HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL OUR DADS IN THE MUNIAMMA AND MUNIEN FAMILIES

(MUNIAMMA'S HUSBAND, COOPOOSAMY)

(PERCY GOVENDER, PERI NADASEN GOVENDER AND SOOBOO GOVENDER)

(MOONSAMY RUTHINSAMY ISAAS GOVENDER)

(VALIATHAM DICK GOVENDER)

(GOVINDSAMY CHINNA NADASEN GOVENDER)

(SHUNMAGUM SUNNY PADAYCHEE)

(SUBRAMONEY MUNIEN GOVENDER)

(GEORGE MOODLEY)

(MUNIEN GOVENDER)

(GANAS GOVENDER WITH NADAS GOVENDER)

ARCHIE GUMEDE - THE GENTLE GIANT OF THE FREEDOM STRUGGLES FOR A NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA

(Archie Gumede welcoming Billy Nair after he was released from Robben Island in 1984) On June 21 (2020) it would be the 22nd anniversary of the death of one of the gentle giants of the freedom struggle, Mr Archie Gumede, who was living and working in Pinetown, west of Durban, at that time. Veteran journalist, Subry Govender, who interacted with Gumede since the late 1960s to the time of his passing, recalls that Gumede was one of the scores of freedom fighters who put the cause of freedom first before their own personal situations. BY SUBRY GOVENDER Sometime early in 1995, I had made arrangements to interview one of the doyens of the struggle, Archie Gumede, at his law offices in Pinetown, west of Durban, about his life and the road ahead. “Hi Subry, don’t worry about me,” he said in his usual polite and gentle tone. “I am just a small cog in the free South Africa now. We have a lot of work to do now to improve the lot of the masses.” But despite his reservations, I convinced him that I want to record his contributions in the struggles to the overthrow the former white minority government and the move towards the creation of a non-racial and democratic new South Africa. At this time I had just joined the SABC as a senior journalist and I had decided, in addition to the everyday work of a political journalist, to record the lives of many of the activists and leaders I had interacted with during the heightened days of the struggles in the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Mr Gumede had been appointed an ANC member of the new democratic Parliament after the first democratic elections on April 27 1994. His involvement in the struggles, especially in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, had attracted harassment, intimidation, detentions, bannings and two treason trial charges from the side of the former dreaded security police. I already had a great deal of information on Mr Gumede as I had known him at close hand when he was involved with the leaders of the Natal Indian Congress, Release Mandela Committee, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the alternative Ukusa newspaper. “Subry, it’s great to see you again. All our work has borne fruit and now the ANC has a major task ahead to bring about social and economic changes for those who had been discriminated and disadvantaged,” he said. JOINED THE ANC AT AN EARLY AGE Born as Mtuzela Archibald Jacob Gumede in the district of Pietermaritzburg on March 1 1914, Archie Gumede or “Archie” had been immersed in the political struggles from an early age. His father, Josiah Gumede, was a founding member of the ANC and was also elected as the fourth president of the organisation. Archie Gumede became an activist while completing his matriculation in Pietermaritzburg and his law degree at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape. He joined the ANC in 1942 but because of his involvement, he constantly suffered harassment, bannings, detentions and political trials at the hands of the dreaded security police at that time from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. While he was being detained under the 90-day detention law in 1963 in the Natal provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg, a senior security policeman approached him in his cell and made the following offer:

(Archie Gumede 8 with Jay Naidoo at a protest meeting at the Catholic Cathedral in Durban) OFFERED "BANTUSTAN" FREEDOM "Now Mr Gumede why don' t you behave yourself and be a good chap like Matanzima in the Transkei and we will make you a big shot in the KwaZulu homeland.” But the genial Mr Gumede politely turned down the offer and told the security policeman that “Bantustan” freedom did not appeal to him and that he was fighting for the liberation of the whole of South Africa. Immediately after he was released from the 90-day detention, he was served with a five-year banning order and restricted to the district of Pietermaritzburg. He was also house arrested, prevented from attending all political meetings and social gatherings, and had to report to the local police station once a week. The restrictions placed on his political activities was a severe blow because he had been closely associated with the ANC before it was banned in 1960. Mr Gumede began his political career in 1943 when he became assistant branch secretary of the ANC in Pietermaritzburg. He later became branch secretary and then assistant secretary for the Natal region. But because the secretary, Mr M. B. Yengwa, and the president, Chief Albert Luthuli, were continually in and out of jail, Mr Gumede used to carry most of the workload in the Natal region. With a number of comrades, he launched the Defiance Campaign in Pietermaritzburg and other parts of Natal on behalf of the ANC in 1953. And in 1956 he was one of the delegates to the "People’s Conference" in Kliptown in Johannesburg, where the historic "Freedom Charter", a document of social justice , was formulated.

FREEDOM CHARTER CONFERENCE AT KLIPTOWN His problems with the white minority authorities began immediately after the successful conclusion of the Kliptown conference. In the same year, he was arrested along with 154 other political leaders, including ANC president, Mr Nelson Mandela, Mr Walter Sisulu, Mr Govan Mbeki , Mr Ahmed Kathrada, Mr Andrew Mlangeni and Mr Raymond Mahlaba, who were all imprisoned for life on Robben Island near Cape Town. Although Mr Gumede was acquitted mid-way through the five-year trial, he was kept under constant surveillance. And when the South African Government declared a state of emergency after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he was detained from March to August at the Pietermaritzburg jail. In 1963 he was detained again under the 90-day detention law. It was during this period that he was made the "Matanzima offer”. After his first banning order expired in 1958, he was re-banned for a further two years and restricted to Pietermaritzburg. During this period, he worked as a clerk in an attorney's office and later qualified as a lawyer. When his second banning order expired, he moved to Pinetown near Durban where he opened up a law practice and set up house in the township of Clermont. During the late 1960s and early 197Os, police harassment and intimidation was particularly rife and harsh. He kept a low profile and concentrated on building his law practice. But this was not to last too long. Immediately after the June 1976 uprisings in Soweto and other townships of South Africa, he was invited to join an Education Committee and soon found himself back in the mainstream of resistance politics. Mr Gumede, despite the many years of detentions, treason trial, bannings and house arrests, joined the move to heighten the struggles. In August 1983, he was elected president of the newly-established United Democratic Front(UDF), which at that time had co-ordinated the struggle against Pretoria's new tri-ethnic constitution. The new scheme was aimed at co-opting the Coloured and Indian people into the white "laager", while excluding the 20-million African majority at that time from all say in the political decision-making processes.

(Archie Gumede at the UDF launch in Cape Town. With him are a number of leaders of the Natal delegation) UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT AND RELEASE MANDELA COMMITTEE In addition to the UDF, Mr Gumede was also the president of the Release Mandela Committee(RMC) and an official in a host of community organisations and alternative media groups. He had joined leaders such as Griffith Mxenge, Dr A E Gangat, Dr Khorshed Ginwala and this correspondent in the establishment of the Ukusa newspaper. But this newspaper was sabotaged by the security police through bannings, detentions and harassment of its officials. Mr Gumede, who is the father of seven children, had to pay a heavy price for refusing the "Matanzima" offer by the security policeman. Although he was entering nearly 70 years in age when I first conducted an interview with him in 1983, he was as vibrant as ever and full of confidence for the future. As president of the UDF and the RMC, Mr Gumede was on the move all the time and from meeting to meeting. He was revered by young and old alike and was affectionately referred to as "Baba Archie". But Mr Gumede took this all in his stride when he told me: "I am only filling the vacuum until our real leaders return from prison and from exile. We can never fill the leadership positions of people of the calibre of Mandela and Sisulu. "We in the UDF will continue the struggle until our leaders are allowed to return to take their rightful positions in our society. "As far as we are concerned there will never be peace and harmony in South Africa as long as our leaders are banned, imprisoned and forced into exile," Mr Gumede had said.

HE WAS CRITICAL OF RONALD REGAN AND CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT At this time in 1983 he was particularly critical of the role played by the then President Ronald Regan of the United States with the so-called "constructive engagement" policy and the other Western countries. "Mr Regan will never be able to win our support as long as he tries to maintain the status quo and white rule in South Africa. "What we would like to know is that why does the United States and the other Western countries always oppose human rights resolutions against South Africa at the United Nations. Is it that they are worried about their kith and kin here? How would they have reacted if the oppressors here in South Africa were black and the oppressed, white?" Mr Gumede challenged the United States to state whether it was interested in the black people’s struggles for justice and liberty. "We will continue our struggles against white minority rule no matter what the Regans or Thatchers of this world say", he told me. But soon after this interview, Mr Gumede was detained once again along with Mewa Ramgobin, Paul David, George Sewpersadh, M J Naidoo, Billy Nair, and Sam Kikine under the apartheid regime’s notorious security laws. But they managed to bring an urgent court action against their detentions and were freed by the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court. Soon after their release, they raised the struggles to an international level on September 13 1984 by seeking refuge at the British Consulate which was situated in a building at the corner of the former Smith and Field streets in Durban at that time. When Gumede and his colleagues left the Consulate after a month, he was re-arrested on October 6 1984 on charges of High Treason. He was one of the activists who were brought to appear in the High Treason Trial which was held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. His fellow accused were Isaac Ngcobo, Mewa Ramgobin, Curtis Nkondo, Sisa Njikelana, Aubrey Mokoena, Sam Kikine, M J Naidoo, Mrs Albertina Sisulu, Essop Jassat, Cassim Salojee, George Sewpersadh, Paul David, Frank Chikane and Thozamile Gqweta. Defended by Ismail Mahomed, who later became the Chief Justice of South Africa after the dawn of freedom in 1994, Gumede and all his fellow treason trialists were acquitted on December 15 1985. Gumede and his fellow struggle stalwarts continued with their struggles to see a number of Robben Island prisoners such as Ahmed Kathrada, Walter Sisulu, and Govan Mbeki being released at the end of 1989 and the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990. At the same time the ANC, PAC and other organisations were unbanned by the then apartheid President, F W De Klerk. INVOLVEMENT DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD IN THE 1990s During the transitional peace talks and the negotiations process from the early 1990s to 1994, Gumede played a significant role in building the support base of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal. He was elected as an ANC MP in April 1994 and served in this position until his passing on June 21 1998 at the age of 84. At his funeral in Pinetown, glowing tributes were paid about his contributions and sacrifices for the struggles for a “free, non-racial and democratic South Africa”. The ANC said in a statement: “The ANC dips its revolutionary banner to this great patriot, freedom fighter, journalist and lawyer. Comrade Archie Gumede was a revolutionary for the ideas of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa he fought for, for so long and so hard.” GUMEDE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISILLUSIONED WITH THE CORRUPTION AND DEGENERATION Twenty-six-years into our new South Africa on April 27 2020, I am certain that Mr Gumede would appreciate the commitment of many of our leaders, such as President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mr Tito Mboweni and Dr Zweli Mkhize, in the attempts to improve the social and economic lives of those citizens living on the margins of society. But, at the same time, he would be disillusioned and disheartened with the climate of fraud and corruption that have captured certain of the so-called politicians, civil servants, officials and private citizens. This degeneration is one of the main reasons for the deep levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality that continues to plague the new South Africa. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com June 19 2020

VETERAN CLASSICAL MUSIC ENTHUSIAST AND FORMER POLITICAL ACTIVIST RECORDS A CD OF TAMIL AND TELEGU KARNATIC SONGS

(Denis Naidoo with famous Tamil singer M S Subbulakshmi and her husband Sadasivan in their home in Chennai) JUNE 17 2020 By Subry Govender A veteran classical music enthusiast, who has been captivated by Tamil and Telegu music since his early years, has just recorded a CD of 12 karnatic and classical songs at the ripe-old-age of 88. Mr Muthusamy Ranganatha Naidoo, who is also known as Denis Naidoo, of Somerset Park in Durban, has accomplished this unique achievement after being encouraged to do so by his musical guru, Beama Naidoo, who passed away recently. Mr Naidoo was assisted in the production of the CD by the nephew of Mr Beama Naidoo, Ashley Kisten. The CD was to have been launched on Sunday, March 22 but the event was postponed indefinitely because of the current Corona Virus pandemic.

(DENIS NAIDOO WITH THE CD OF CLASSICAL TAMIL AND TELEGU MUSIC THAT HE HAD RECORDED) “I became passionate about Tamil and Telegu classical music and songs ever since I started to listen to this type of music and songs on the old 78 RPM and 48 RPM and later on LPs. At this time I was growing up as a young boy of five or six-years-old in the Overport area of Durban,” Mr Naidoo told me in an interview at his home in Somerset Park in Durban. “I am essentially a vocalist. Sadly, I do not play any instruments, but as I mentioned when I was growing up in Overport, I used to listen to karnatic music on the radiogram. My father used to get records from India and our family home used to resound with this music all the time. This is how I picked it up. “And remember my roots are in India, both my parents are from there and I was told that my elder brother than me, Govindaraj, apparently he had a beautiful voice. But, sadly, he died at a very young age in India. So, it seems music is in the blood.”

(Denis Naidoo with Eminent Flutist N Ramani in Chennai in 2002) BEEN INVOLVED IN MUSIC FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS He said he had been involved in promoting this type of music for more than 70 years. “I did not undergo any training whatsoever but yet I used to perform at temples, Tamil and Telegu school functions, family gatherings and other social functions. “Over the past decade or so after I moved to Somerset Park from my home in Verulam, I joined the Umhlanga Hindu Society Monday Service Group. At these services, Mr Beama Naidoo, heard me singing and encouraged me to record a CD. He was a musical giant and inspired me to continue with my singings despite my age. Sadly, he passed on just before I could record the CD with the production assistance of his nephew, Ashley Kisten.” “Ashley patiently guided me through this project, fully aware that I am a dialysis patient.” FIRST GENERATION INDIAN-ORIGIN SOUTH AFRICAN Mr Naidoo, who is a first generation South African of Indian-origin, said he was very pleased that he had recorded his CD when the people of Indian-origin were preparing to observe the 160th anniversary of the arrival of indentured labourers to the former Natal Colony. Both his parents had arrived from India in the 1890s. His father arrived from the village of Kalakad in Tamil Nadu when he was 19-years-old, while his mother arrived with her parents from Andhra Pradesh when she was five-years-old. After his father and mother married, they settled in Maidstone on the Natal North Coast. They had seven children – one daughter and six sons. Mr Naidoo, who was the last born, was conceived in India when his parents moved to Tamil Nadu to find a groom for his sister.

(Denis Naidoo with another eminent musician Dr Bala Murali (Centre) in Chennai) FATHER CAME FROM VILLAGE OF KALAKLAD IN TAMIL NADU AND MOTHER FROM ANDHRA PRADESH “My father insisted on taking my sister to India after she reached marriageable age. After she got married the family stayed in the village for a while. “My father stayed in the village of Kalaklad with four of my brothers and my mother. “And while they were living there, my mother became pregnant with me. After my father realised that he will have problems with immigration, they decided to come back to South Africa. “When they came back my mother was heavily pregnant with me. At this time my sister in Tamil Nadu gave birth to a girl child and sadly she died after the birth of her daughter. “This news came via cable at that time. There was no sms or what’s up and telephones like we have today. When they received the news it shattered the family, particularly my mother. It took a heavy toll on her. And being heavily pregnant with me all this added to her misery. “She gave birth to me and within a space of a week or so, my mother died. ADOPTED BY A PROMINENT NAIDOO FAMILY IN TONGAAT “And that’s when my father gave me away for adoption to a prominent Naidoo family in Tongaat. “The person actually responsible for my adoption was the matriarch of the Naidoo family, my dear grand-mother, Tholasamma, for whom I am indebted to for the rest of my life. For as time went by, she really became my surrogate mother. She used to take me to Tamil school and Telegu school. “And I remember clearly when I was ill at McCords Hospital, it was my grand-mother who was at my side taking care of me. I had undergone a minor surgery. My grand-mother was there for me – God bless her soul. “After they adopted me, my adopted mother gave birth to a daughter and thereafter 10 other children. “I went to the St Aidan’s Boys school and also to Tamil school. Our Tamil teacher was Manickam Vaithiar. SASTRI COLLEGE “I just had one year of high school at Sastri College and thereafter I had to go and work.”

(Denis Naidoo with T V Gopala Krishnan a Mridangist musician in Chennai) For Mr Naidoo, music is not only a form of entertainment but a vehicle that transports him to a higher level of “spirituality, serenity and even a sense of sumliminal self”. “Classical music rejuvenates the mind, body and soul with ragam, thalam and bavam. You experience a sense of freedom and celestial joy. When you take part in music it amounts to being in another world. “Artists should always pay homage to the composer of the lyrics and respect their guru. For me I think that is of utmost importance and that is how it should be. Pay obseience to the lyrist and your guru because without them, you are not a vocalist. Unless you are brilliant enough to compose your own music. “But by and large music for me is a vehicle that carries me to a totally, totally different world. And I don’t mind saying that there are times very often when I listen to music on my own, the tears roll down my eyes because I think to myself ‘Oh my God I really have been gifted to appreciate this very, very important segment in our lives and that is music’.”

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL AWARENESS In addition to his passion for classical Indian music, Mr Naidoo also became acutely aware of the injustices against the majority of the people when he started his first job for a trader in Booth Road in Cato Manor. “We were not allowed to go home every day. We were only allowed to go home once a fortnight. When I went home after the first fortnight my clothes were heavily soiled and my mother asked me whether I was working in a coal yard. I said yes so that she should not become over concerned. “I worked for the trader for a few months and then left because I could not take the conditions under which I was forced to work. Thereafter I worked in a factory, Artfolks, in Jacobs, cutting cotton to thread in shoes. Then I worked as counter hand for a white couple. “My political awareness really came to the fore after I worked as a sales representative for an international company, Reckitt and Coleman in the 1950s. “I worked for them for 14 years and when Ian Smith declared UDI in Rhodesia, I noticed that the company was promoting young white guys and ignoring us. “I approached my manager and asked him what was going on but he just told me to bide my time because things will change. But eventually I could not take this because I considered it to be racial discrimination and that we were being short changed. “I resigned and went into business. I never looked back. I ran the business in Verulam for almost 30 years.” His political consciousness must have, in his own words, “also been in my blood”. He related a story about his father when he worked as an indentured labourer at a sugar estate in Port Shepstone. “My father could not put up with the gross ill-treatment of indentured labourers and stood up to the white boss and the supervisor. “When he completed his indenture, he told his white bosses to stick their job and moved up to Tongaat where he worked at the Maidstone Sugar Mill.”

(Denis Naidoo - wife Padmavathie standin atop a Gopuram at the Madurai Meenaksi Temple during their first trip) JOINED THE NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS IN VERULAM While Mr Naidoo was staying and running his business in Verulam, he became an anti-apartheid activist by supporting the Natal Indian Congress and the United Democratic Front in the 1970s and 1980s. “And after the ANC was unbanned and Nelson Mandela was released in 1990, I joined the ANC and became deputy chairperson of the branch. “We worked very hard in the early years, campaigning for the ANC and helping in the elections. We all rejoiced and jumped for joy when the ANC was elected to power and Nelson Mandela was elected president of the new non-racial and democratic South Africa. “My participation in struggles did not start in Verulam. Even as a youngster when I was growing up in Overport, I used to stand at the corner of Brickfield Road and Sparks Road under a banner with the late R D Naidoo and protest and shout out freedom slogans. When the police used to come, we used to run away. But when they left, we used to return and continue with our protest actions. “I can even remember walking from Overport to Nicols Square in Durban and following Baba Luthuli and others who were leaders at that time. They were dedicated leaders. They served the cause and what the ANC stood for. “And I also had the privilege of walking behind leaders such as Dr Monty Naicker, Swaminathan Gounden, Billy Nair, Fatima Meer and Dr Kesaval Goonam in a number of protest marches.” Mr Naidoo as a businessman in Verulam used to provide assistance to local African teachers and pupils with their stationery and school fees. He also assisted one pupils to complete his matriculation and another student to complete her college education. He also used to provide newspapers to the Ndwedwe Magistrates’ Court, near Verulam. One of the lawyers who worked at the court was Mr Pius Langa, who in the new South Africa became a member of the Constitutional Court. CONCERNED ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR AND UNDER-PRIVILEGED Now 26 years into the new “non-racial and democratic South Africa”, Mr Naidoo is somewhat disappointed with the non-democratic and corrupt actions of some people who are within the ranks of the ANC. “I feel very sad, Subry, very, very sad. I am just wondering whether the so-called people who are at the helm of the ANC now realise what is happening to our country. “Even today in this day and age, we are talking about the Corona Virus. Some of us living in the urban areas have facilities like running water, what about people in the rural areas? Have they got taps, have they got water? “Our leaders haven’t sufficiently equipped our people out in the rural areas to confront this kind of pandemic that has now overcome us. We should be thinking about that.” NON-RACIALISM TAKING TOO LONG Mr Naidoo was concerned that attaining a truly non-racial and democratic society was taking too long. “Subry, I honestly feel that this is not a Utopian concept. Because if it is going to take years and years, what is going to happen to our people? The youngsters are rising up, people’s power is in the forefront. We should now get together as people from the different walks of the political spectrum and work together and work for the good of the country. Politicians should set aside their own personal ideologies and say: ‘listen we are in a crisis, let’s sit around the table and let’s talk. Let’s put the people first, let’s put our country first, let’s not think about our own personal gains’. “I think the time has come, Subry, for us to look at this from a really truly model aspect, not from an isolated, compartmentalised kind of fostering our ideology. It’s not going to work. “Honestly let the ANC, more than anyone else admit that they have now turned the wrong way. They need to come back and re-assess values. Because Baba Mandela what did he do? I think the man would be turning in his grave. I am telling you Subry, the man must be turning in his grave. “Lip service is not going to help our country. You got to be committed and I think we should stand behind our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, because I think the poor man is under duress. But he too needs to take the bull by the horns, exert himself and say: ‘You know what, enough is enough. Let’s get down to brass tactics and let’s get going’.”

(Denis Naidoo (blue jersey) with officials of Southside Board members) Mr Naidoo, a member of the Southside FM Radio Board of Governors who turned 88 on the 20th of April, still has relatives in India. Some of his two nephews and 11 nieces still live in and around his father’s village of Kalakad in the district of Tiruneveli, near the famous town of Kanyakumari. Mr Naidoo has visited India seven times and last visited his ancestoral village in 2002. Mr Naidoo was married to Patmavathie Reddy of Cato Manor in 1964. They had four children – one daughter and three sons. Sadly, his wife passed away in 2001 while they were staying in Verulam. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com

JUNE 16 1976 REJUVENATED THE STRUGGLES FOR A FREE AND EQUAL SOCIETY

(PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN) '

June 16 2022

When the school children of Soweto marched from school to school on June 16 1976 to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans and the unequal and inferior education system at that time, they not only rejuvenated the liberation struggles but also stimulated and propelled black journalists into action. 

A few weeks after Hector Peterson and more than a 1 000 others were mowed down by the apartheid soldiers and wounded hundreds of others in Soweto and other townships, black journalists decided that they had to become "activist journalists" in the struggles against white minority rule and domination. A number of them, including this correspondent, assembled at a secret venue in Soweto and launched the Union of Black Journalists(UBJ). 

At this time I was working for the Durban Daily News.

On June 16 (2022) it will be 46 years when the school children of Soweto took to the streets to demand equal education and a free society for all. 

It was a day when thousands of young children sacrificed their lives for the freedom we enjoy today. The marches started off as a peaceful protest but quickly deteriorated into one of the most brutal and violent periods in our history when the apartheid police machinary let loose their vicious dogs and opened fire on the unarmed students. 

                                        (Photographer Sam Nzima)              

  

One of the first casualties was 15-year-old Hector Peterson. This sparked an uprising that spread throughout the Johannesburg region and to other parts of the country. More than 1 000 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured over the next few weeks. In the aftermath of the Soweto uprisings and protests around the country, education leaders and teachers organisations came out strongly  against the unjust and inferior education system for the black majority. 

One of the first leaders I had spoken to at this time was Diliza Mji, who was studying medicine at the University of Natal in Durban. He was president of the South African Students Organisation (SASO) at this time. He came out strongly against the then Minister of Justice, Mr Jimmy Kruger, for blaming the black consciousness movement for the uprisings all over the country. The article was published on June 24 1976 under the headline: “Riots were not planned – SASO Chief: 

                                         “RIOTS WERE NOT PLANNED – SASO CHIEF”

At the same time the leader of the Natal African Teachers’ Union, Mr Theo Shandu, warned on several occasions that “frustration and bitterness” was rife among the people. The first article on June 28 1976 was published under the headline:    

“Bitterness warning from teacher chief”.

Mr B A Naidoo, who was a leader of Child Welfare in South Africa, at that time came out strongly against racial divisions in education when he addressed the 50th anniversary of the South African Indian Teachers Association in Durban on July 7 1976. The article was published under the headline: “Racial split-up of education ‘issue of great concern’.

On July 8 1976, I wrote another article about Mr Theo Shandu condemning the white regime’s policy on African education and the imposition of apartheid. He made the statement when addressing a conference of the South African Indian Teachers’ Association (SAITA) in Durban. The story was published under the headline: “State school views ‘impede Blacks’.”

“COLOUREDS ‘CONDEMN’ AFRIKAANS” At the same meeting of SAITA, one of the country’s most prominent anti-apartheid poets, Dr Adam Small, disclosed that young people looked at Afrikaans as the language of the “baas” and the “oppressor”. This article was published on July 9 1976 under the headline: “Coloureds ‘condemn’ Afrikaans”.

At the same conference, a former president of SAITA, Mr R S Naidoo, warned that the people of Indian-origin were losing their “consensus” on important political and social issues. This article was published under the headline: “Communication lines ‘blocked’.” The SAITA leaders at this conference passed a resolution calling on the apartheid regime to eradicate racialism in schools. This article was published on July 22 1976 under the headline: “Indians want school race curbs dropped”.

Students at the former University of Durban-Westville also came out in support of the struggles for a better and fair education system when they embarked on boycott of lectures. 

The students also decided to embark on their protest action in support of three fellow students who were detained by the security police. The students taken into security police custody were Mr Lloyd Padaychi, Mr Yunus Carrim, and Mr Rashid Meer, son of Professor Fatima Meer, who was banned for five years only a week earlier on July 23 1976. I wrote these articles that were published under the headlines: “Indian students continue boycott” (August 16 1976); “Students were not intimidated, say university boycott leaders” (July 18 1976); “Africans shocked at Fatima Meer banning” (July 23 1976); and “Lectures boycott will end tomorrow (July 17 1976).

Student leaders at the University of Natal, for their part, decided to quit their positions because of the apathy of most students regarding the situation in the country. This article was published under the headline: “Student leaders quit in disgust at apathy” on July 18 1976.

At the Natal Medical School, the students also embarked on boycott of lectures following the detention of their leaders. Those detained were Diliza Mji, immediate former president of SASO; David Dube, chairman of the Happy Valley Clinical Committee; Mr R Taole, Mr Norman Dubizane and Mr Leslie Gumede. 

This article was published under the headline: “No action to be taken against boycott students”.

The apartheid regime continued with its repression and detained more activists and transported them to Johannesburg for imprisonment at the Fort and other prisons. Others who were detained were Mr Vitu Mvelase, chairman of the Umlazi Residents’ Association; Mr David Gaza; Mr George Sithole; Mr Bobby Mari, who worked at the Institute for Black Research in Durban; Mr Govin Reddy, research officer at the Institute of Race Relations; and Mr Wiseman Khuzwayo, a law student at the University of Zululand. 

Despite the bannings and detentions, other anti-apartheid forces came out strongly against the vicious actions of the apartheid regime. The president of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr M J Naidoo, condemned the apartheid regime for denying the majority of the people their rights. At the same time black teacher organisations called for greater inter-action between the organisations to counter the denial of equal education for all. Mr Naidoo’s article was published on September 10 under the headline: “Vorster slammed for denying Blacks a voice”; on September 10 1976 and the teachers article was published under the headline: “Teachers welcome all-race contact move” on September 6 1976. 

The NIC went on to become one of the formidable opponents of the regime along with the United Democratic Front(UDF) and anti-apartheid sports organisations.

At the end of September 1976, the apartheid security police went onto to detain Mr Terrence Tyron, secretary general of SASO. This article was published under the headline: “Police detain top SASO official” on September 27 1976.

One of the most influential religious leaders at this time, Rev B K Dludla, who had just been elected president of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, warned the Vorster Government that its “racial” policies were responsible for the students and others embarking on protest actions. This article was published on October 20 1976 under the headline: “”Unrest fault of Vorster – Minister”.

The bannings, restrictions and harassment of the anti-apartheid activists continued despite the release of the detained leaders and activists in the December of 1976. Three of the seven Durban detainees who were released after being held for more than four months in Johannesburg were banned and house-arrested. They included Mr George Sithole; Mr Govin Reddy and Mr Rashid Meer. This article was published on December 19 1976 under the headline: “Three freed Durban men are banned”.

One of the leaders of the protests on that fateful date of June 1976 was Dan Montsisi, who was an official of the South African Students Movement and later a senior official of the Soweto Students Representative Council. I spoke to Montsisi in June 1986 when the UDF, Cosatu and the National Educational Crisis Committee had organised country wide meetings and a stayaway to observe the 10th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings. 

 "When we marched from one school to another our intention was to arrive at the offices of Mr Roussouw who was the the Southern Transvaal inspector of education. But before we could reach or go past the Orlando Stadium we were confronted by the physical violence of the police. They had actually come to shoot at us and not to talk. They did not come with loud hailers or to come and talk to us as to why we were marching. Much as we regret the number of lives that were lost and innocent people's properties damaged, it must be realised that the government did not meet a single demand of the people concerning a proper educational system." 

 Montsisi, who joined the ANC after the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the organisation in February 1990, told me that the 1976 uprisings had led to the people becoming determined more than ever to overthrow the white minority regime. 

  "Since we were able to build such important structures as the UDF, Cosatu and the National Educational Crisis Committee it actually shows the extent to which our people have been organised since 1976. So these are signs which makes us to be optimistic about the future we are heading to." 

  I also spoke to another former student who took part in the Soweto students' uprising, Murphy Morobe, who later became one of the senior leaders of the UDF. Morobe also joined the post-apartheid Government. In 1986, the UDF together with Cosatu and the NECC organised a series of meetings to commemmorate the 1976 uprisings. 

 "We have actually arrived at a common approach to June 16 commemorations and we call upon on all the freedom-loving people of our land and countries all over the world to commemmorate June 16 in a manner befitting the occasion. We are going to be remembering our gallant sons and daughters who took to the streets of Soweto and elsewhere to demonstrate their abhorrence of the inferior Bantu education system. To us it was no ordinary march. It was a march in quest of freedom. "The battery of savage repression which was unleashed on our students failed to reverse the tide of history." 

In his statement - Morobe also emphasised that the white minority regime would not cow the people into submission. 

  "The banning of the popular Congress of South African Students (Cosas) has not succeeded in cowing the student movement. Our democratic student movement is now more than ever before is poised to intensify the struggle for people's education. "To Cosatu, the UDF and the NECC the struggle for people's education forms vital part of the broader struggle for a South Africa free of political oppression and economic exploitation." 

Today, 46 years later, South Africans have much to be proud of. But, although we don't have to put up with any oppressive policies, there are, however, concerns that the quality of education in our public schools is nothing to boast of. While the well-heeled, the rich and the political elite can afford private education for their children, the vast majority of children are still struggling for the kind of quality education that the children of Soweto and other townships paid dearly with their lives. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com June 16 2022

MRS SAVUNDALAY PADAYCHEE - LIFE OF A SECOND GENERATION DESCENDANT OF INDENTURED LABOURERS WHO REGARDED TAMIL NADU IN INDIA AS HER SECOND HOME.

June 13 2020 A second-generation descendant of indentured labourers, who regarded Tamil Nadu in India as her second home, has died at the age of 93 at her home in the town of Dundee in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Mrs Savundalay Padaychee passed on, on Thursday evening (June 12 2020), and her funeral was held on Saturday, June 13 (2020) under the Corona Virus lockdown conditions. Mrs Padaychee lived in the northern KwaZulu-Natal rural town all her life after her first generation indentured parents, Muniamma and Coopoosamy Govender, of Clairwood in Durban married her off at the tender age of 15 to Mr Shunmagum Sunny Padaychee of Dundee.

(MR SHUNMUGAM SUNNY PADAYCHEE - SAVUNDALAY'S HUSBAND) Mrs Padaychee, a small scale business woman, became attached to India after she made her first visit to the land of her ancestors in the early 1980s. She travelled by ship on her first visit but thereafter made regular aircraft trips to purchase Indian clothing to sell them to family and friends in South Africa. During these trips she also had the privilege of meeting a number of Tamil movie actors, including Rajnikanth and Sivaji Ganesan.

MRS PADAYCHEE WITH TAMIL SUPERSTAR, RAJNIKANTH, IN CHENNAI DURING ONE OF HER TRIPS TO INDIA

MRS PADAYCHEE WITH TAMIL LEGENDARY ACTOR, SIVAJI GANESAN. WITH HER IS HER SISTER, SALATCHIE, AND OTTAWA AUNTY “India, over a time, became like a second home to me,” she told this correspondent during several interactions since the early 1990s. Her maternal grand-parents, Kandasami Naiken, and Thanji, had arrived as indentured labourers from the village of Navalpore in the North Arcott District of Tamil Nadu in January 1882. They worked as indentured sugar cane labourers at the Blackburn sugar estate, near Mount Edgecombe, for 10 years. It was here in Blackburn sugar estate that her mother, Muniamma, and aunty, Yellamma, were born.

(Savundalay Padaychee (centre) with her sisters, Salatchi and Patcha.) Thereafter they settled in Dayal Road in the area of Clairwood in Durban after at first travelling to Ladysmith with a white “boss”. Her mother, Muniamma, and aunty, Yellamma, were barely 11 or 12 when they were married. Savundalay was born on 8th of July 1927 in Dayal Road, Clairwood, along with 13 other siblings, 11 of whom who survived to give birth to the greater Muniamma family that numbers more than 500 descendants and stretches 6 generations today. Life was tough for Savundalay and her four other sisters and 6 brothers. She was not allowed to go to school as her parents and elder brothers were of the view that girls should get married as soon as they reached adulthood. Although she did not go to school, she became fluent in the Tamil language and taught Tamil to children in the Clairwood area. She also helped her father and brothers in the family’s market garden as a labourer. During her married life, she continued with her gardening profession and used to travel door-to-door in the Dundee area to sell her vegetables. All the extra pennies went towards helping her husband in supporting the family and seven children. Two of her children became teachers while others became skilled workers. One of her 24 grand-children graduated to become a medical doctor while most of the others and 23 great-grand-children entered various trade, business and professional occupations. Most of the grand-children and great-grand-children have migrated to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, other parts of the country and even to Europe.

Mrs Padaychee also took a great interest in the welfare of the extended Muniamma family and was a regular visitor to the homes of her brothers and sisters in Durban, North Coast and Port Shepstone. She also became a patron and supporter of the Muniamma Family Social Club and used to attend their annual gatherings on the south coast and in Durban. A few years ago, she was one of the last three surviving elders of the Muniamma Family to attend the family history book launch at the Convention Centre at the old Louis Botha Airport in Durban. The two elders who are still around today are her sister, Mrs Amoy Moodley, of Chatsworth and her sister-in-law, Mrs Soundler Govender, also of Chatsworth.

(Mrs Padaychee with her brother, Isaac, sister, Amoy, and sister-in-law, Soundler) She is also survived by her six children – Saro Govender, Jayce Padyachee, Margie Nair, Kogie Naicker, Nelson Padyachee, and Raja Padaychee. One of her sons, Nickel, passed away some years ago. Mrs Padaychee is also survived by 24 grand-children, 23 great-great-grand-children and three great-great-great-grand-children; and more than 400 nephews, nieces, and their descendants. During her long life, Mrs Padaychee has not only been an independent and strong person, but also at the same time she ensured that she was there for all in times of stresses and strains.

In a speech read out at her funeral on behalf of the greater Muniamma Family, one of her nephews, Mr Sadha Subramoney (who is also known as Subry Govender), said Mrs Padaychee’s love for her family and the greater Muniamma Family had been ingrained in her roots, culture and history. “She told me many times that if she had her way she would have settled in the land of her ancestors because of her love for the language, culture and traditions.” She will be sadly missed not only by her immediate family members, grand-children, and other descendants but also by members of the greater and extended family.

The following message by an anonymous American author best describes the memories that the greater Muniamma family had of Mrs Padaychee: “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.” “As we say our last farewells to Mrs Savundalay Padaychee, we know that she will be joining her parents – Muniamma and Coopoosamy Govender; and nine other brothers and sisters - Sowabaigium, Nadasen, Chinna Govindsamy, Sooboo Soobramoney, Dick Velayudam, Ruthinsamy Munsamy Isaac, Salatchi, Patcha Mariamah and Peri Boya Percy – her son, Nickel, and other family members - in the heavenly world above. “We are certain they will welcome her with hugs and kisses to join them in the heavenly world.” Mrs Padaychee had a rich life as a second generation descendant of indentured sugar cane Indian labourers. One hopes that other descendants would learn something about her hard early life, her settlement in a rural town for most of her life, and her commitment to her cultures, traditions, and language. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com June 13 2020