Prestige award for struggle stalwart
Swaminathan Gounden was decorated with the Order of Luthuli in Silver for his role in fighting racism and apartheid.
DURBAN struggle activist, Swaminathan Gounden received one of the highest award that South Africa can confer on its citizens earlier this month.
Gounden was decorated with the Order of Luthuli in Silver for his role in fighting racism and apartheid, as well as his continuous work in building unity and improving non-racism, at the 2018 National Orders Awards Ceremony in Pretoria.
Ninety-year-old Gounden, who was the guest of honour at the Ubuntu Community Chest’s annual Top Donor Awards breakfast last week, joined the Communist Party in 1944. He then became involved in the Natal Indian Congress and African National Congress. He was a political organiser in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign as well as the 1952 Defiance Campaign. In 1955, he was selected as a delegate to the Congress of the People, which wrote the Freedom Charter.
ALSO READ: City agrees to erect Mandela, Tambo statues in Durban
He was detained in solitary confinement by the Security Branch in 1964 under the Ninety Day Laws and the Suppression of Communism Act.
In spite of being a listed communist for 25 years, he defied apartheid and attended the launch of the United Democrative Front in 1983 and was politically active during the 1980s repression.
Gounden is the co-author of articles and books on community struggles and trade unionism and is still active in a number of community and political structures.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
