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.