Champions of peace in SA
Gandhi-Luthuli-Mandela, The Struggle for Non-Violence in South Africa.
HAROLD Samuel, a school principal and union activist during apartheid, has written a personal account of three Struggle stalwarts who fought for peace in South Africa, through a thrilling political page-turner, Gandhi-Luthuli-Mandela, The Struggle for Non-Violence in South Africa.
The book was launched at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Derby Street, Durban, on Friday.
The 84-year-old Durban author said the book paid homage to the contribution and influence of Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela and the struggle for truth and amity.
He said Gandhi’s My Experiments with Truth, Luthuli’s Let My People Go and Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom were incomplete autobiographies and were consciously done to leave space for others to write their lives.
“I chose in my reflections to draw from the storied accounts of persons, who had walked alongside Gandhi, Luthuli and Mandela during their lifetimes, especially in the KZN context. I believe Luthuli is South Africa’s second Gandhi and that Mandela is the second Luthuli and that is where the thread comes in.”
Samuel said he lived near Luthuli’s home and followed his life closely.
“I lived in the town of Stanger (now KwaDukuza) as a young man and Luthuli lived in Groutville, which was a short distance away. He was a great fascination to me and I was drawn to his life.”
Samuel said he co-authored a previous book about Luthuli’s life but was not satisfied with the contents.
“It left out details about him that I wanted included and that was why I decided to write my own book, of which I had more control.
“Luthuli was a pacifist. There was a period in his life when the ANC was agitating for the armed struggle and he tried to say the route wasn’t the way to go and that was when problems emerged. Mandela himself was a young man at that time and was all for the armed struggle. Finally, they compromised and Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed.
“Luthuli, I therefore believe, is the second Gandhi because what Gandhi did for India, Luthuli also did for South Africa.”
Samuel said he also touched on Mandela’s arrest and imprisonment and his eventual release.
“When Mandela was finally freed, we all thought he was going to be the commander in chief in the new revolution, but he became a pacifist, a second Luthuli.”
He said the common thread between Gandhi, Luthuli and Mandela was remarkable.
“Not many people realised the role Gandhi played in South Africa. Most of his former years were spent here in Durban. His ideas of Satyagraha (insistence on the truth) and passivism all started in Durban and he took that across to India,” he explained.
Samuel also played his part in the struggle for a united society and was instrumental in paving the way for the establishment of the first non-racial unity of the separate racial teacher union movements at that time.
He was elected the first national treasurer of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in 1990. He is the chairman of the Sadtu Investment Trust.
His other interests include cricket, which later translated into managerial influences as he contributed towards the struggle for non-racialism in sport.
His strong Christian beliefs in the common humanity of all, the quest for the truth and the value of respect for diversity are the hallmarks of his personality.
This book, he said, was a celebration of the many influences of his own philosophy, which drew inspiration from the lives of others.
Samuel said he was indebted to his son, Michael Samuel, a professor in the Faculty of Education at UKZN, who co-edited the book.
“The compiling, the research, the editing all goes to him. He deserves the credit. He was a good support to me.”
He said it took him six months to complete the first draft, which was seven years ago, but he struggled to get the book published.
They finally decided to self-publish.
The book, which includes messages from Ela Gandhi, Albertina Luthuli and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, is on sale at the 1860 Heritage Centre.