“INDIAN MEMBER OF ANC DIES IN EAST BERLIN”

Researching through my files on articles that I had written while working for the Durban Daily News between early 1973 to late 1980, I came across a story that I wrote about the death of ANC member, M P Naicker, in East Berlin in late April 1977. The article was published under the headline: “Indian member of ANC dies in East Berlin” on May 2 1977. The article read: “A top-ranking Indian member of the banned African National Congress of South Africa, Mr M P Naicker, died in East Berlin last week while on his way to Bulgaria for medical treatment. “Mr Naicker (56), who attended the Mozambique independence celebrations last year, was editor of the ANC publication, Sechaba. “Mr Naicker, also organiser of the ANC at the time of his death, fled the country during the emergency in the 1960s with his brother, “Coetzee” Naicker. They went to London where their families later joined them. “Born in 1920, Mr Naicker was secretary of the Agricultural Workers’ Federation, formed to organise sugar cane workers; secretary of the Passive Resistance Campaign of 1946; and also organising secretary of the Natal Indian Congress. He was a treason trialist in 1956 and was also one of the many detainees during the 1960 emergency. “He was branch manager of the banned publication, New Age, when he fled the country. “Dr Monty Naicker, former president of the Natal Indian Congress who is related to Mr Naicker, said today that the ANC would be making arrangements for Mr Naicker’s funeral in London. He said a memorial service would be held in Durban. “Mr Naicker is survived by his wife and two teenage children, who are resident in London.” Ends – first published May 2 1977. (republished May 29 2020).

RACE CLASSIFICATION : : : THE STUPIDITY OF THE SYSTEM PRACTISED BY THE FORMER REGIME

First published: April 19 1974 Prior to April 1994 all South Africans were classified according to their race and tribal affiliations. This was done by the former apartheid regime not only to residentially, socially and politically separate people according to their race or colour but also to ensure that only one race group enjoyed all the rights. The people of colour were discriminated at every level of life. While researching my files of articles that I had written for the Durban Daily News between early 1973 and late 1980, I came across one article that really demonstrated the stupidity of the race-classification system. The article was published on April 19 1974 under the headline: “ ‘Cape’ term upsets parents”. A Durban man, Mr Errol Candham, and his wife found to their horror that their two-month-old baby daughter, Marian, had been classified “Cape Coloured”, while their first child, Michelle (2), had been termed “other Coloured”. Mr Candham and his wife were simply classified “Coloured”. Mr Candham told me at that time in an interview that he could not understand the callousness of the authorities. He had said: “I cannot understand why the authorities classified my second child a ‘Cape Coloured’? It is all so stupid. “If I am a Coloured then I expect my children to be classified as Coloureds and not given any other classifications. “It seems that the father of my first child was an ‘Other Coloured’ and the second, a ‘Cape Coloured’.” He said at that time that it was time Coloured people took a stand and protested against being called all kinds of names. The Coloured community, he had said, was sick and tired of being insulted at every turn. A spokesperson for the apartheid Department of Interior in Durban reacted to the anger of the Candhams by saying that because of the controversy surrounding the different classification terms, Coloured children in future would be classified as “Cape Coloured”. “This has been effect since February this year”, said the apartheid regime spokesperson. The apartheid regime continued with their race classification system despite strong resistance at this time in the 1970s and 1980s by organisations such as the United Democratic Front, Natal Indian Congress, the Labour Party and sporting movements such as the South African Soccer Federation, South African Council of Sport (SACOS), and non-racial tennis, swimming, cricket, weightlifting, table tennis and other sporting codes. Leaders of the calibre of Dr Alan Boesak, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Mr Archie Gumede, Norman Middleton, M N Pather, Morgan Naidoo, Hassan Howa, R K Naidoo, D K Singh, and Archie Hulley also came to the fore at this time. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com (May 24 2020)

EID MUBARAK TO ALL

On Eid Mubarak today my family and I want to extend our very warm wishes to all those observing this auspicious occasion. I have a selected a special song for all my comrades, friends and family members. This song in the Tamil language has really raised goose pimples in me.

Where I grew up in the little village of Ottawa on the North Coast there were a number of Muslim families who we considered to be part of our extended families. They included the Latiff, Hans, Dhooma, Bob Khan, Sayed and Ebrahim Khan families. One of the oldest residents, Ismail Hans, who was born in Ottawa and spent his entire life in the village, passed on only recently at the age of 87. On Eid and other religious festival days, we all celebrated and enjoyed the delicious food together. There was no rigidity like we have in some circles today. While most of the Muslim families in Ottawa and the rest of the country had their roots in north India, especially Gujerat and Madhya Pradesh, at least one Muslim family in our village had their roots in Tamil Nadu. Of course, the most well-known and charitable Muslim family in Durban, Mr M L Sultan, also had their roots in the south. The M L Sultan Technical College was not only initiated by Mr Sultan but also built largely from a generous donation made by his family. Most of the Muslim families from the south integrated with mainly Urdu-speaking people in KwaZulu-Natal after their ancestors completed their grimmit on the sugar estates. The early days really makes one emotional. One hopes that we could return to the days when we all lived like “one big family”.

DO YOU REMEMBER FOOTBALL REFEREE, MR YUSUF MOOLLA OF DURBAN

One of the sporting pioneers who played a pivotal role as a football referee and official in Durban in the 1940s to 1970s was Mr Yusuf Moolla. While researching my files of articles I had written while at the Durban Daily News between early 1973 and December 1980, I came across an article about Mr Moola. The article was published on September 19 1973. The article was about Mr Moolla, who was 68-years-old at that time, embarking on pilgrimage to Mecca in late September 1973 and also a visit to India and Pakistan. Mr Moolla, who was a football referee for 33 years, was president of the Durban Referees Association at this time. He told this journalist in an interview that he would be on tour for about seven months. During his trip to India and Pakistan, he said he hoped to learn more about refereeing and also to visit the villages of his ancestors in the state of Gujerat in India. If he was alive today, he would be 125-years-old.

IF YOU WANT “GRASS” (GANJA) YOU WILL GET GRASS

“Grass dealer open for business” – June 7 1973

In the 1970s there used to be a norm among those smoking or dealing in ganja (dagga) to refer to their medicine as “grass”. This was done in an attempt to mislead the police. At this time, I was working for the Daily News and covered a story about a waiter who was charged and acquitted for selling grass to a man who wanted to buy “grass” or dagga from him. The article, published under the headline: “ `Grass’ dealer is open for business” was published in the newspaper on June 7 1973. The waiter, Mr Benny Pillay, who worked at the Cuban Hat restaurant on the beachfront at that time, took this phenomenon to its literal level when one police trap wanted to buy “grass” from him. This police trap, who worked at the Cuban Hat restaurant a few years back, had pestered Mr Pillay for more than a week. Mr Pillay wanted to teach his former colleague a lesson. He walked to the back of the restaurant, picked up some grass from the lawn nearby, wrapped it in a newspaper sheet and handed it to the man. The police trap paid him 80 cents which he took without thinking anything about it. But within minutes he was arrested and charged with fraud. He appeared in the Durban Magistrates’ Court on June 6 1973. He told the magistrate that his former colleague had worried him for sometime for “grass” and that is why he sold him the grass from the lawn. He told the magistrate he and his fellow waiters were all married with families and they were hard-working people. They would not involve themselves in selling dagga. He was found not guilty. In an interview after the court case, Mr Pillay told me that his former colleague had irritated him by pestering him for “grass”, which actually meant ganja or dagga. “We all have wives and children and we are not going to jeopardise our families by dealing in dagga,” he said. “I did not know that my colleague was a police trap but his actions in persisting me to sell him grass (dagga) made me suspicious. “I, therefore, wanted to teach him a lesson and sold him the running grass. “In future if people approach me for grass, they will get grass,” he said. I spoke to Mr Benny Pillay 47 years ago and I trust he is still around selling “grass”. - Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com (re-published May 22 2020)

GEORGE SEWPERSADH – ONE OF THE COMRADES WHO WORKED BEHIND THE SCENES FOR FREEDOM HIS 13TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY WAS ON MONDAY, MAY 18 (2020)

(George Sewpersadh seen with Winnie Mandela at her home in Brandfort in the free State when she was banished. With him are also Mewa Ramgobin and M J Naidoo. We travelled to Brandfort to visit Mrs Mandela after our banning orders were lifted in 1984.) By Subry Govender

On Monday, May 18 this year (2020) it was the 13th death anniversary of one of the activists who was involved in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) for the freedom that we enjoy today.< He was involved with fellow activists such as Mewa Ramgobin, Paul David, M J Naidoo, Farooq Meer, Rabbi Bugwandeen, R Ramesar, Abdul Haq Randeree and Jerry Coovadia in the revival of the Natal Indian Congress in 1971.

Mr Sewpersadh graduated with a law degree from the University of Natal in 1960 and was elected president of the Natal Indian Congress in April 1972. About 18 months later he was served with a five-year banning order on October 29 1973. Reacting to Sewpersadh’s banning order, Professor Fatima Meer, who was a sociology lecturer at the University of Natal at this time, said: “The National Party Government is sowing the seeds of a future explosion in the surest 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 bannings aggravates Black hostility, already supposed to have reached its limit, and the speechless silence they compel breeds brands of racial hatred dooming South Africa to interminable strife.” After his banning order expired in 1978, Mr Sewpersadh returned to the political scene and played a major role in the preparations for establishment of the United Democratic Front. He was one of the leaders who was part of the Natal delegation at the launch of the UDF in Cape Town in August 1983. When the former apartheid regime had increased its repression of activists in the 1980s, George Sewpersadh was one of the leaders who sought refuge in the British Consulate in Durban in 1984. He had joined Ramgobin, M J Naidoo, Archie Gumede, Paul David and Billy Nair at the Consulate to highlight the repressive actions of the regime to the outside world. After they left the Consulate after a month, George Sewpersadh, Mewa Ramgobin, Archie Gumede and 13 others were charged with High Treason at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. All of them, however, were found not guilty and released. George Sewpersadh withdrew into the background after freedom was attained in April 1994. After the first five years of freedom, Mr Sewpersadh became disillusioned with some of the actions of some leaders. In one interview with me he said he was deeply disappointed with the political and social situation. When he passed on, on May 18 2007, I compiled this radio feature on his life and political involvement:

THE HUMANITARIAN SIDE OF SOUTH AFRICANS - THE CORONA VIRUS LOCKDOWN IN EARLY 2020 SHOWS THE GENEROSITY OF THE PEOPLE OVER THE DECADES

South Africans have once again demonstrated their humanitarian side to help the poor, the unemployed, poverty-stricken and those living on the margins of society during this period of Corona Virus lockdown in early 2020. A wide variety of individuals and organisations have come out in their numbers to supplement the assistance being provided by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government. While acknowledging the humanitarian work of organisations such as the Gift of Givers, the Hare Krishna Movement, the Divine Life Society, the Saiva Sithantha Sungum, the Denis Hurley Catholic Centre in Durban, I want to, at the same time, highlight the enormous and divine work done by individuals and organisations during the 1970s and 1980s. At this time, I was working for the Durban Daily News. While researching my files during this lockdown period in March/April/May 2020, I found a number of articles that I had written about the humanitarian work done by individuals and organisations during times of disasters, poverty, unemployment and hunger. IN CHATSWORTH IT’S OPERATION SANDWICH (25 February 1980)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s when many families in Chatsworth, Durban, were affected by poverty and hunger, a number of organisations and individuals came forward to provide food for school children.

These organisations included the Chatsworth Child Welfare Society; Helping Hands Society established by political veteran, Dr Kesaval Goonum; and the Saiva Sithantha Sungum.

The Sungum group prepared more than 1 500 lunch packs daily for children attending the Depot Road and the Truro primary schools. The driving force behind this project were three retired men in their 60s and 70s. They were retired Provincial Administration worker, Mr V S Moodley (76); a retired police sergeant, Mr K Govender (67); and Mr A V Moodley (76). In addition to running the feeding scheme, the Sungum also provided lunch to all under-privileged people of all races who called at their headquarters in Chatsworth between 11:30 and 12:30 daily. If Mr V S Moodley and Mr A V Moodley were alive today they would have been 116-years-old; and Mr Govender would have been 107-years-old. RELIEF FOR MARKET STALL HOLDERS LEFT DESTITUTE BY SUSPICIOUS FIRE

Then early in 1973 more individuals and organisations came to the fore when the popular Durban Indian Market in central Durban was destroyed by a suspicious fire in the early 1973. The market was a major tourist attraction and every day thousands of people used to visit the top market to do their buying of essential fresh vegetable, meat and fish foods. A number of fresh vegetable, meat and other dealers suffered greatly after the fire and they were left destitute to such an extent that they could not support their families. Once again individuals and organisations came forward to supply them with food parcels. At first a three-person relief committee was established to provide relief for the affected stallholders. The three-person committee comprised Mr Rajendra Chetty, a journalist at the old Golden City Post of that era; Mr N G Moodley, who was associated with the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society; and Mr Dharma Nair, who was secretary of the South African Indian Teachers Association (SAITA) at that time. Mr Moodley was the father of Strini Moodley, who was imprisoned on Robben Island after being arrested in connection with organising the Frelimo Rally at Durban’s Currie’s Fountain in September 1974.

Other individuals who also became involved, included Professor Fatima Meer, D K Singh, and George Singh. The Durban Indian Benevolent Society was one of the humanitarian organisations that became involved.

They started the Victoria Street Relief Committee to provide food to the affected market stall holders and their families. In addition to the relief committee, the Victoria Street Indian Market Citizens Action Committee was established at a public meeting in Durban on March 30 1973.

Professor Fatima Meer, who was a sociology lecturer at the former University of Natal at that time, was elected the chairperson. Other members of the 15-person committee were Dr Anusah Singh; Natal Indian Congress leader, Dr Kesaval Goonam; trade union leader, Mrs Hariet Bolton; Indian Teachers Association president, Mr R S Naidoo; business leader, Mr A M Moola; community leader Mr M E Sultan; Mr Louis Nelson, who used to be the manager of the Lotus Club situated in a building in Prince Edward Street; Mr H Dhupelia; activist Dr Khorshed Ginwala; Mr Daddy Moodliar; Mr N G Moodley of the Durban Indian Child Welfare Society; businessman Mr Dhanpal Naidoo; Mr Dharma Naidoo of SAITA and businessman Mr J T Bhoola.

At this time a number of people came together to raise funds for refugees in the Bengal state of India. The initiative was called the Bengal Refugee Relief Fund and raised about R10 000. The Indian Government refused to accept the money and the leaders of the fund, led by Dr M B Naidoo, donated the money to the Mayor’s Relief Fund to assist the affected stallholders.

The fire that destroyed the market was very suspicious and many alleged at that time it was the work of the city council itself which wanted the market stall holders to move to Chatsworth’s Unit 3 Market.

Then in 1971 community leaders like D K Singh and Professor Meer once again came to the fore when major floods destroyed several parts of Clairwood and the Tin Town settlement in Springfield.

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Professor Meer led a major campaign to assist the hapless people of Springfield and ensured that most of the people were re-housed in decent accommodation in Phoenix. Professor Meer was chairperson of the Tin Town Relief Committee.

Professor Meer was even bestowed with an award in July 1976 by the then white Durban City Council for her work in Springfield. This was quite an unusual action on the part of the white City Council because they had never in the past recognised the humanitarian and community work by black people.

Then in the early 1980s, Professor Meer and other leaders such as A M Moola, D K Singh, J N Reddy also came to the fore in the name of humanity to help build schools for the African community in several parts of the province. They collected more than R500 000 in this project under the banner of the Natal Education Trust.

The former Chief Minister of the KwaZulu homeland, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and a prominent religious leader, Rev Alpheus Zulu, were trustees of the Natal Education Trust. There is no doubt whatsoever that many South Africans in their individual capacities and as part of charitable organisations have for decades provided humanitarian aid during times of natural disasters, poverty, unemployment, and hunger. They were in the forefront to help the affected people just as organisations and individuals are helping the people during this disastrous Corona Virus pandemic in 2020. Ends – May 19 2020 (subrygovender@gmail.com)

SOME OF OUR STALWARTS IN THE LATE 1960s, 1970s and 1980s IN PHOTOS

Our struggles for a united, non-racial and democratic South Africa in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were led by scores of leaders from all communities. In these photos you will notice leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Natal Indian Congress combining their efforts despite the oppressive actions of the former apartheid regime at this time. They were addressing an anti-regime meeting at the community hall in Asherville in the 1980s. In the photos above you would see the following leaders from left to right: 1. Unknown, unknown, Zac Yacoob, unknown, unknown, Archie Gumede, Thumba Pillay and Mewa Ramgobin. 2. Zacoob Yacoob, unknown, Archie Gumede, George Sewpersadh, unknown, and Thumba Pillay. 3. As above. 4. George Sewpersadh, Thumba Pillay, Mewa Ramgobin and Dr Farooq Meer.

In these photos you would notice the interest shown by the youth, especially students, in the struggles at that time. In the bottom left photo you would see one of the leaders of the Natal Indian Congress, Rabbi Bugwandeen, in the midst of a crowd at a protest meeting in Durban.

In the top left and the bottom left you would see former Robben Island prisoner, Billy Nair, being welcomed back home by the Food and Canning Workers Union at a function at a venue near King Edward V111 Hospital in Durban. Billy Nair was released in February 1984 after serving 20 years on Robben Island. In the top photo are Helen Jospeh; a trade union leader whose name skips me; Billy Nair and Curnik Ndlovu. In the bottom photo is the trade union leader; Billy Nair; Archie Gumede and Curnik Ndlovu. In the top right photo, you would see UDF leader Archie Gumede and Cosatu leader, Jay Naidoo, at a protest meeting at the Emmenuel Cathedral Church Hall, near the former Indian market, in the 1980s. The Cathedral Hall used to be the venue for numerous anti-apartheid protest meetings. The venue used to be made available by anti-apartheid Archbishop Denis Hurley, who himself was an anti-apartheid leader. In the bottom right photo, you would see Natal Indian Congress leader, George Sewpersadh, leading a group of protestors outside the Durban City Hall in the 1980s.

In this photo taken outside the Central Prison in Durban (now the ICC), colleagues Omar Badsha, M S Roy and Juggie Naran are seen with R Ramesar, who was the secretary of the Natal Indian Congress at that time in 1984.

Anti-apartheid leaders from the then Natal province led a mighty delegation to Cape Town in August 1983 for the launch of the United Democratic Front (UDF). In the bottom left photo, you would see some of the leaders. They included Rev Xundu, Victoria Mxenge, Archie Gumede, Dr Farooq Meer, Paddy Kearney, M J Naidoo, and R Ramesar. Archie Gumede was elected president of the UDF at this launch.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA AT FNB STADIUM IN SOWETO IN FEB 1990

President Cyril Ramaphosa is a very busy today, trying to steer the country away from the dreaded Corona Virus pandemic. He is just as busy as he was during the early days in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s when he was leader of the National Union of Mineworkers(NUM), Cosatu, and the ANC. In the historic photo above he is seen with Murphy Morobe, a leader of the United Democratic Front(UDF), busy making preparations for the welcome ceremony of Nelson Mandela at the FNB stadium in February 1990. Mr Mandela was released from Robben Island on February 11 in Cape Town where he delivered a major message to tens of thousands of people about a future non-racial and democratic South Africa. Ramaphosa was there in Polsmoor Prison and in Cape Town centre when Mandela was welcomed back home. A day later he was welcomed by tens of thousands of people at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg where he delivered a similar message that he delivered to the people of Cape Town. Ramaphosa became a close confidante of Nelson Mandela during the political negotiations, the April 1994 elections and the election of Mandela as Presdident. It was expected that he would have been chosen deputy president but this was stymied when former President, Thabo Mbeki, was elected as one of Mandela's deputy presidents along with F W de Klerk. Ramaphosa withdrew into the background during Mbeki's reign and only returned after Mbeki was toppled in 2009 by Jacob Zuma. Now as President, Ramaphosa is not only working overtime to contain the pandemic but also to reconstruct the social and economic life of the country. He was well on his way to eradicating the corruption that has gripped the country since 2010 after taking power in 2019. It's hoped that the Corona Virus will not last long and that President Ramaphosa will continue with his battles to restore to the people the social, economic and political values of the Mandelas, Sisulus, Mbekis, Kathradas and the other Robben Island prisoners who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. ends - subrygovender@gmail.com (May 16 2020)

YOUNG OTTAWA WOMAN WENT MISSING IN MARCH 1974

MOTHER (18) DISAPPEARS AFTER BABY DIES In March 1974, an 18-year-old young woman from Ottawa, on the North Coast, went missing after her baby died. Her husband, Gopaul Marimuthu, told this reporter when I was working at the Daily News in Durban that he and his wife were waiting at the Durban central station when his wife disappeared. He said his wife had become stressed after their new-born baby had passed on.

COMRADES MARATHON – THE POSTPONEMENT BRINGS TO THE FORE THE STRUGGLES IN THE 1970s TO GET THE ORGANISERS TO ALLOW RUNNERS OF ALL COLOURS TO PARTICIPATE

The postponement of the Comrades Marathon for this year (2020) because of the Corona Virus pandemic and lockdown is a development that will sadly inconvenience most of the long-distance runners. The runners have trained for months on end and it is really an unhappy development for the registered runners who looked forward to participating and completing the event.

But, while we share a thought for the runners, how many of you would recall that the Comrades Marathon was only open to all long- distance runners of all colours, without any restrictions whatsoever, only in the late 1970s.

Researching through my files of articles that I had written during the period that I had worked for the Durban Daily News between the early 1970s to late December 1980, I found that the Comrades Marathon, organised by Collegian Harriers of Pietermaritzburg, was restricted to whites only, despite vigorous campaigns since the early 1970s for the event to be open to long-distance athletes of all races. Anti-apartheid sports administrators had campaigned for the event to be open to all athletes despite the negative attitude of the organisers and even some white runners. The Comrades Marathon at this time was organised for more than 55 years but yet the organisers never considered it sporting enough to allow black athletes to also participate in the marathon. Right up to the late 1970s, the Collegian Harriers resorted to restricting the event to whites only even at a time when some white athletes also called for the race to be open all athletes. Prior to officially allowing black athletes to participate, a number of runners of colour used to take part, from the back of the field, as “unofficial” competitors since the early 1970s. One of these athletes was Simon Mkhize of Pietermaritzburg. Non-racial athletic clubs and associations for their part used to organise their own events, open to all athletes, including whites.

The sports clubs that organised some events before the Comrades Marathon was open to all athletes were the Sporting Club Alberton Callies, which organised the Goldtop Callies road race between Kearsney on the North Coast to Durban; and the Moorton Athletics Sports Club of Chatsworth which had indicated in March 1975 that it would organise an all-race event between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in view of the racial attitude of the Comrades organisers.

In 1973 15 athletes belonging to the Natal Road Runners Association wanted to participate in the Comrades Marathon but the organisers, the Comrades Marathon Committee, said they had not yet applied for blacks to participate in the marathon. Mr D Palframann, who was the secretary of the Collegians Harriers at that time, said all athletes wishing to take part in the event would have to belong to clubs associated to the white South African Amateur Athletics Association. But this was totally rejected by the Natal Road Runners Association, whose president Rajendra Chetty, said their athletes should be allowed to participate without any restrictions. This “baaskap” attitude continued for a number of years despite campaigns by many anti-apartheid organisations for the event to be open to all athletes.

Mr Chetty even called on the Mayors of Pietermaritzburg and Durban to prohibit the Comrades from starting and finishing in their cities because of the racist attitude of the organisers. “The impression I gain is that the organisers of the event are afraid of making the marathon a non-racial race,” said Mr Chetty. “I think they want to keep it exclusively for whites. But this cannot last because the Comrades is known internationally and sooner or later they will be forced to change their racial attitudes. “The climate is now ripe for the event to be open. It seems the Government is more open than the organisers,” said Mr Chetty at that time in 1973.

Another non-racial sports administrator at this time, Mr S K Chetty, who was secretary of the South African Soccer Federation Professional League, said he could not understand the attitude of the organisers. “The more people of all races participate, the better it will be for race relations,” said Mr Chetty. But the Mayors – who were all white – Mr Ron Williams of Durban and Mr J S Manson Smith of Pietermaritzburg, said they could not interfere in the policies of individual organisations. Mr Williams said he could not stop the organisers of the race from his city. “I do not have the powers to refuse permission. I believe the club has a right to run its affairs as it wants to,” said Mr Williams. Mr Manson Smith said: “We will only embitter the race groups if we do such a thing. Multiracial events must be allowed to take their course.”

In 1976 there was greater controversy when the organisers allowed 20 African, three coloured and three Indian athletes to participate in the event out of a total of nearly 2 000 runners. The organisers prevented the three “Indian” runners from qualifying for the return trip prize to England to compete in the London to Brighton road race because they were not affiliated to the white athletics union. “There is nothing to stop the 20 black or three coloured competitors from winning the trip but not the three Indians, until their body is affiliated to the South African Amateur Athletics Union,” pronounced Mr Mick Winn, who was president of the Collegian Harriers at that time. But his attitude was strongly condemned by Mr Dhanpal Naidoo, who was president of the Amateur Athletics Association of Natal at that time. He had said: “I don’t why they invite unaffiliated athletes if they are not prepared to provide them with all the facilities. “As far as we are concerned, we are not interested in affiliating to them because we don’t believe in multi-nationalism.”

The Comrades Marathon truly became a non-racial event only after the advent of our new South Africa in April 1994. The organisers, no matter how much they would have liked to impose restrictions on the entry of black runners, found themselves in a new environment where they could not dictate the terms any longer. - ends subrygovender@gmail.com May 16 2020

HOUSING STRUGGLES OF THE PEOPLE IN DURBAN IN THE 1970s and 1980s

(Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress in April 1980, addressing a perotest meeting in Phoenix)

(Chatsworth residents in February 1980 protesting against the high selling prices of sub-economic houses by the then Durban City Council) While researching, during this period of Corona Virus Lockdown (May 2020), my files containing articles that I had written while working at the Durban Daily News between March 1973 and December 1980, I found a number of articles relating to the struggles for decent and affordable housing in the city of Durban. I found that in the 1970s and 1980s, the struggles were not only against the apartheid regime’s intensified oppression but also against the exploitative and undemocratic policies of the local Durban City Council. All the residents of colour of the city had to put up, at that time, with oppressive conditions such as the increased rentals of economic houses in Phoenix; high selling price of sub-economic homes in Chatsworth; the deplorable conditions of sub-economic houses in Wenworth; destruction of housing settlements in Clermont; the lack and poor conditions of housing for residents in Lamontville, Umlazi and other areas; and the deplorable conditions for residents who lived in the Minitown area of Merebank. I found that the communities in Phoenix, Chatsworth, Clermont, Wentworth, Tongaat, Asherville, Merebank, Lamontville, Isipingo, KwaMashu, Verulam, Newlands East and Umlazi were very active in organising the people and opposing the oppressive actions of the then Durban City Council and other apartheid institutions governing the people of colour. Well-known political activists and community leaders during this time established organisations such as the Durban Housing Action Committee(DHAC); Chatsworth Housing Action Committee (CHAC); Phoenix Rents Action Committee; Clermont Ratepayers’ Association; Merebank Civic Association; Verulam Civic Association; Tongaat Civic Association; Asherville Residents Association, Newlands East Residents Association and Sydenham Residents Association to oppose the destructive actions of city council and other apartheid regime institutions.

In one such protest action, more than 1 000 people on April 13 1980 packed the Stonebridge Community Hall in Phoenix to condemn the rent increases imposed by the white city council.

(About 100 women residents of Phoenix marching to the city council offices in the centre of Durban to protest against the rental increasses) The meeting was addressed by leaders such as Mr D K Singh, who was chairman of the Durban Housing Action Committee; Mr Virgil Bomhomme, joint secretary of DHAC and Natal leader of the Labour Party; Mr George Sewpersadh, president of the Natal Indian Congress at that time; Mr N Draai, chairman of the Sydenham Heights Residents’ Association; Mr Joe Hoover, chairman of the Chatsworth Housing Action Committee; Mrs N Naidoo, an executive member of CHAC; Mr Jackie Nair, chairman of the Phoenix Rents Action Committee. About 100 women residents of Phoenix even marched to the Durban City offices in central Durban to protest against the rent increases. They submitted the rent increases would force many of them to return to reside in informal settlements, into poverty and starvation.

CHATSWORTH In an earlier protest meeting in Chatsworth on February 17 1980, more than 1 500 people packed the Twin Cinema hall to contest the high selling prices of sub-economic houses.

One of the leaders of CHAC, Mrs T Naidoo, when addressing the people said the people of Chatsworth were living in houses “that are falling apart and they will not last 30 years”. “I would like the Minister to come here and see how we are suffering,” she said.

CLERMONT In Clermont, near Pinetown, which had its own manager according to the regime’s apartheid policies, more than 20 000 people faced homelessness after the local management decided to demolish the housing settlement.

The local leaders here, Mr B B Cele, chairman of the Clermont Ratepayers’ Association, and Mr Aubrey Nyembezi, took up the cudgels of the affected residents despite the oppressive conditions they found themselves in. The security police was harrassing them like they were doing in Chatsworth, Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat and other residential areas.

Despite the pleas of these leaders and the community at large, the township management went ahead with the demolition of the housing settlement. WENTWORTH

In Wentworth in April 1980, residents living in an area they called “Chinatown”, “Ghetto”, “Barracks” and “Chicken Run” were fighting to be re-housed in decent conditions.

They protested that their houses were not only full of defects with leaking roofs, clogged toilets and cracked walls, but the environment had become unbearable.

Despite the deplorable conditions under which they were forced to live, the municipality wanted to increase their rentals by 60 percent. One of the residents, Mrs Rita Isaacs, said the conditions under which they were living “one big social disaster”. “This place is degrading and filthy and we cannot live in such conditions,” she told this correspondent. “No one is concerned about us. The only time anybody bothered about us is when some white and Coloured people from the Race Relations Committee came here to inspect the conditions.” MEREBANK

A short distance away in an area called Minitown in Merebank, the residents wanted to move to better houses to be built by the council but faced the dilemma of not being able to afford the new economic houses. The Merebank Civic Association, under the leadership of Mr M R Moodley, was taking up their fight at that time. During a visit to the area, Mr Moodley said Minitown was built as a transit camp and the people were told they would be provided alternative accommodation within six months.

But they would not be able to afford the new economic houses as most of them earned about R50 a month. “The situation here is critical. The authorities must do something to subsidise the housing for the underprivileged people. “Minitown was built against the wishes of the majority of the residents. The city council is duty bound to improve the situation.

“These people must be moved to decent houses but they must be charged rents that meet their approval. The government must provide as subsidy.” One of the residents, Mr Goolam Mohideen, said they were eager to move out but could not afford the new high rentals. “If people are forced to pay high rents we will then have more social problems than we have now.” Thankfully most of the residents were moved to new economic houses and Minitown was demolished shortly after this story was published on March 18 1980. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com (May 12 2020)