SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN-ORIGIN TURN UP IN THEIR THOUSANDS FOR KAVADY

Tens of thousands of South Africans of Indian-origin once again flocked to temples and places of worship all over the country to participate in the annual Kavady prayer services on Sunday, February 12. The Sunday gatherings followed similar events that were held three days earlier on Thursday, February 9. The Thursday and Sunday services were characterised by entire families, including young children and teenagers, participating in the Kavady ceremonies with all their passion, commitment and total belief in the deity - Lord Muruga. Subry Govender compiled this radio feature after attending one of the Kavady ceremonies…… .

TENS OF THOUSANDS PARTICIPATE IN KAVADY CEREMONIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Subry Govender

Tens of thousands of South Africans of Indian-origin once again flocked to temples and places of worship all over the country to participate in the annual Kavady prayer services on Sunday, February 12. The Sunday gatherings followed similar events that were held three days earlier on Thursday, February 9. Both the Thursday and Sunday services were characterised by entire families, including young children and teenagers, participating in the Kavady ceremonies with all their passion, commitment and total belief in Lord Muruga. The people turned up in their huge numbers despite the scorching heat. The unbearable heat was in fact no deterrent for the devotees.

(THE RESIDENT SWAMI AND OFFICIALS PROVIDING A HELPING HAND FOR THE DEVOTEES)

(MR G K MOODLEY (RIGHT) AND ANOTHER VETERAN OFFICIAL) I was really impressed and thrilled when I attended one of the Kavady ceremonies at the Shri Siva Subramaniam Alyam in Umdloti, Verulam on Sunday. This historic temple, like hundreds of temples all over KwaZulu-Natal, was built by our forefathers and mothers who were brought to the then Natal Colony to work as indentured (slave) labourers on sugar plantations since the 1860s. Kavady was one of the traditions that our ancestors started at these temples and thereafter bestowed to their children and surviving generations. This tradition continues today with the same passion and vigour. Here at the Umdloti Drift Alyam I was thrilled to see young people fully involved, not only in carrying the Kavady, but also as singers, drummers and providing support for their family members. The spiritual nature of the Kavady ceremony was uplifted tenfold with the beautiful religious music being played in the background for the devotees.

(Mr Enver Moodley with his tgwo-year-old son, wife and another family member) Some of the devotees I spoke to said they carried the Kavady because of the spiritual and cultural upliftment they gained from the ceremonies. Twenty-eight-year-old Mr Enver Moodley, a general manager in a contact centre, took part in the ceremony with his wife and two-year-old son. “It’s a devotion and something that I do for my child to make sure that he follows the rituals in the same way that I was brought up in life,” he said. “My son is going to be two years in March and this is to make sure that he grows up and follows our traditions. “I have been really, really involved for the past nine years. Every year that I have been participating, I have seen people’s lives changing for the better and I have seen it in myself. I am 28-years-old and I have seen that I have been prospering ever since I have been carrying the Kavady.” He conceded that with the advent of technology and modernisation there’s some concerns about whether the younger generation would stick to their cultures. “But I believe that if parents, like me and my wife, continue to promote the Kavady and other festivals within our families, then obviously the children would follow in the footsteps of their families. “It all starts from us to make sure that they follow in the right pathway. If they continuously see what their parents are doing, then obviously they will follow in their footsteps.”

(MRS VASANTHIE NAYANAR (CENTRE) WITH FAMILY MEMBERS) Another Kavady devotee was Mrs Vasanthie Nayanar, a financial accountant. “For me,” she said, “it’s just something I have to do every year, there’s no vow, no penance”. “It’s just part of my culture basically. I feel very spiritually uplifted when I take the Kavady.” Mrs Nayanar has started a youth programme to educate the youth about the importance and significance of Kavady. “In order to retain the youth we must embark on a process of educating the youth about the significance of the Kavady. For me that should be the purpose of the Kavady,” she said. “I am happy to see a lot of youth around here and we need to continue to educate them about the values of Kavady and other important cultural events.”

(PROF CHANDRU KISTEN (SECOND FROM LEFT) WITH SOME OF HIS OFFICIALS) Professor Chandru Kisten, Trustee of the Shri Siva Subramamiar Alyam, said they had seen an upsurge in the number of people, especially the youth, participating in the Kavady ceremonies. “There is re-surgence among the people, especially the young, in their traditions and cultures because of the good work being carried out by all the temples and organisations”, he said. “There’s greater awareness of the significance, and at the same time, there are so many stories told about the miracles that happen during this auspicious period. “There’s a real belief in the carrying of the Kavady and the signifance of the prayer.” He added: “You will even find the youngsters now not only piercing and carrying the Kavady, but there’s a real belief in Kavady. The youngsters come forward and assist in all spheres. The fact that they come with their parents and pray together is an indication that more and more people are becoming spiritually inclined. “This tradition started by our ancestors has continued and we must now continue to strengthen and promote the Kavady ceremony and other cultural traditions.”

– ends (subrygovender@gmail.com)

SONA CHAOTIC SCENES PART THREE

The chaos, fisticuffs, swear words, racial insults and forceful eviction of MPs that characterised the State of Nation address by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday have caused outrage and disappointment among South Africans. Veteran leaders and others have reacted by saying that the pandemonium in parliament has damaged the image of democratic South Africa and would not be good for the country. LISTEN TO THE THIRD PART OF THE CHAOTIC SCENES ON SONA EVENING:

SONA CHAOTIC SOUND SECOND PART

The chaos, fisticuffs, swear words, racial insults and forceful eviction of MPs that characterised the State of Nation address by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday have caused outrage and disappointment among South Africans. Veteran leaders and others have reacted by saying that the pandemonium in parliament has damaged the image of democratic South Africa and would not be good for the country. LISTEN TO SOME OF THE SOUND:

SONA 2017 DISORDER

The chaos, fisticuffs, swear words, racial insults and forceful eviction of MPs that characterised the State of Nation address by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday have caused outrage and disappointment among South Africans. Veteran leaders and others have reacted by saying that the pandemonium in parliament has damaged the image of democratic South Africa and would not be good for the country.

CHAOS AND PANDEMONIUM IN PARLIAMENT ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9 2017 SOUND

The chaos, fisticuffs, swear words, racial insults and forceful eviction of MPs that characterised the State of Nation address by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday, fEBRUARY 9 2017 have caused outrage and disappointment among South Africans. Veteran leaders and others have reacted by saying that the pandemonium in parliament has damaged the image of democratic South Africa and would not be good for the country. HERE ARE THE SOUND FOR YOUR DIGESTION:

KAY MOONSAMY – THE HUMBLE FREEDOM ACTIVIST WHO SACRIFICED 67 YEARS OF HIS LIFE, INCLUDING HIS FAMILY, IN THE ANC STRUGGLES FOR A FREE, NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA

Mr Kay Moosamy addressing a function in 2010 held to remember the contributions of people in the social, political, educational, economic and sporting upliftment of South Africa. By Subry Govender One of the political activists and struggle stalwarts who like, Nelson Mandela, sacrificed 67 years of his life for the freedom we enjoy today is little-known 90-year-old Kay Moonsamy of Chatsworth in Durban. This correspondent had the opportunity of interviewing Mr Moonsamy at his home in 2009 when he had retired from active politics after serving 10 years in parliament as a member of the ruling ANC. He had earlier spent 27 in exile, working for the ANC in Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, India and the Soviet Union. Born at Overport in Durban in 1926, Kay Moonsamy became involved in the political struggles at the tender age of 16 when he joined the Natal Box, Broom and Bush Workers Union while working as a labourer at a factory called Rhodesian Timbers Limited in an area now known as Durban North. His parents were working-class and poor. He was forced to leave school at an early age because of the economic conditions at home and he was obliged to go to work in order to assist his family. “I joined the trade union movement in order to improve our working conditions and to get higher wages,” he said. “The wages at that time was a miserable 15 shillings (about R1 – 50) a week. My involvement in the trade union led me to joining the Community Party and the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1944 at the young age of 18.” At this time in the 1940s there was a titanic struggle between conservative and progressive forces in the NIC and Moonsamy became actively involved in the campaign to overthrow the conservative element, known as the Kajee-Pather group. The leaders of this association were businessmen and cultural leaders, Mr A I Kajee and Mr P R Pather.

“In 1943 the Natal Indian Congress was in the hands of the reactionary Kajee-Pather group. Now progressives like Dr Monty Naicker, M D Naidoo, Debi Singh and others formed what was called the Anti-Segregation Council in order to bring about a change in the leadership because of the reactionary stances of the Kajee-Pather group who did not want to have any collaboration with other national groups. They said they will go it alone in so far as the struggles against the Government at that time. “That campaign drew me into the struggles of the NIC and we removed the Kajee-Pather group way back in 1945. We attended a meeting at Currie’s Fountain on 21st October 1945 when we kicked out the Kajee-Pather group lock, stock and barrel,” said Moonsamy. For the next 10 years he was caught up in a number of trade union and anti-government struggles. During one of the campaigns against racial oppression, Moonsamy, still only 20 years-years-old, was arrested, charged and convicted under the notorious Riotous Assemblies Act. He was sentenced to his first term in jail for four months, serving his imprisonment at the Durban Central Prison and at a farm in Ixopo in southern KwaZulu-Natal. When he was about to take up the post of the full-time organising secretary of the Natal Indian Congress, he was arrested with 155 other leaders in 1956 and charged with High Treason. This was the first time that he had met activists who would later become the leading lights of the struggle. “For the first time we had an opportunity to meet the leaders from all the different provinces. We knew most of our members by name but did not meet them personally. The Treason arrests gave us an opportunity to meet all of them at the Fort Prison in Johannesburg. They included comrades such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, and Walter Sisulu.” In 1961 at the age of 36 Munsamy found himself fully involved in the underground activities of the Communist Party in Durban. At this time the Communist Party was one of the organisations with the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress(PAC) that had been banned and proscribed by the former apartheid regime. But underground work was a dangerous terrain and he was arrested along with other members of his underground cell. He was charged with belonging to unlawful organisations.

On the 29th of June 1965, while out on bail, he was asked by the ANC to go into exile. He first went to Botswana where he spent three years from 1965 to 1968. “Then the movement asked me to come over to Zambia where I joined the External Mission,” he said. “At that point in time we had External Missions in different countries but not very many. We had an office in London, some offices in Africa, with one in Zambia and our headquarters based in Tanzania.” When Kay Moonsamy went into exile in 1965 he had to leave behind his wife and four children, the youngest was his son Rajan, who was only nine-months-old. He met them again for the first time 15 years later in Swaziland. This was the most traumatic period in his life. “After leaving my wife and children in 1965, we met again for the first time on the fourth of July 1980 in Manzini in Swaziland. When I joined the ANC in exile, our eldest child, Tammy, was nine-years-old, Ragini was six, Saroj was two-and-half and our youngest Rajan was only nine-months-old. Incidentally Rajan was born when I was in detention in 1964. When I met them again, Tammy was already married and our youngest Rajan was 15-years-old.” In exile, Moonsamy served the ANC, the SACP and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) in several capacities. He was also the ANC's representative in India for a brief period in 1978 and worked for some time in the ANC's treasurer's department. “Working in the Treasurer General’s office I was involved in fund-raising and seeing to the maintenance and upkeep of those who had fled the country. In 1976 we had a large numbers of people coming into exile, especially after the Soweto uprisings in June 1976. “Large numbers of students came into exile and my activities included working with the late Thomas Nkobi for the upkeep and maintenance of our people. Now we had thousands to provide food, clothing and shelter,” said Moonsamy. He also underwent military training in the then Soviet Union and was one of the activists in exile who was involved in the formulation and development of the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania. This was his last assignment before returning home in 1991. He said: “At the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College, which was based in Morogoro, we also constructed houses. When we took over that place there were just about six ram-shackled buildings. But when we left Tanzania in 1992, the Movement (ANC) handed over to the Tanzanian Government 300 conventional buildings with running water, fully-furnished offices, houses, and tarred roads. We were also self-sufficient in that place. We had a tailor shop, shoe-making shop, agricultural sector, we had a furniture factory, which provided the furniture for the 300 houses. The surplus we used to sell it on the market and that is how we used to raise funds for the Movement.” After his return home in 1991, he was very active in the South African Communist Party while serving at the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg. He was deployed as an MP in 1999, serving two terms until April 2009. He found parliamentary work just as rewarding as his freedom work. “Parliament was another terrain and it was interesting. As legislators we had to enact laws in keeping with our founding document and a constitution which stands for a united, democratic, non-sexist, non-racial South Africa. I think we participated fully, strengthened the parliamentary structures and today I think we can be proud that we have a strong democratic system in our country and I think the Constitution is paramount.” Although he's now retired, Kay Moonsamy cannot stay out of politics. He’s still involved with the ANC branch in Chatsworth. In the interview in 2009 he told me that he was very happy with the progress made so far by the ANC and believed the Jacob Zuma Government would be very effective, despite the many challenges. One of the challenges was the use of racism by some ANC deployees. I asked him for his views about this, especially racism that was used to try to destroy the historical Early Morning Market in Durban. “Making racist remarks are not permissible and I think it will be outrageous if those statements comes from people within the Movement (ANC) that stands for a fully non-racial, democratic South Africa. This is not only what we have to preach but also practise. The ANC stands for this noble ideal and I think we are totally committed to building a non-racial, democratic society. One cannot over-emphasise this,” he had said. Mr Kay Moonsamy and most of the activists of his calibre were and are firmly rooted in the ANC's values and principles. It's hoped that some of those now found wanting will follow in the footsteps of the Kay Moonsamys', who had sacrificed almost everything, including their families, to promote the cause of true freedom, justice, liberty and non-racialism. – ends (subrygovender@gmail.com)