Ian Mkhize - a human rights campaigner who was even prepared to lay down his life

IAN MKHIZE - A HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER OF NOTE WHO WAS PREPARED TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR OUR FREEDOM

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)

As South Africa celebrates its commitment to Human Rights (the main day was observed on Monday, March 21), I would like to take this opportunity to pay special tribute to a former human rights activist who died last week at the age of 69.
Ian Winston Sipho Mkhize was an educationist, community leader, and struggle activist who fought and suffered for the human rights of the oppressed people of the black township of Hambanathi and the nearby town Tongaat on the North Coast of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa from 1975 to 1984 and then for the people of South Africa in general until his death a week ago.
He became a house-hold name in 1985 when he and 40 others sought refuge at the Mahatma Gandhi Settlement in Phoenix, near Durban, after being forced to flee Hambanathi by black apartheid agents. At this time he led the campaign against the forced incorporation of Hambanathi into the then KwaZulu bantustan. But Ian Mkhize and his comrades were soon forced to flee the Gandhi Settlement as well when hordes of apartheid agents carried out a cleansing operation to rid the nearby Inanda area of people of Indian-origin. At this time the former National Party Government was embarking on a programme to incorporate Inanda and other "Zulu-dominated" areas in and around Durban into the former KwaZulu bantustan.
The rampaging mobs, after forcing the Indian-origin people to flee for their lives, began to descend on the Gandhi Settlement. Ian Mkhize and his comrades, after being informed of the arrival of the spear-wielding mob, fled in a hurry after staying in the settlement for only two weeks. The plight of Ian Mkhize, his comrades and the Indian-origin people who were forced to flee from their homes made head-line news in South Africa, India and other parts of the world.
Ian Mkhize caught the attention of the people for his bravery and fortitude.
Who was this outstanding individual who refused to allow the oppressive actions of the apartheid regime and their cohorts to deter him?
Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1941, Ian Mkhize moved to Tongaat in the early 1970s after joining the Tongaat Hullett Group as a Personnel Officer. He had earlier worked for the Department of Education after qualifying as a teacher. As an employee of Tongaat Hullett he was offered accommodation at Hambanathi, one of the residential areas for Africans in Tongaat at that time.
He soon became involved in the struggles of the people and agreed to contest the Black Local Council in an attempt to improve the conditions of the township of Hambanathi. He was even elected Mayor in the late 1970s but soon became disillusioned because the apartheid authorities had no intention of developing the township.
He came into contact with local activists such as Siva Naidoo and Logie Naidoo and began to play a crucial role in organising the community of Hambanathi to join the anti-apartheid struggles.
But the apartheid forces had other ideas and he was forced to resign his position at the Tongaat Hullett Group and had to flee Hambanathi township in 1983. Despite his absence, he kept in close contact with his people in Hambanathi and worked with Indian-origin activists in Tongaat.
According to Siva Naidoo, Ian Mkhize took a conscious decision to join the non-governmental sector.
"He became the Executive Chairperson of the Durban Crisis Network, a structure set up primarily to provide support for victims of apartheid. From there he proceeded to join the Diakonia Council of Churches as the Education Programme Officer from 1987 to 1992. It was during this period that Ian provided sterling leadership as Chairperson of the National Education Co-ordinating Committee, just two years after founding the National Education Union of South Africa, the forerunner of SADTU.
"Between 1992 and 1994 Ian was appointed the Provincial Director of SACHED Trust, which was responsible for providing strategic inputs for the transformation of tertiary institutions and the evolution of Community Colleges. From there on Ian became the Provincial Director of Operation Upgrade and later as its Director of External Relations. Operation Upgrade was the premier adult basic education and training outfit in the province."
At the height of the anti-apartheid struggle period in the 1980s and early 1990s, Ian Mkhize assisted in the founding of the Joint Rent Action Committee (JORAC) and became its Publicity Secretary. As a leading anti-apartheid exponent, he ensured that JORAC and the Durban Housing Committee (DHAC) became two of the most important constituents of the UDF.
Because of his work he was placed under surveillance by the former dreaded apartheid security police and was detained in 1986 and 1987 along with activists such as Siva Naidoo and Logie Naidoo.
Ian Mkhize played a vital role in the mobilisation of the people after Nelson Mandela was released from 27 years in prison and after the ANC and other organisations were unbanned in 1990. As a leading NGO activist, Ian Mkhize was part of a team that went to Zimbabwe in 1992 to prepare exiles to return home.
Since 1994, after the election of the country's new non-racial democratic government, Ian Mkhize received a number of accolades in recoginition of his anti-apartheid activities. These include recoginition in 1997 in the Tribute Magazine's "Roll of persons contributing to the well-being of South Africa". In the same year he received a merit award by the former University of Durban-Westville for his outstanding role in the struggle for human rights.
In 1992 the Tongaat Civic Association presented him with a Civic Award for his outstanding contribution to community service. And in October 2000 the University of Durban-Westville conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in the Faculty of Humanities. This was in recoginition of his contributions to the struggle for "a fair, just and equitable system of education" for all South Africans.
Siva Naidoo, in his tribute, described Ian Mkhize as a struggle activist and humanitarian who was "totally committed to the struggle for freedom and democracy".
"He was so committed to the freedom struggle that he was prepared to pay the highest price. He was also a democrat in a true sense of the word and eschewed all forms of racism."
Ian Mkhize was indeed a true son of Tongaat and South Africa. One hopes that other former activists who worked with him and also those from other parts of the country will strive to live the life of Ian Mkhize to the full instead of using the new democracy to promote their egos and to enrich themselves through corrupt means.