Swami Gounden
Anti-apartheid activist and trade unionist (1927–2021)
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Swaminathan Karuppa "Swami" Gounden (1927 – 30 November 2021) was a South African trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist from Natal.
1927
affiliationsNatal Indian Congress
South African Communist Party
Swami Gounden | |
|---|---|
| Born | Swaminathan Karuppa Gounden 1927 |
| Died | 30 November 2021 (aged 93) |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Other political affiliations | Natal Indian Congress South African Communist Party |
Life and activism
Born in 1927 in Durban,[1] Gounden entered politics through the trade union movement and joined the Communist Party of South Africa at Magazine Barracks in 1944.[2] The following year, he was a member of the progressive faction of the Natal Indian Congress that installed Monty Naicker at the head of the congress, ousting its conservative incumbent leadership.[2] He was active in the congress's passive resistance campaign against the so-called Ghetto Act.[1]
He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1950 and participated in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and 1955 Congress of the People.[1] Over the next five decades, he was active in civic organisations in Natal, notably residents' associations in Asherville and the United Democratic Front.[1] In 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa awarded him the Order of Luthuli in Silver, "For his life-long and courageous fight against apartheid oppression".[3]
He died on 30 November 2021, aged 93,[4] and was granted an official provincial funeral, at which KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala delivered the eulogy.[2]