Wednesday, January 19, 2022

FILTH, LITTER AND ALL KINDS OF RUBBISH PLAGUES CERTAIN AREAS OF PHOENIX

Certain Durban residential areas, mainly former disadvantaged townships (now still disadvantaged), are being allowed to degenerate and plunge into decay by our new so-called democratic Ethekwini Municipality.

I noticed this shocking state of affairs when I went for a walk through the main roads in the Unit 13, Unit 15 and J G Champion (Northern) Drive in Phoenix, north of Durban, early today.

I had taken my vehicle to be serviced by a mechanic friend in Unit 15 and decided to walk back home to Ottawa.

Filth, litter and all kinds of rubbish were visible all over the pavements alongside the roads here.

What really depressed me was the litter and rubbish that were thrown alongside the wall outside the A M Moolla Spes Nova School for disabled children; opposite the road near the Lenarea Secondary School; Phoenix Assessment and Therapy Centre; Provincial Rehabilitation Centre and all along the rest of the road.

Three decades ago, the A M Moolla Spes Nova School used to be a pride of place for children affected by all kinds of disadvantages. I am certain that Mr Moolla would be deeply disappointed about the environment in which his essential school finds itself today.

In most cases it seems that pedestrians throw their mineral and liquor bottles, all types of paper bags and other litter without any concern. It’s also a disgrace that local residents throw their rubbish outside the A M Moolla, Lenera Secondary schools and along the roads.

Residents and the pedestrians also throw their rubbish and litter all along the J G Champion (Northern) Drive.

Many people were also digging into the litter and rubbish to look for bottles and other items that they could sell. One of the unfortunate persons told me that he had no alternative but to dig into the litter to find something to survive.

"I am unemployed and I have to do something to make a few rans for my family."

I spoke to a resident from Palmview who was on his usual walk along the northern drive road.

“We just voted in the local government elections but it seems the councillors are not doing their work,” he said.

“They should be out there interacting with the people and calling on the municipality to clean up the environment.”

I also spoke to a private security company official who was parked at a site on the northern road near Palmview.

“It’s a terrible situation. People don’t care about throwing their litter on the roads. When we notice people dumping their rubbish we alert the municipal workers,” he said.

I drive through Phoenix on a regular basis and I have noticed that litter, filth and rubbish are a common feature alongside all the main roads.

The local councillors should be ashamed of themselves. It seems they don’t care about the environment as long as their pockets are filled every month.

In so far as the so-called non-racial and democratic municipality is concerned, it seems they don’t care too hoots about the environment in which residents of former disadvantaged areas live in. I believe that all these areas should still be described as disadvantaged areas. Very little or nothing has changed for them.

Some of the municipal officials have a colonial mentality. They only make it their duty to ensure that the advantaged areas are cleaned every day. If you walk into some of these advantaged areas, you would not find the type of filth and rubbish that are found all over disadvantaged areas.

Wake up Ethekwini Municipality! Make it your duty to provide a better service in the disadvantaged areas. After all they gained their freedom 28 years ago and they still pay their rates and taxes. I don’t think residents should continue to put up with the dirty environment in which they find themselves in. ends – subrygovender@gmail.com Jan 19 2022

Monday, January 17, 2022

HANEF BHAMJEE – ONE OF THE POLITICAL ACTIVISTS WHO PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE AS A LEADER OF THE BRITISH AND WALES ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENTS DURING THE STRUGGLES AGAINST APATRTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA

(Haneff Bhamjee)

One of the political activists who played a pivotal role as part of the British and Wales anti-apartheid movements to isolate apartheid South Africa during the days of the struggle was Hanef Bhamjee, formerly of Pietermaritzburg.

He passed away a week ago on January 8 in Wales at the age of 86.

Bhamjee has been resident in London and Cardiff in Wales after being forced to leave South Africa in 1965 to continue his studies.

In 2009 he was recognised for his anti-apartheid activities in Britain and other parts of the world when he was bestowed with the Satyagraha Award by the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in Durban.

I interviewed him in July 2009 when he came down to Durban from Cardiff to attend the Satyagraha ceremony.

He spoke to me about his flight from South Africa at the tender age of 18, his involvement in the British and Wales Anti-Apartheid movements, the joys and celebrations when Nelson Mandela was released in February 1990, his return to South Africa to be part of a film production on his roles in the anti-apartheid movement from any early, and his return in April 1994 to vote in the first democratic elections.

FLED TO ENGLAND AT THE AGE OF 18 TO ESCAPE THE SECURITY POLICE

Mr Bhamjee told me that he was forced to flee South Africa at the age of 18 after what he described as the “apartheid net” was closing around him.

“I left South Africa in August 1965. The main reason for leaving was that the net was closing in. A lot of people had been arrested. Initially the problem started with the arrest of the first Natal Regional Command of Ebrahim Ismail, Billy Nair and then with the raid at Rivonia. The net was closing in all over the country. The people I knew closely had been arrested for being involved in lesser things than I was.”

Soon after leaving the country in August 1965, Hanef Bhamjee, became actively involved in the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Wales Anti-apartheid Movement.

He spent seven years in London and Birmingham - both being actively involved in promoting the struggles of the democratic forces in South Africa and studying for a sociology degree.

WORKED TIRELESSLY AS PART OF THE BRITISH AND WALES ANTI-APARHEID MOVEMENTS

After obtaining his degree in 1972, Bhamjee, now aged 25, moved to Cardiff in Wales. He went about building the Wales Anti-apartheid Movement and within a short while built a network of 22 branches throughout Wales.

“We succeeded in our efforts because the various arts councils, writers, film makers, and producers all wanted to break links with South Africa. The Welsh Arts Council, various sports bodies wanted no truck with South Africa.

“The only place we had difficulties was rugby. Eventually most of the unions broke links with South Africa.

“But most importantly we found that the white people in the United Kingdom and elsewhere had made anti-apartheid their struggle. Many of the white men and women by far were more committed to the struggle than many of our own people in exile.”

BORN IN RUSTENBURG BUT MOVED TO PIETERMARITZBURG AT AN EARLY AGE WITH HIS PARENTS

Haneff Bhamjee was born in 1936 near the town of Rustenburg to parents who ran a shoe shop. Haneff and his three brothers attended a local school that was designated at that time as a school for African children.

While still a young boy, his parents moved to Pietermaritzburg. It was here that Haneff Bhamjee became socially and politically aware. He joined the Natal Indian Congress and initiated the establishment of the Natal Indian Youth Congress in Pietermaritzburg.

“In 1958 there was a potatoe boycott and I went for a rally at a local cricket ground where we used to play many cricket games. And the potatoe boycott and the tobacco boycott spurred me on to realise that the oppression in this country was almost tantamount to slavery.

“I eventually was told about the Natal Indian Youth Congress and I initiated the establishment of the first branch of the Natal Indian Youth Congress in Pietermaritzburg when I was about 14 or 15. Then came the State of Emergency and very quickly we were plunged into the work of the ANC underground work structures.”

WAS INVOLVEMENT IN THE ANTIA-ARTHEID MOVEMENTS FOR 27 YEARS

Haneff Bhamjee told me that he continued with his work for the anti-apartheid movement in England and Wales for 27 years. But this work was not without harrassment and intimidation. The South African intelligence forces were busy in Britain as well and on more one occasion made attempts on his life.

“My home was burgled about three times and a lot of documents were taken. We were followed. The tyres of my car outside my house were slashed. I was physically assaulted, I had eight stitches, and I had hate mail dumped in my letter box. The mail was sent with powdered glass or thin razor blades in the back. We were told by the local police and the ANC security department to take whatever security precautions we could.”

SUPPORTERS REJOICED WHEN MANDELA WAS RELEASED IN FEBRUARY 1990

He said the anti-apartheid leaders rejoiced with their South African counterparts when in February 1990 the ANC and other organisations were unbanned and Nelson Mandela and other prisoners were released. For Haneff and his British comrades this was one of the most important developments in their lives.

“Almost spontaneously people got out into the streets shouting: ‘Mandela is free, Mandela is Free, Mandela is free’. There were street parties and there was absolute joy all over. The people were rejoicing because the Anti-Apartheid Movement had succeeded in supporting the overthrow of apartheid. People had felt that anti-apartheid movement had become their struggle and that is why they had become overwhelmed by Mandela’s release.”

Mr Bhamjee returned to the country for the first time in more than two decades in 1992 as part of a television crew who were putting together a documentary on his life. He re-connected with former comrades and family members and also voted for the first time in April 1994. He believed that the new ANC government had achieved a great deal since 1994 but he was concerned about some ANC members departing from the true principles of the movement.

BHAMJEE WARNED AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE ANC IN 2009

This is what he told me during the interview in July 2009:

“Politically we are liberated but I am concerned about various aspects such as the economic situation and the social situation. I speak as a very committed and firm supporter of the African National Congress and the trouble is that every time I talk to people here or abroad who are South Africans, they raise various issues such as corruption. I think the movement has to act very quickly and fast because it seems corruption has become endemic from top to bottom in our society.”

BHAMJEE WARNED AGAINST RACISM IN NEW FORMS

The Cardiff-based lawyer, who still considered himself as a South African in 2009, had also expressed his concerns about some people connected to the ANC using the race card in Durban's Early Morning Market issue. He had called on the ANC to take tough action against those who transgressed the ANC's non-racial policies and principles.

He told me: “I think it is the duty of the African National Congress members to take them to task and if necessary to prosecute them. I read the statement about the Mayor and his municipal chief and I think impeachment action should be taken.

“These people are going against the values and principles of the African National Congress.”

When after the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990 there was no longer any need for the anti-apartheid movement, Mr Bhamjee, did not withdraw into the background.

ACTION FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

Bhamjee, who was awarded the OBE by the British Queen in the mid-1990s, and other activists had become more active by transforming the anti-apartheid movement into a new group called, Action for Southern Africa. The aim of this organisation was to campaign for peace, justice, democracy and rights for all people in Southern Africa.

He also became a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and the Committee Against Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bhamjee, also on his return to Wales in 2009, become involved in the campaign for the release of the incarcerated Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and freedom for the people of Burma.

He was committed to the struggles for freedom and justice all over the world until his sad demise a week ago on January 8 (2022). Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com (Jan 17 2022)

Friday, December 31, 2021

WHAT THE LATE ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU SAID TO THE RULING ANC IN OCTOBER 2011

“YOU ARE DISGRACEFUL” – ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU WHEN CONDEMNING THE ANC FOR REFUSING TO GRANT A VISA TO THE EXILED LEADER OF TIBET, THE DALAI LAMA, IN OCTOBER 2011

“I am warning you. I am warning you that as we had prayed for the downfall of the apartheid government, we will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us.”

In October 2011 when the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu was about to celebrate his 80^th birthday, he came out speaking very strongly against the democratic government led by the ruling ANC.

He was unhappy that the ANC Government, that he and other anti-apartheid religious and socially-conscious leaders had helped to bring to power in April 1994, was, within a matter of only seven years, “behaving in a way that is totally at variance with the things for which we have stood for”.

He was especially furious that the ANC Government had refused to grant the exiled leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, a visa to visit South Africa in October 2011. Tutu extended an invitation to the Dalai Lama to attend his 80^th birthday celebration in Cape Town.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu addressed a press conference to express his disquiet at the manner in which the ANC had lost its values and principles.

His response to the ANC’s refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama demonstrated that he would not bow down to anyone or organisation who failed to promote and uphold democratic principles.

Now only a few days, after his passing on December 26 (2021) at the age of 90, when most South Africans are paying their tribute to the Archbishop, it’s appropriate to recall what he said early in October 2011.

“TROUBLE IS THAT THE ANC THINKS THAT THE FREEDOM WE ENJOY TODAY IS DUE TO THEM”

This is what he had stated:

“This government, our government is worse than the apartheid government because at least we expected this from the apartheid government.

“Our government (the new ANC Government) we were expecting that now we would have a government that was sensitive to the sentiments of our constitution.`

“The trouble I think is that the ANC on the whole reckon that the freedom that we enjoy today is due to them. That is what they reckon that everybody else is just a side-line.

“Now there was a time when the people who were leading the struggle were religious leaders.

“I sat in Parliament when this President (Jacob Zuma) of ours was giving his state of the nation address. This President, I am sitting in the audience, I listened to this President telling, I mean he was paying tribute to all kinds of people who have helped in bringing about democracy in this country.

“This President did not mention a single religious leader.

“In 1989, religious leaders said to the people of Cape Town “we have had enough”. It was religious leaders who got 30 000 people to come to march.

LET THE ANC KNOW THAT THEY CANNOT AIRBRUSH US OUT

“Let the ANC know that they cannot airbrush us out.

“Let the ANC know that they have a large majority. Well, Mubarak had a large majority, Gadaffi had a large majority.

I AM WARNING YOU, WATCH OUT

“Watch out, I am warning you, watch out, watch out, please watch out.

“We were helped by the international community to overcome apartheid, we. People were opposed to injustice and oppression and people believed that we South Africans would automatically be on the side of those who were being oppressed.

‘Mr Zuma, you and your government don’t represent me.

“You represent your own interests and I am warning you, really warning you out of love. I am warning you like I have warned the nationalists (former apartheid rulers).

YOU ARE DISGRACEFUL

“I am warning you that one day we will start praying for the defeat of the ANC Government. You are disgraceful.

“I want to warn you that you are behaving in a way that is totally at variance with the things for which we have stood for.

“I am warning you, I am warning you that as we had prayed for the downfall of the apartheid government we will pray for the downfall of a government that misrepresents us.

“You have got a huge majority. That’s nothing. The nationalists (former apartheid rulers) had a huge majority and increased. But it disappeared into dust. Watch out ANC Government, watch out, watch out, watch out.” Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com December 31 2021

Monday, December 13, 2021

SUGAR CANE FIELDS OF OTTAWA SHAPED MY LIFE AS A SOCIALLY AND POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS JOURNALIST

(Bluebells House sports team in the early 1950s when I attended the Jhugroo Government Aided-Indian Primary School. The school was situated on the site where the Globe's Shopping Centre is now situated. Some of my pupils I can recall are (back row l to r) - Radha, Baby, Kalimuthu, Valiatham, Ismail Dhooma, Janaki ..... . (Centre) Our teacher, Prithima, .. teacher, Moon Subrayen, .. D S Maharaj. Front row: Marimuthu (Subry Govender) and colleague)

BIRTHDAY STORY INTRO:

On Wednesday, December 15 (2021) I will turn 75 and my Ottawa social chat group asked me to write something briefly about my life in Ottawa and life thereafter.

I wrote this short article trying to capture some aspects of a Ottawa resident.

SUGAR CANE FIELDS OF OTTAWA SHAPED MY LIFE AS A SOCIALLY AND POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS JOURNALIST

I was born in the historical area of Cato Manor in Durban and after a few years in Isipingo, our family moved to Munn Road in Ottawa.

My father, Subramoney Munien, who worked at Unilever for more than 40 years, and mother, Salatchie, who worked at Flash Clothing, struggled all their lives to bring up seven children and later two adopted children.

My siblings are Ambiga, the eldest who is now settled in Phoenix; Nanda, now in Sea Tides; Sydney, now in Johannesburg; Violet, now in Merebank and moving to Johannesburg in January; Nelson (now late) stayed in Tongaat; and Childie, who is now in Verulam.

My adopted brother, Mashla Marimuthu, who was born in Blackburn estate, is now late; and Angela, who belonged to the Buddha family who used to stay on the Main Road, near the Hans shopping centre, is now settled in Kharwastan, near Chatsworth.

(Ottawa boasted a number of top class footballers. Here in this photo in the mid 1960s members and supporters of the Ottawa United Football Club at the Verulam Recreation ground)

Our immediate neighbours in Munn Road were the grand-parents of Atom and Molly, who cultivated a huge mango plantation; Sukiya and Johnny; Narain Naicker and family; Gita and her family; Jack Naidoo, Tip Top, George and family; Kandasamy Naidoo and family; Vasie Govender and family; Beacon and family; the John Chetty family; the Bugwandeen family; the fat Harry family; Pat and family; Gokool Dutt and family; Barry, Krish and the rest of the Naicker family; the Zadick Yagambaram family and several others whose full names escapes me now.

(Some of the early friends of Ottawa (l to r): Rusty Maharaj, Mohan, Steven, Adam Sayed (who lived in a house at the corner of Munn and School roads - the house is still there and his sisters live in it), and Sam)

Most of us as youngsters first attended the old Jhugroo school, which was situated where Globes Shopping Centre is now in operation; and the new school, right near to our tin house in Munn Road.

After completing my standard six at Jhugroo, I attended the Verulam High School where I completed by matric in 1964.

While still growing up as a young boy in Ottawa and working as a labourer at the Ottawa Sugar Estate during the school holidays, I became aware of the social and political oppression of that time.

One incident stirred my socio-political-economical interest while Veeran Maharaj, George Naidoo and myself were busy on the third day of our work in the sugar cane fields situated not far from where the home of the late K C George Moonsamy is still situated.

It was sometime in March 1961. I heard a loud voice and upon checking to see what was going on, I saw the supervisor shouting, screaming and even using swear words at some of the women workers.

I questioned his unacceptable attitude but was told if I was not happy with what was going on, I should leave with my friends.

This gave us no alternative but to return to our village. On the third day we were paid 90 cents each for working for three days.

This unfortunate incident in the sugar cane field had a significant effect on me and aroused my interest in the sugar cane estates and its inhabitants as I began to complete my high school education. The school principal, Mr Simon David, and three teachers, a Mr Kissoon, Mr K P Rajoo and Mr P A Pillay also awakened a consciousness in me about the arrival of our forefathers and mothers as indentured labourers and the socio-economical-political climate prevailing at that time.

And when I completed my matriculation in 1964, I became attracted to journalism and worked for the Daily News, Sunday Tribune, Natal Mercury, Post, Graphic and Leader as a free-lancer before joining the Daily News as a full-time reporter in March 1973.

While working at the Daily News, I completed my degree in Political Science and International Relations at UNISA. At the same time, I became involved in the establishment of the Union of Black Journalists (UBJ) after the June 1976 Soweto uprisings. Later after the UBJ was banned in October 1977, I became involved in the establishment of the Association of Democratic Journalists (ADJ), Writers Association of South Africa(WASA) and the Media Workers Association of SA(MWSA).

At this time, I was seen as a “coolie media terrorist” by the former security police and I was banned and house-arrested for three-and-half years. This prohibited me from continuing with my work as a journalist and heading the Press Trust of SA News Agency, which I established in December 1983. I was also denied my passport for 10 years from 1980 to 1990.

The denial of a passport prevented me from taking up a scholarship at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to study for my post-graduate in Political Science and International Relations. I was also prevented from taking up a two-year assignment at Radio Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany) in Koln.

After my banning order expired in mid-1984, I continued with my work as a foreign correspondent for the Press Trust of India (PTI) and a number of international radio stations, including the BBC, Radio Deutsche Welle, Radio Nederlands, Radio France Internationale and radio stations in America, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand.

All my work revolved around the struggles for a free, non-racial and democratic South Africa.

When Nelson Mandela was released in February 1990, I was there in Cape Town to report on his release to PTI and other media outlets around the world. And when the new democratic order came into being in April 1994, I was there in Johannesburg-Pretoria to report on Mandela being installed as the first democratic president.

I also accompanied Mandela during an official visit to India in 1995 after I joined the SABC as a senior political correspondent. And when Mandela passed on in 2012, I was there in Pretoria and Umtata to report his passing to PTI and the world. I also travelled with other journalists to cover the visit of Thabo Mbeki to India in 2 000. And in 2009 I was assigned by the SABC to cover the Tsunami disaster in southern India.

In 2010 I was invited by the Government of India to attend the conference of Indian Diaspora in Chennai. Indian-origin journalists from other parts of the world also attended the Diaspora conference.

During the early 1980s, I initiated the establishment of our extended Muniamma Family Social Club. The family social club was named after my grand-mother, Mrs Muniamma Coopoosamy Govender, who was born in the Blackburn Sugar estate, where our great-grand-parents toiled as indentured labourers after arriving from India in 1881.

The establishment of the Muniamma Family Social Club encouraged me to research our roots and this led to me and my wife, Thyna, visiting the little villages of Damal and Navalpore in the North Arcott District of Tamil Nadu in March 1990.

Our family history book, Flight of Young Lovers, was completed in 2017 and the book was launched at an elaborate extended family gathering of more than 200 members at the Enchanted Gardens Conference Centre at the old Louis Botha international airport, near Isipingo, on April 28 2018.

I retired from active journalism in 2019, and am currently researching my work during the journalist years in my efforts to capture in a book my life story. I am also enjoying playing golf at least three times a week. My wife, Thyna, also plays golf and we travel around to participate in a number of tournaments.

We have one son, Kennedy Pregarsen, and two daughters, Seshini and Nomzamo, and six grand-children. They are all living and working in Johannesburg.

Our eldest twin grandsons, Dasi and Diva, have just celebrated their 20^th birthday.

(Two friends, Bobby and , and I travelled to Maputo in Mozambique (Lourenzo Marques ) in the late 1970s for a holiday. We travelled to LM in Bobby's car)

(While searching for photos for this article I came across this picture of the young daughter (left) of Mr Naningar, who lived with his large family in Maharaj Road near the new school and the home of Mr Parthab. The young lady, her name escapes me, was the sister of Tuba, Moga and other siblings. The other lady's name in the picture also escapes me.)

When growing up in Ottawa in the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, we came to know the whole of Ottawa as One Big Family. The relationship we enjoyed then is something to be proud of and admired. We used to fetch water from the river in two huge drums attached to a banga, enjoyed fishing in the nearby clean and environmentally-friendly river, played soccer on the sandy river field, swam in the heavy ponds in the river and generally enjoyed everything that the river gave us.

On one occasion, however, I nearly drown in deep water near the railway line bridge. Fortunately, my brother, Nanda, was standing nearby and he jumped in and pulled me out.

I was lucky.

Ottawa was also a village where we could visit our neighbours’ homes and the homes of others living in the then Tin Town, Central, and Uplands with all the hospitality and respect. Over the years my siblings and I came to know each and every family that lived in Ottawa at that time.

(Members of the Ottawa branch of the SA Red Cross Society taking a break at the beach. (From L to R) : Barney, Mr , Chotoo, Dicky Maharaj, Ramnanan, Mr Padaychee , Marimuthu (Subry Govender) and Mr Moses)

As a young boy I became a member the Ottawa branch of the South African Red Cross Society. Some of the people I remember who were members were Mr Dicky Maharaj, Mr Ramnanan, who owned the shop in Uplands, Mr Chotoo, who lived near Mr Ramnan’s shop, Mr Barney of bottom Munn Road; Mr Moses, who lived near the top shop; and a gentleman who lived with his family on a property owned by George Singh’s family in School Road.

We also took an active interest in football and I played and managed one of the Ottawa teams that played in the Verulam Football Association in the early days. At one time in the 1980s I also headed the Verulam Football Association for a period of two years.