George Sewpersadh

George Sewpersadh
OLS
Born
Chanderdeo Sewpersadh

(1936-10-07)7 October 1936
Cato Manor, Natal Province
Union of South Africa
Died18 May 2007(2007-05-18) (aged 70)
Durban, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of Natal
Known forPresident of the Natal Indian Congress

Chanderdeo "George" Sewpersadh OLS (7 October 1936 – 18 May 2007), also spelled Sewpershad, was a South African lawyer and anti-apartheid activist. He was a former president of the Natal Indian Congress and a defendant in the 1985 Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial.

Early life and education

Sewpersadh was born on 7 October 1936 in Cato Manor, an Indian area on the outskirts of Durban in the former Natal Province.[1] His father was a newspaper vendor and his mother was a housewife.[2] Their family moved to Reservoir Hills during his childhood, and he matriculated at Sastri College in Durban.[2] Thereafter he attended the University of Natal from 1955 to 1960, completing a BA in 1957 and an LLB in 1960.[2]

While a BA student, in December 1956, Sewpersadh joined the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), inspired by opposition to apartheid but also by the Indian independence movement and its heroes, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.[2] He became the founding chairperson of a new NIC branch in Cato Manor.[2] However, the NIC fell into dormancy in the mid-1960s. Sewpersadh instead focused on establishing his practice as a lawyer in the Durban suburb of Verulam.[1]

Career and activism

When the NIC was relaunched in June 1971, Sewpersadh was elected as its president; the presumptive president, Mewa Ramgobin, was banned at the time and therefore was unable to stand.[3] Jerry Coovadia said that Sewpersadh was an appealing candidate because he was "an old school type liberal: big on due process, civil rights and liberties, human rights."[4] As leader of the NIC he faced arrest and banning orders on several occasions;[2] during a prolonged banning from 1973 to 1978, M. J. Naidoo replaced him as NIC president.[3]

In spring 1984, Sewpersadh was one of the so-called Durban Six who evaded arrest by taking refuge in the British Consulate in Durban.[5] On 6 October 1984, after three weeks in the consulate, Sewpersadh and two of his NIC colleagues – Naidoo and Ramgobin – voluntarily left the consulate and were immediately re-arrested on the pavement outside.[5] They were subsequently charged with treason in the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial,[6] though the charges against them were dropped in December 1985.[7]

He died in Durban on 18 May 2007 after a short illness;[8] he had cancer.[9] He was unmarried.[8] His memorial service was held at Kendra Hall in Durban, and speakers included Constitutional Court Justice Pius Langa.[9]

Honours

In October 2008,[10] President Thabo Mbeki admitted Sewpersadh posthumously to the Order of Luthuli, awarding him the order in silver for "Opposing the apartheid regime and striving for the ideals of a non-racial, non-sexist, just and democratic South Africa."[1] Also in 2008, the City of eThekwini renamed Verulam's Moss Street as George Sewpersadh Street.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Chanderdeo George Sewpershad (1936 – 2007)". The Presidency. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "George Sewpersadh". South African History Online. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Vahed, Goolam; Desai, Ashwin (2 January 2014). "A case of 'strategic ethnicity'? The Natal Indian Congress in the 1970s". African Historical Review. 46 (1): 22–47. doi:10.1080/17532523.2014.911436. ISSN 1753-2523. S2CID 143932497.
  4. ^ Desai, Ashwin; Vahed, Goolam (2021). Colour, Class and Community: The Natal Indian Congress, 1971-1994. NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-77614-716-8.
  5. ^ a b Riveles, Susanne (1989). "Diplomatic Asylum as a Human Right: The Case of the Durban Six". Human Rights Quarterly. 11 (1): 139–159. doi:10.2307/761937. ISSN 0275-0392. JSTOR 761937.
  6. ^ "12 released by South Africa, then 6 of them are arrested". The New York Times. 11 December 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. ^ "South Africa Clears 12 of Treason: Charges Against Most Prominent Foes of Apartheid Dropped". Los Angeles Times. 9 December 1985. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Govender, Ravi (18 July 2012). "George was a 'humble man'". Post. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b "An enigmatic leader and hero". The Witness. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  10. ^ "National orders for prominent people". Sowetan. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Durban street renaming proposals". IOL. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2024.