Spalding was key in forming early Samwu

BORN: 06 August 1963 DIED: 30 January 2017 FUNERAL: February 11 2017 BURIAL: 100 Orchard Street, Walkerville South of Johannesburg

THE name Richard Spalding, pictured, can be found in several pages of the history of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).

Spalding gave his youth to the formation and growth of Samwu. He was one of the first Samwu shop stewards in the then Johannesburg City Council (JCC), alongside its longest-serving and founding president Petrus Mashishi.

Spalding worked at the Cas Mia Old age home in Hillbrow.

He represented the then Transvaal in national executive committee meetings during Samwu’s formative years.

Together with the likes of Jabulani Walaza of the Alberton Town Council and Johannes Kutwane of the Bedfordview Town Council, worked hard to forge unity within the union.

Working at the JCC during the 1980s had its own challenges because it was host to elements of the apartheid Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB).

The JCC’s security department was transformed into the Johannes- burg Metro Police Department.

CCB spies, disguised as Samwu members, attended union meetings with recording equipment.

The surveillance of union meetings and its key leadership led to attacks on the leaders and their homes by the CCB. Spalding and his family survived one of these attacks on his home.

He played a key role in integrating various apartheid local government structures to establish the current Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in the post-apartheid South Africa.

Spalding also played a pivotal role in the merger of three other unions within the JCC to form the country’s biggest branch of Samwu.

He is survived by his wife Dona and son Eiken. He will be buried tomorrow.