MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR VETERAN STRUGGLE STALWART ERIC SINGH

By Subry Govender A memorial service for a veteran former anti-apartheid activist, Eric Singh, will be held at the David Landau Community Centre in Asherville, Durban on Saturday, February 22 2014, starting at 2pm. Singh, who went into exile in the 1960s, died in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, February 11 2014. Singh, who was born in Durban and lived in the Overport area, joined the revolutionary struggles against white minority rule and apartheid as a trade union member in the early 1950s. He, thereafter, became active in the underground movement by joining the South African Communist Party, the ANC and the Natal Indian Congress. He was also active as a member of the Natal Indian Youth Congress. Some of his fellow comrades in the underground at that time were Kay Moonsamy, M D Naidoo, Dr Ahmed Randeree, Jack Govender, Swaminathan Gounden and Sunny Singh. He was detained under the draconian 90-day detention laws during that time and was also banned and house-arrested after the bannings of the ANC and the PAC in 1960. He was arrested during one of the anti-terrorism raids and was sentenced for refusing to testify against his fellow comrades. While appealing against the sentence he fled the country into exile in 1965.

(courtesy Anli Serfontein, SA journalist in Berlin) He first went to Botswana, then to Tanzania and finally to East Berlin, which was part of the former East Germany at the time. While in exile in East Berlin, Singh became a hard-working activist and journalist, promoting the ANC and the struggles of the people in South Africa. From 1967 to the fall apartheid in 1990, Singh was the main producer and editor of the ANC magazine, Sechaba. When Nelson Mandela was released in February 1990, Singh visited the country and re-established contacts with his family members, old comrades and friends. Singh is survived by his wife of 30 years, Karin, and two adult daughters in South Africa. - ends sg/dbn