The Presidential Years

Medical doctor, anti-apartheid activist and orator. President of South African Indian Congress (SAIC). Deputy to Oliver Tambo on the Revolutionary Council of MK. Chairman of the South African Communist Party (SACP), 1972–83. Leading member of the ANC. First jailed in 1940 for anti-war activities, and then for six months during the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign. Was among the twenty accused in the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial. He went underground during the 1960 State of Emergency, and into exile to escape arrest. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1955 at the Congress of the People.