Our leaders should emulate him
N THE 1970s and 1980s when repression by the former apartheid regime was at its height, it was leaders of the calibre of Chandradeo George Sewpersadh who kept the fires burning for the new non-racial democracy that we enjoy today.
Sewpersadh, who died aged 71 in May 2007, was one of the hundreds of selfless activists who paved the way for the ANC to take power in 1994.
Born into a working-class family in Cato Manor, on October 7, 1936, Sewpersadh went on to become actively involved in the anti-apartheid struggle while still in his teens.
Influenced by India’s freedom leaders, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he joined the Natal Indian Congress at the age of 20.
This was at a time when political pioneers of the calibre of Dr Monty Naicker, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Dr Kesaval Goonum, JN Singh and IC Meer were dominant as leaders within the Indian-origin community.
Sewpersadh came to the fore as an activist in the 1970s when the repressive actions and laws of apartheid suppressed all extra-parliamentary political activities in the 1960s.
The regime outlawed the ANC, PAC and Communist Party and arrested, detained and banned leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Naicker, Meer and Singh.
For some reason the Natal Indian Congress escaped the sword. But it was rendered non-functional with all its leaders either banned, arrested, detained or forced into exile.
It was during this period that Sewpersadh emerged as an activist who was to play a leading role in the anti-apartheid struggle.
When Mewa Ramgobin, who initiated the revival of the Natal Indian Congress in 1971, was banned and placed under house arrest just before the NIC was to be relaunched, Sewpersadh had to step in to take over the reins of the congress. He was elected along with Professor Jerry Coovadia, Paul David, Ela Gandhi and Dr Dilly Naidoo.
It was during this period that I came to know Sewpersadh. He was a human rights lawyer based in Verulam and a committed and progressive leader in political and social spheres.
I knew him as a person who went the extra mile to assist the families of detainees and those who were imprisoned.
He also defended activists charged for their political activities.
Sewpersadh stood out at public meetings with his coat half-open, shirt on the outside and his tie loosened.
He was a staunch supporter and promoter of the ideals and principles of the Freedom Charter.
The alliance was made up of the ANC, South African Indian Congress, Coloured Peoples’ Congress and the Congress of Democrats, which represented anti-apartheid white activists and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (Sactu).
As with other activists of that era, Sewpersadh suffered at the hands of the apartheid regime.
He was first banned for five years, from 1973 to 1978, and then again from 1980 to 1983. He was also detained under the regime’s terrorism laws and charged with high treason in 1984, along with 15 other activists.
The others charged were Ramgobin, Paul Devadas David, MJ Naidoo, Archie Gumede, Essop Jassat, Aubrey Mokoena, Curtis Nkondo, Albertina Sisulu, Frank Chikane, Ebrahim Saloojee, Ismail Mahomed, Thozamile Gqweta, Sisa Njikelana, Sam Kikine and Isaac Ngcobo.
Before the high treason charges, Sewpersadh and his colleagues focused the attention of the world on South Africa when they took refuge at the British Consulate in Durban in September 1983. Sewpersadh and his comrades (Ramgobin, David, MJ Naidoo, Gumede and Billy Nair) spent more than a month at the consulate.
It was one of the most crucial periods in South Africa as they had highlighted once again the injustices against the black majority.
Despite all the bannings, detentions, harassment and intimidation, Sewpersadh never succumbed.
He had committed himself to the struggle as president of the Natal Indian Congress, vice-president of the United Democratic Front, a member of the Release Mandela Committee, Chatsworth Housing Action Committee, Phoenix Rent Action Committee, Durban Housing Action Committee and the Mahatma Gandhi Trust.
Sewpersadh took a back seat in the early 1990s.
He told me in numerous interviews that it was time for the ANC to lead the way.
I found him to be a modest individual who did not seek fame, wealth or position.
He wanted others to come to the fore because he believed he had done his job, along with other activists, to create the climate for a new crop of leaders.
“I am of the view that there is no need for the old activists to vie for positions in the new South Africa,” he said.
“We must be more concerned about the socially deprived and the poor.”
A few months before he died in 2007, he called me, saying he wanted to speak to me about the current political situation in South Africa.
When I arrived at his office in Verulam, he said: “Subry, jump into my car. We will drive to the beach at Umdloti and chat there.”
He spoke about the struggles to create the new South Africa and, in no uncertain terms, pointed out that he was disillusioned with some of the people in the government.
Sewpersadh was concerned that the new ruling elite had not kept to the values and principles promoted by the Mandelas, Sisulus, Tambos, Monty Naickers, Yusuf Dadoos and Mbekis.
“Many of us sacrificed our lives for the democracy we enjoy today. But it seems some in the new government have become more reckless than our oppressors.
“They have forgotten the values and principles that we had during the height of the struggles,” he said.
When we departed, he said: “Subry, we have made our contributions and it is now up to the new generation to ensure the true values and principles of the new South Africa are promoted and protected.”
Whatever he did was in the interest of the marginalised, a fast-disappearing principle in South Africa where consumption and greed appear to be the norm.
Sewpersadh left his mark as a humble and selfless person, qualities that many in positions of power should try to emulate.
He has not been forgotten in the new South Africa.
A street in Verulam, where he practised as a lawyer, has been renamed ‘George Sewpersadh Street’.