NELSON MANDELA AND MEDIA FREEDOM IN THE NEW DEMOCRATIC AND NON-RACIAL SOUTH AFRICA By Subry Govender

At a time when South Africans and world at large are recalling the life of our freedom icon, Nelson Mandela, during this period in July 2019, I am privileged to bring you the voice of our freedom icon in a radio documentary on the importance of media freedom. This radio documentary was produced in 2008 at a time when a number of politicians and leaders of the ruling ANC had expressed views about restricting and curtailing the work of journalists.

NELSON MANDELA ON BUILDING A NEW SOUTH AFRICA FOR ALL CITIZENS BY SUBRY GOVENDER

AT A TIME WHEN SOUTH AFRICANS AND THE WORLD AT LARGE ARE CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF OUR FREEDOM ICON, NELSON MANDELA, IN JULY 2019, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF BRINGING YOU ANOTHER RADIO DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HIS VIEWS FOR OUR NEW NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA. THE RADIO DOCUMENTARY WAS PRODUCED AFTER MANDELA ADDRESSED A MEDIA CONFERENCE IN JOHANNESBURG IN JANUARY 1994. IT'S HOPED THAT THOSE WHO ARE CLAIMING TO BE THE NEW LEADERS OF SOUTH AFRICA WILL TAKE SOME TIME OFF AND LISTEN TO WHAT MANDELA HAD STATED ABOUT SERVING THE CITIZENS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

JULUKA : AFRICAN MUSICAL GROUP THAT IS CAUSING WAVES IN SOUTH AFRICA - AN ARTICLE THAT WAS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS TRUST OF SOUTH AFRICA INDEPENDENT THIRD WORLD NEWS AGENCY IN DECEMBER 1984

INTRO: The passing away of one of South Africa’s most recognised and established musician, Johnny Clegg, last week brought to a close the life of a “white boy” who fully promoted the ideals of a new South Africa that was not the norm during the apartheid days. The story of Johnny Clegg and his fellow musician, Sipho Mchunu, was highlighted during the dark days of apartheid by the then Durban-based alternative news agency, Press Trust of South Africa (PTSA), in an article sometime in December 1984. PTSA was headed by journalist, Subry Govender. The article, “Juluka: African musical group that is causing waves in South Africa”, was published after Johnny Clegg was interviewed in Durban. The article was circulated to media outlets around the world. The article is published here as a tribute to Johnny Clegg. December 18 1984

Juluka One A multi-racial South African musical group is fast becoming something of a phenomenon because of its concentration on traditional African Zulu music that tells the joys and sorrows of South African life. The musical group is Juluka, a Zulu word which means “sweat generated through struggle”. The history of Juluka is the story of a 15-year relationship between a white boy, Johnny Clegg, and a migrant worker, Sipho Mchunu. Johnny Clegg was born in England in 1953 but moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, with his mother when he was six-years-old. At the age of 14 he became entranced by the dynamic culture of the thousands of black migrant workers who lived and worked in the “white” cities. He was so fascinated by the culture of the Zulu migrant workers that he asked a black cleaner in a block of flats where he lived, Charlie Mzila, to teach him how to speak Zulu, play the Zulu guitar and “Ingoma” dancing. Charlie became Johnny’s “foster father”. At night he took the eager schoolboy into the vibrant and often hostile black migrant hostels and townships where the city’s vast African migrant workers lived. Johnny was regarded as something of a phenomenon by the residents and was readily accepted into their usually close-knit communities. His acceptance was such that he was allowed to practice with one of the city’s top dance groups. In this period, he learned to speak impeccable Zulu while his dancing and guitar techniques improved all the time. Johnny was so good that the hostel dwellers began to talk about him. What his hostel dweller friends did not know that Johnny was a privileged person who received a first- class education and eventually graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand. Sipho Mchunu, on the other hand, came from a traditional Zulu background. The youngest son of a well-to-do herbalist he was born in the KwaZulu bantustan in 1951. Because of the strong traditional nature of his family, only the eldest were allowed to attend school. Sipho had to be content with looking after the family’s cattle in the veld. It was here that he learnt and refined many of the Zulu dancing and guitar techniques that were to prove invaluable in his future. When he was 16 his father died and the family fortune collapsed. He was then forced, like hundreds of thousand s of other fellow Zulu people, to seek work in the “white” cities. He went to the port city of Durban and found work as a gardener but gave it up as the “work was hard and the pay too low”. He soon succumbed to the call of “Egoli” – Johannesburg – “the city of gold”. In Johannesburg, he found another gardening job in the plush white suburb of Houghton. Like Johnny, Sipho began to lead a double life – gardening during the day and playing music and dancing at night. While performing at one of the hostels he heard about a white boy who played Zulu guitar and danced Ingoma. Sipho was deeply offended. He wanted to find this “whitey” and give him a hiding because he was denigrating his culture. However, when he met Johnny, he realised what the “white boy” was doing was not a travesty. It was something fascinating. Johnny, for his part, recognised that Sipho was one of the most talented guitar players he had come into contact with. Mutual respect was instant and a friendship immediately developed. At night they went everywhere together. Johnny recalls that he was arrested time and time again for going into black areas in defiance of the country’s apartheid laws. He was too young to be jailed. Instead the police used to telephone his mother to complain that her son had been found in places “where they (police) only went with their guns”. Even when he went to Sipho’s homestead in the KwaZulu Bantustan, the police were not far behind. Once he was ejected from the bantustan by the security police for not having the required documentation. However, despite the artificial constraints of apartheid their friendship blossomed and was actually strengthened by it. They formed themselves into a Zulu music and dance duo, simply called “Johnny and Sipho”. The duo played where ever they could – from the servants’ quarters of black domestics in white areas to illicit drinking and gambling dens in the townships, and from bohemian white folk music clubs to black miners’ compounds. They just wanted to spread their music. In 1976 they cut four singles but remained by and large “unknown”. In 1979 they were “discovered” by a record producer who had instructions to find “new talent” for his record company. In that year they cut their first album, “Universal Man”. Juluka used standard western instruments to play a bland of western folk/rock fused with Zulu street guitar riffs and other African rhythms – locally known as “Mbaqanga”. They also used a combination of Zulu and English in their lyrics. Since Juluka have established themselves in the frontline of South African music, the band has come under some criticism over its musical content. Some Juluka fans are bitterly disappointed at the new, more ‘westernised’ direction that the group has taken. These critics have accused Juluka, particularly Johnny (the unofficial spokesperson for the band) of being “cultural mercenaries” – taking what is essentially African and transforming it into a “bastardized” form of western rock. Many of these critics, however, failed to realise that Juluka is still essentially an African band – playing African music and singing about Africa. Juluka use an art form to express their own experiences in South Africa – to put it blandly, they are using music to express the unique relationship that exists between Johnny and Sipho – a relationship which by the “apartheid law of averages” should never have occurred. Juluka’s music is a celebration of what South Africa should be like – a non-racial, uni-cultural nation. A more meaningful criticism of Juluka comes from a more distant political level – not because of their political stance but because of the particular brand of music they play. As the band’s music is ethnically-based it is viewed as supportive of apartheid. People feel the “new culture” of South Africa should be aimed at weakening the tribal/ethnic divisions that are ingrained in African migrant workers. But the people understand that Juluka’s ethnicity can in no way be interpreted as support for apartheid. Juluka, by their own admission, is a cultural band and not a political one – their songs contain few statements which can be considered as revolutionary. However, the band has made it abundantly clear that they oppose apartheid and all its attendant evils. They have stated they support all anti-apartheid organisations in the struggles for full human rights for all South Africans. Ends. From: Press Trust of South Africa Independent Third World News Agency (December 18 1984)

NELSON MANDELA ADDRESSES MASSIVE RALLY IN SOWETO TWO DAYS AFTER BEING RELEASED ON FEB 11 1990 BY SUBRY GOVENDER

AT A TIME IN JULY 2019 WHEN SOUTH AFRICANS AND THE WORLD AT LARGE ARE PAYING TRIBUTE TO OUR FREEDOM ICON, NELSON MANDELA, I WANT TO BRING YOU A RADIO DOCUMENTARY I HAD PRODUCED ON A RALLY THAT NELSON MANDELA ADDRESSED IN SOWETO TWO DAYS AFTER BEING RELEASED ON FEB 11 1990. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PACKED THE FNB STADIUM TO GIVE MANDELA A VOCIFEROUS AND JOYOUS WELCOME HOME AFTER 27 YEARS BEHIND BARS. ONCE AGAIN IN HIS ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE, MANDELA SPOKE ABOUT THE UNITY OF ALL SOUTH AFRICANS AND A COUNTRY FREE OF RACISM. I AM HOPING THAT THIS RADIO DOCUMENTARY WILL HELP TO EDUCATE THOSE POLITICIANS WHO TODAY ARE PROMOTING RACIAL HATRED AND GENOCIDE.

NELSON MANDELA PLEDGES TO WORK ON BEHALF OF ALL SOUTH AFRICANS WHEN HE WAS RELEASED ON FEBRUARY 11 1990 BY SUBRY GOVENDER

AT A TIME IN JULY 2019 WHEN WE ARE CELEBRATING THE RICH LIFE OF OUR FREEDOM ICON, NELSON MANDELA, I AM PUBLISHING A RADIO DOCUMENTARY I COMPILED ON THE RELEASE OF NELSON MANDELA ON FEBRUARY 11 1990. RADIO, TELEVISION AND PRINT JOURNALISTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND ALL OVER THE WORLD HAD GATHERED IN CAPE TOWN TO CAPTURE THIS HISTORIC MOMENT WHEN MANDELA WAS RELEASED FROM POLSMOOR PRISON. MANDELA'S WIFE AT THAT TIME, THE LATE WINNIE MADIKIZELA MANDELA, AND A NUMBER OF HIGH-RANKING LEADERS OF THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT AND THE ANC HAD ACCOMPANIED HIM OUT OF POLSMOOR. THIS RADIO DOCUMENTARY CAPTURES THIS RELEASE AND HIS ADDRESS TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AT THE GRAND PARADE IN CAPE TOWN. LET'S HOPE THOSE NEW POLITICIANS WHO ARE PROMOTING RACIAL HATRED AND GENOCIDE WILL LEARN FROM THE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF NELSON MANDELA.

NELSON MANDELA AND HIS LEGACY OF NON-RACIALISM, UNITY AND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL PEOPLE BY SUBRY GOVENDER

AT A TIME IN JULY 2019 WHEN SOUTH AFRICANS AND THE WORLD AT LARGE ARE COMMEMORATING AND OBSERVING THE LIFE OF OUR FREEDOM ICON, NELSON MANDELA, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO RECALL HIS COMMITMENT TO THE CREATION OF A NON-RACIAL, DEMOCRATIC AND UNITED SOUTH AFRICA FOR ALL THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY. AS A CORRESPONDENT WHO COVERED THE COUNTRY'S FIRST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT SINCE HIS RELEASE IN FEBRUARY 1990, I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH THIS DOCUMENTARY I PRODUCED WHEN NELSON MANDELA TURNED 90 YEARS. IN THIS FEATURE, I HAVE REPRODUCED MANDELA'S CALLS FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS TO SHUN RACISM AND TO WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALL PEOPLE WITHOUT ANY REFERENCE TO RACE AND COLOUR. MR MANDELA'S THOUGHTS AND VIEWS ARE RELEVANT TODAY IN 2019 AT A TIME WHEN SOME POLITICIANS ARE PROMOTING RACIALISM AND HATRED. I SINCERELY HOPE THIS DOCUMENTARY WILL BE AN EDUCATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE PROMOTING RACISM AND HATRED.

PERUMAL BENNY REDDY – THE GRAND-SON OF INDENTURED LABOURERS WHO MADE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROMOTION OF SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC AND SPIRITUALITY

The life of a descendant of indentured labourers who made a contribution to the promotion of South Indian music and spirituality was recalled when he was laid to rest in the South African city of Durban at the age of 84. Mr Perumal Benny Reddy, whose ancestors arrived in the former Natal Colony in South Africa from the district of Vijaywada in the former Madras Presidency in south India in the 1860s, passed away in hospital in Durban on Thursday, July 11 (2019). His funeral was held at the Greenbury Saiva Sithantha Sungum hall in the area of Phoenix in Durban on Saturday, July 13. Mr Reddy, in the last five decades or so, made an enormous contribution to the promotion of South Indian music and spirituality. This was highlighted when he joined and became a committed member of the Woodview Saiva Sithantha Sungam in the district of Phoenix in Durban. He played the violin, wrote music, and taught the younger generation all the tenets of music. He was also a regular at the prayer services of the Saiva Sithantha Sungum and at various spiritual events and functions. His fellow colleagues at the Woodview Saiva Sithantha Sungum bestowed him with the title of “Guru” for his services to the community and the organisation.

(Benny Reddy with his wife, Lutchmee Naidoo, a few years after their marriage) Who was this “Guru” who made a contribution to the promotion of South Indian music behind the scenes and away from the headlines? Mr Reddy, who was number two in a family of three brothers and four sisters, was born on July 24 in 1935 at the Congella Barracks in Umbilo Road, situated near the King Edward V111 Hospital in the south of Durban. His father’s name was Rangasamy “Tommy” Reddy and his mother was called Sesamma. According to Mr Reddy’s sister, Amoy Soobramoney, their maternal grand-parents came from a village called Vijaywada in the former Madras Presidency, which is now part of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Both Tamil and Telegu speaking people inhabited this area. His grand-parents worked as indentured labourers on a sugar estate near Durban. As a young boy, Mr Reddy attended the Stellawood Primary School in Durban and later when the family moved to Jooma Road in Isipingo, also south of Durban, he went to the local Isipingo Primary Indian School where he completed his standard six. At the age of 16 he started his working life as a health worker at the Wentworth Hospital in Happy Valley in an area south of Durban. He, thereafter, changed jobs and worked at Tilley Doors in Jacobs in Durban for nearly 30 years. In 1957 he married Lutchmee Naidoo in a “love marriage”. He met Miss Naidoo when she used to visit her mother’s sister, Salatchie, at their family home in Jooma Road in Isipingo. At this time in the 1950s, Mr Reddy, his two brothers, four sisters and father and mother were also staying in a home near the Hindu temple in Jooma Road, Isipingo. Life for the young couple was not a bed of roses. They moved to Merebank where they stayed in two wood and iron houses, before finally moving to a municipal house in Nagpur Place in Merebank. Here their three children – Elvis, Aster and Alvin were born.

After he retired from Tilly Doors, Mr Reddy also worked at a local pharmacy in Merebank as a driver for five years. From his early childhood, he and his brothers – Willy and Reggy - were deeply passionate about Tamil and Telegu music. He played the violin, harmonium and flute. This love for South Indian music captured his life when he moved to Forest Haven in Phoenix more than 20 years ago to join his daughter, Aster. He spent a great deal of his time playing music at prayer services at the local Woodview Saiva Sithantha Sungam and at other events and functions. He also taught music to the younger generation.

According to fellow spiritual colleagues, he was a passionate member of the Saiva Sithantha Sungum and he was always punctual and disciplined. These attributes made him a respected member of the Sungum. Over the past decade or so Mr Reddy also assisted his daughter, Aster, in their family business. Mr Reddy was also very close to his wife’s extended family and was a regular guest at the family Muniamma Social Club’s gatherings and functions. He always made his presence felt at various resorts on the south coast of the KwaZulu-Natal province. He was also a chief guest when the family launched the Muniamma Family History Book at a cultural function at the old Louis Botha Airport convention centre in April 2018. Mr Reddy is survived by two children – Aster and Alvin; six grand-children; four great-grand-children; his three sisters – Amoy, Lilly and Lizzy; sister-in-law Sivagami – who is the widow of his eldest brother, Willy; and daughter-in-laws - Triza Reddy and Keshnee Reddy. He is also survived by a number of nephews and nieces. Mr Reddy leaves behind a deep legacy of love for family and his love for spirituality and south Indian music. Many family members described him as a special person not only to his close family but also to the extended family and friends. Mr Reddy is best remembered for being a special person in the lives of his personal family, extended family and colleagues in the musical and spiritual world.

(Benny Reddy with his wife Lutchmee) An anonymous American author describes this special personality as follows: “It takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, and a day to love them, but it takes an entire lifetime to forget them.” For his dedication to family and friends, he would never be forgotten. American author, Helen Keller, describes this aptly as follows: “It’s said that our loved ones will always be part of us even when they depart to the world above. “What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us’. In closing this tribute, I want to say on behalf of all family and friends: Benny Mamha: You lived your life to the full and we firmly believe that you will be enjoying peace wherever you are now in. We greatly appreciate you sharing your wonderful and compassionate life with all of us for more than 50 years. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com July 15 2019

J N REDDY – A GIANT IN THE STRUGGLES FOR THE SOCIAL, ECONOMICAL, EDUCATION AND CULTURAL UPLIFTMENT OF THE PEOPLE BY SUBRY GOVENDER

One of the giants in the struggles for the social, economical, educational and cultural upliftment of the people, Dr J N Reddy, passed away at the ripe-old age of 94 at his Wyebank home on Friday, July 5. His funeral was held on Sunday, July 7 at the Claire Estate Crematorium in Durban. Hundreds of family and friends, including a number of his former colleagues in the cultural sector, business world and the former House of Delegates (HOD) during the days of the Tri-Cameral Parliament, also attended and paid glowing tributes to Dr Reddy. One of his former colleagues, Mr Narend Singh, described Dr Reddy as a leader who contributed enormously to the social, educational, economical, and cultural development of all people, irrespective of race or colour. Some of the other personalities who attended the funeral were Mr Vivian Reddy, Mr Logie Naidoo, Mr Baldeo Dookie, Mrs Thakur Rajbansi, and Mr T Palan. The KZN MEC for Finance, Mr Ravi Pillay, was also present. Veteran journalist, Subry Govender, who knew Dr Reddy since the early 1970s when he was a young journalist with the Daily News, interviewed Dr Reddy in 2012. Subry writes that Dr Reddy’s contribution to the development of the people cannot be just wished away in the new non-racial and democratic South Africa….. . "VERY HUMBLE, WORKING CLASS FAMILY" “I came from a very humble, working-class family and I was always concerned about the suffering of the people. This prompted me from an early age to become involved in community, religious, social, political and cultural organisations in order to promote the social, cultural and economic well-being of our people.” Jayaram Narainsamy Reddy, better known as “J N” to his close friends and media people like this correspondent, was speaking to me about his life and his involvement in the country’s and community upliftment work in an interview at his home in Wyebank sometime in 2012. Dr Reddy, who resigned from the House of Delegates in 1993 at a time when political negotiations for the establishment of a new non-racial and democratic order was nearing completion, was recuperating at home from an illness.

I had known Dr Reddy from the early 1970s when he was involved in the establishment of the New Republic Bank, one of the first ventures by Indian-origin business people into the banking sector. At this time, he was also executive chairperson of the South African Indian Council (SAIC), which was established by the former apartheid regime as the political representative of the people of Indian-origin. Although the SAIC and later the House of Delegates (HOD) were rejected overwhelmingly by the vast majority of the people of Indian-origin, Mr Reddy saw the SAIC and the HOD as instruments through which the people’s social, economical, and educational welfare could be advanced. “During the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s there were no other ways in dealing with the government in power to advance the educational and economic lives of the people,” Mr Reddy told me. “The whites had their parliament and they were in total control of the country. At this time, the National Party Government also created political platforms for the Coloured people and the homelands and local urban councils for the African people. “I joined the statutory SAIC in 1968 after I was invited by the then Minister of Indian Affairs, Mr Frank Waring. There were 30 members and some of the people in the first council were Mr P R Pather, who was the executive chairperson, Mr M E Sultan, Mr A M Rajab, Mr Y S Chinsamy, Mr Munsoor and Mr Kollakuppan. “When Mr Pather passed away within six months, Mr Rajab was elected the executive chairperson. And when Mr Rajab passed away in 1973, I was elected executive chairperson until 1980 when I resigned to concentrate on my business.”

He added: “You must understand that at this time there were a lot of people who criticised our participation in the SAIC and later in the HOD, and saw us as collaborating with the National Party Government. “But we did not see ourselves as collaborators. We saw ourselves as people who were concerned about the growing poverty, unemployment and poor living conditions of the people. We saw ourselves as people who, as concerned individuals, wanted to do something to ease the socio-economic conditions of the people. “You must understand that if we did not get involved the vast majority of the people would not have been able to upgrade their lives from the numerous tin towns, sugar estates, and other desperate living conditions. “It was only after our involvement that the vast majority of people had been able to move from the tin towns to decent homes in places like Phoenix, Chatsworth, Isipingo and Merebank. “You must also take into account that it was during our involvement that we enjoyed the highest standards of education. Our department at one time was considered as one of the 10 best in the world.”

Mr Reddy told me that he was not justifying his participation in the system. “I also had some very good relations with people who were involved in the Natal Indian Congress and other organisations at this time. In fact, at one time I made it possible for the son of one of the NIC leaders to work at New Repubic Bank. Today this person has grown to become a big businessman. “For me personally, I did not consider myself as a politician. I considered myself as a concerned individual who wanted to do something positive to overcome the social and economic deprivations that our people were caught up in. During the 1980s and 1990s I was a very successful businessman and I could have stepped aside and continued with my business enterprises. But I got involved because I also wanted to help the people to lift themselves out of the marginalised and deprived conditions they were caught up in.”

Mr Reddy’s early life was not a bed of roses. He was born in Stainbank Estate in Seaview, in the Durban south area, on October 24 1925. His father, R N Reddy, arrived in the former Natal Colony as a four-year-old boy in the early 1890s with his grand-father, Ramsamy Perumal Reddy, and grand-mother from the Chitoor District of the former Madras Presidency, which is now part of the Tamil Nadu state in south India. His grand-parents worked as indentured labourers for five years at Esperanza, near Umzinto, on the South Coast. After they completed their indentures, his grand-parents moved to Railway Barracks in Durban when his grand-father obtained a job as a labourer on the railways. His father was nine-years-old.

The family, thereafter, moved to Stainbank Estate where his grand-father and father obtained a piece of land and started small-scale farming. They grew bananas, mealies, ginger and calabash to eke out a living. While staying and working the land, Mr Reddy’s father also obtained a job at the railways. After a while, his father joined Lever Brothers at Maydon Wharf in Durban where he worked for 44 long years. Mr Reddy himself was part of a large family of five sisters and two brothers while growing up in Seaview. Only his brother, Mogambery, and sister, Poorni Reddy, are alive today. After completing his early schooling at the Seaview State-Aided Indian School in 1938, he attended Sastri College for two years. “I did book-keeping, among other subjects, and this helped me to find a job at Lever Brothers in 1941. I started work for 14 shillings and six pence a month and when I left two-and-half-years later, I was earning 17 shillings and eight pence. “I then moved at the age of 18 in 1943 to the African Shipping Company where I joined as a junior clerk at a salary of 12 pounds a month. I worked here for 16 years, learning everything about shipping. In 1959 I joined M Bloch and Company in Pine Street, Durban, at a salary of 250 pounds a month. “The experience I obtained in these companies helped me a lot and in 1965 I opened my own shipping company called SeaLandAir Shipping and Forwarding (Pty) Limited company in Goodhope Centre. I opened the company in partnership with the Paruk family. “This company grew substantially and by 1997 we had offices in Richards Bay, Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg, Cape Town and our Durban Head Office. We were highly-respected because of the high quality of work we provided to our clients.” Mr Reddy’s involvement in the social, educational and economical upliftment of the people began in the early 1940s in Seaview where “I found that that the discrimination against Indians was reaching its peak”.

“Many of the people were being pushed out by the municipality because it wanted to create only whites-only residential areas. As a young man I joined the Seaview/Bellair branch of the Natal Indian Congress led by Mr R A Pillay and served in FOSA and other welfare, cultural and religious organisations. “I recall that while still at high school we should all attend the meetings at Red Square in Durban and all the branch meetings. “At the meetings I recall we used to highlight the point that we are working-class people and no one is there to speak for us.” Mr Reddy was also a member of the debating team at the local Bellair Social Club in Seaview. In 1953 at the age of 28, Dr Reddy married Vijayamma from Bank Road in Bellair in what he described as an “arranged marriage”. The wedding took place at the Sardar Road Temple in nearby Clairwood. In 1968 Dr Reddy and his family moved to Silverglen after Seaview was declared a white group area. The family lived here until 1984 when they moved to Wyebank.

Mr Reddy’s involvement in the Tri-Cameral House of Delegates gained momentum in 1984 when he launched the Solidarity Party to contest the HOD elections. He launched the party with the assistance and involvement of people such as Pat Poovalingam, Yunus Moola, Kisten Moodley, Mamoo Rajab, A K Pillay and P I Devan. He served for one year as Minister of Finance under the late Mr Amichand Rajbansi. In the 1989 HOD elections, Mr Reddy’s Solidarity Party won majority of the seats and he served as the Chairperson of the HOD until he resigned in 1993.

“As I have stated earlier, I did not see the SAIC and HOD as permanent features but merely as instruments to tackle issues such as employment, housing, and education for the most disadvantaged sections of the people. “I was one of the people who appealed to the former National Party Government to negotiate with the leaders of the ANC and other organisations to bring about an environment where people will be able to live in peace, harmony, and economic and social development. “When the negotiations at Codesa began in the early 1990s I was part of it, but stepped aside in 1993 when I found that I had played my role in working for a peaceful and developing country for all people.”

Mr Reddy considers some of his achievements during his involvement in public life as being the building of schools; creating opportunities for prospective plumbers and electricians to be trained and recognised; negotiating for young people to be trained at the M L Sultan Technikon; building of houses in the Johannesburg region; creating opportunities for young people to find jobs at ISCOR in Newcastle; the training of telephone technicians by Telkom; and the escalation of opportunities for the training of Chartered Accountants. Mr Reddy also said that after the Durban top market was burnt down, they found that the lives of more than 6 000 people had been severely affected.

“We worked with the government and had been able to obtain a grant of R500 000 for the restoration of the market. This process, through the Small Business Development Corporation, helped to alleviate the lives of the people torn apart by the devastation and destruction.” Mr Reddy said his involvement in the business world since the early 1970s led him to establish the Indian Industrial Development Corporation(IIDC). After the negotiations for a new South Africa began in the early 1990s, the IIDC merged with the Small Business Development Corporation. In the business world, he also served on the Board of the S A Permanent Building Society; Standard Bank (Natal); C G Smith Sugar; and the Rembrandt company owned by Anton Rupert. Culturally, one of his major involvements was when he served as the first treasurer of the S A Tamil Federation. He also contributed generously for the training and upliftment of musicians and teachers.

Mr Reddy is survived by his three sons, one daughter and eight grand-children. One of his grand-daughters, Dr Nadia Omar paid a glowing tribute to her grand-father at the funeral on Sunday. She described her grand-father as an inspirational South African leader who always encouraged them to concentrate on education. Mr Reddy may not be known as a militant leader in the political sense of the word but he was certainly a leader who contributed enormously to the social, educational, cultural and community upliftment of all people. He was a leader who did not seek the limelight but a social activist and humanitarian who concentrated his life in the promotion of the well-being of those who found themselves in the margins of society. We cannot highlight and characterise as social leaders only those who restricted their struggles in the anti-apartheid fields. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com