference resolutions and takes a look at the organisation that is playing a pivotal role on behalf of the local Indian-origin community in the struggle for full political rights for all South Africans.

 

NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS REPRESENTS THE TENACITY OF LEADERS AGAINST OPPRESSION

 

The very fact that the Natal Indian Congress organised a conference at a time when the Pretoria Government is employing some of the most oppressive measures against all progressive forces is a clear demonstration of the tenacity of South Africa’s anti-apartheid Indian-origin leaders in the fight against continued white minority rule and political domination in the country.

The calibre of the leaders it has chosen to head the organisation and the content of its resolutions also demonstrates that the Congress is head and shoulders above other organisations and people in the Indian-origin community who masquerade as “leaders" of the community.

(Seated: (From left – George Sewpersadh, M J Naidoo, Archie Gumede, Mewa Ramgobin, and Pravin Gordhan. Standing: (From left) –             , Swaminathan Gounden, Dr Jerry Coovadia, Thumba Pillay,           , Mrs Ela Ramgobin (Gandhi),  Zac Yacoob (back),            , Paul David, Roy Padaychie and Yunus Mahomed)

(Photo courtesy of Mr Swaminathan Gounden)           

 

All the leaders elected to official positions have sometime or the other been banned, detained, house-arrested, jailed and tried for High Treason in the continuing struggles against the hegemonic rule of the white ruling class in South Africa.

 

  (George Sewpersadh, Archie Gumede, Billy Nair, Paul David, Mewa Ramgobin and M J Naidoo) (Photo _ Press Trust of SA News Agency via Natal Indian Congress)

       (Dr Jerry Coovadia)

 

  A S Chetty (Photo courtesy  Shan Pillay)

Those elected are Mr George Sewpersadh (president), who has been banned, detained and tried for High Treason; Mr Mewa Ramgobin (vice-resident), who has been banned for more than 17 years, detained and tried for High Treason; Mr Billy Nair (vice-president), who has served 22 years on Robben Island; Dr Hoosen Coovadia (vice-president), who has been harassed and intimidated; Mr A. S. Chetty (vice-president), who has been banned, detained and refused a passport; Dr Farook Meer (joint secretary), who has been detained and denied a passport; Mr Alf Karrim (Joint secretary), who has been detained and refused a passport; and Mr Hashim Seedat (treasurer), who has been refused a passport.

(Dr Farouk Meer (extreme right) with some of the stalwarts at a function in Durban in late 2000. They are Bishop Rubin Philip, Paddy Kearney, Swaminathan Gounden, Sonny Singh, and Dr Dilly Naidoo) – Photo Subry Govender

Three other officials elected, Mr Yunus Mahomed, Mr Praveen Gordhan and Mr Roy Padaychee, are presently in hiding along with Mr Nair because of the emergency regulations. All three activists have been previously detained and banned.

 (Mr Roy Padaychie) (photo supplied)

The Congress, which was one of the strongest allies of the ANC when it was still a legal organisation, adopted some of the most far-reaching resolutions that will propel the Indian-origin community into the front-line of the anti-apartheid struggle.

The resolution that is bound to further needle the ruling class is that in the Congress's viewpoint the Indian-origin people are part of the oppressed and as such they should fully involve themselves with other progressive forces in the attainment of a non-racial, democratic and unfragmented South Africa. The Congress is of the view that only through a non-racial and democratic political solution that there could be a just social order in South Africa.

The Congress also rejected in toto all apartheid structures, particularly the tri-cameral parliament which was being used by some "opportunistic Indians to mislead" the Indian community.

The Congress, which received messages of support from the Government of India and the ANC, also showed that it was not only concerned about the situation in South Africa when it condemned Pretoria's de-stabilising role in Southern Africa and called for the immediate withdrawal of its troops from Angola and from Namibia.

The Congress also condemned the United States,  Britain, West Germany and Japan for what it termed their collaboration with apartheid. The so-called constructive engagement policies of President Ronald Regan of the United States and Britain's Mrs Margaret Thatcher were seen by the Congress as mere smokescreens to buttress racial domination and continued white minority rule in South Africa.

The present high profile anti-apartheid stances of the Congress has its genesis in the writings, thoughts and leadership qualities of its founder, Mahatma Gandhi, in 1894 who arrived in South Africa to take up the cause of not only discriminated Indian traders but also to mobilise indentured sugar cane labourers against exploitation and maltreatment by the white farmers in Natal. During his stay in South Africa Gandhi not only formulated his policy of "satyagraha" or "passive resistance" but laid the foundations for the involvement of the Indian community in mass protest actions against racial discrimination.

In 1906 he was able to get the Indians in the Transvaal to participate in passive resistance campaigns against a law that affected their trading rights and in 1913 he mobilised both traders and indentured labourers to participate in another passive resistance campaign against a poll tax and a law that rendered illegal, Indian marriages.

When the second campaign ended and when Gandhi finally left for India in 1914, he had successfully emancipated Indian politics from the personal interests of the traders and the way seemed paved for the emergence of a political  movement comprising all sections of the Indian-origin community. But this was never realised and the class cleavage between trader and indentured - manifests itself even today in the policies and strategies pursued by those who collude with the Pretoria Government on one side, and the Natal Indian Congress and the Transvaal Indian Congress on the other.

After Gandhi's departure, the local Indian-origin community suffered a leadership vacuum with the Natal Indian Congress coming under the influence of the merchant class. Efforts to consolidate the struggles of the Indian people took place in 1923, who at this time were facing some of the worst forms of anti-Indian enactments, when the Natal Indian Congress, the Transvaal British Indian Association and the Cape British Indian Council established the South African Indian Congress. But in spite of a spate of restrictive and humiliating laws and regulations directed against the Indian community, the South African Indian Congress failed to emulate Gandhi in embarking on passive resistance campaigns. This was mainly due to the fact that the organisation had come under the control of the merchant class - a group bent on preserving existing trading rights rather than on regaining eroded human rights. The merchant-controlled SAIC adopted a weak-kneed attitude despite the union government adopting the policy that the “Indian as a race in this country, is an alien element in the population, and no solution of this question will be acceptable to the country unless it results in a very considerable reduction of the Indian population in this country".

While the SAIC failed the Indian-origin community nationally, in Natal the Natal Indian Congress not only failed to take up the issues of the indentured labourers but also failed to enter into any co-operation with the African community. The question of whether to co-operate with the white government or to identify with African and Coloured nationalist movements widened the ideological divide between the Congress, now under the control of the moderate A.I. Kajee - P. R. Pather group, and a new group emerging under the leadership of Dr Monty Naicker, who had just returned to the country after qualifying as a general medical practitioner at the University of Edinburgh.

In 1943 when the Smuts Government, passed the Trading and Occupation of Land Restriction Act (Pegging Act), the Kajee-Pather group reached a compromise agreement with the government instead of rejecting the act in toto.

Led by Dr Naicker, 12 members of the NIC repudiated the agreement and formed themselves into the Anti-Segregation Council to agitate for adult suffrage on a common roll. This group finally ousted the conservative merchant leaders and took over control of the Congress under the presidentship of Dr Naicker.

The conservative clique resigned from the congress and formed themselves into the Natal Indian Organisation - the forerunner of political parties we now find collaborating with apartheid.

 

 (Dr Monty Naicker with Dr Yusuf Dadoo in the 1960s) (Photo supplied by Mr Swaminathan Gounden)

Immediately after coming into power, Dr Naicker and his group together with Dr Yusuf Dadoo of the Transvaal Indian Congress launched the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act (Ghetto Act). Over the next few years more than 2 000 resisters, including 300 women, courted arrest and Dadoo and Naicker repeated Gandhi's initial act of resistance by illegally crossing the Natal-Transvaal border.

The first act of official political co-operation between Indians and Africans took place during this period when Dr A.B. Xuma, president of the ANC, and a branch of the ANC expressed solidarity with Indian resisters by joining the campaign.

In March 1947 Xuma, Dadoo and Naicker officially signed a pact of co-operation to work together for full franchise rights and equality with whites. In 1950 the Congress leaders in Natal and Transvaal forged closer links with the African people when they succeeded in getting Indian workers to join the ANC’s call for a stayaway from work as a political protest.

In 1952 the ANC and the Indian congresses once again demonstrated their unity of purpose when they jointly sponsored the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign - a campaign they saw as a tactical step towards politicising the masses, inculcating a spirit of national consciousness, and building the national liberation movements into mass organisations of the people. It is doubtful whether the Defiance Campaign achieved all its objectives, but for the Indian congress it led to the consolidation of its ranks and the forging of indelible links with the ANC.

 (Photo New Delhi)

The Prime Minister of India, Pundit JawaharlalI Nehru, even recognised this broader struggle when in a speech in London in June 1953 he said that the position of Indians in South Africa had been deliberately allowed by his government to become a secondary issue to the larger question of apartheid because it affected all black people. The Natal Indian Congress with the Transvaal Indian Congress consolidated inter-racial co-operation in June 1955 when they adopted the Freedom Charter along with the ANC, the Coloured Peoples’ Congress and the Congress of Democrats (whites). The role of the congress leaders was further highlighted when 20 of them were charged with High Treason along with 136 other white, coloured and African leaders immediately after the Congress of the People. Inspite of the treason charges, Indians continued to participate in protests and often the ANC boycott calls exceeded all expectations. For instance, in 1959 even some Indian traders participated in the potato boycott.

 

(Dr Monty Naicker- Natal Indian Congres; Dr Yusuf Dadoo – Transvaal Indian Congress; with Nelson Mandela and other ANC freedom leaders)  (Photo supplied by Swaminathan Gounden)

And in May 1961, Indians responded in large numbers to Nelson Mandela's call for a three-day strike. However, in the aftermath of the Sharpeville uprisings when leaders of the congress were either imprisoned, banned or forced into exile, the Natal Indian Congress along with other affiliates of the ANC, was effectively rendered impotent, bringing to an end another era of militancy.

In the vacuum that was created over the next decade the Pretoria Government has attempted to co-opt the Indian-origin community with the collusion of nefarious political leaders now participating in the tri-cameral parliament.

But its efforts were thwarted when the Natal Indian Congress was revived by Mr Ramgobin in 1971. Inspite of the subsequent bannings, detentions, restrictions and High Treason trials, the Congress has managed to survive and broaden the struggle by actively initiating the establishment of the United Democratic Front in 1983.

The holding of the conference now - albiet under trying circumstances - has taken place at a time when there is a great deal of debate among many political leaders as to whether there should not be a change of strategy in order to advance the national democratic struggle.

Judging from the calibre of the officials elected and the content of the resolutions adopted, it is clear that the Natal Indian Congress will tackle the vital issues with necessary thought and care so that the rights of not only the Indian-origin community but that of the broader national democratic struggle will also be advanced.

Th Natal Indian Congress is in good hands and there is no doubt that they will not allow the Rajbansis’ and the Reddys’ (two Indians who are now the main collaborators with the Botha regime) to mislead and misdirect the Indian-origin community at a time when the fight against apartheid is gaining momentum every day. - Press Trust of SA news agency October 1987  - -   ENDS OCT 15 2021