Amichand Rajbansi

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Amichand Rajbansi (born January 14, 1942 in Clairwood , Durban , † December 29, 2011 in Umhlanga , eThekwini ) was a South African politician ( National People's Party ). His nickname was The Bengal Tiger ("The Bengal Tiger").

Life

Rajbansi attended Clairwood Secondary School and then the University College for Indians on Salisbury Island , where he studied history and psychology. In addition, Rajbansi was artistically interested and gifted. In 1960 he won a top prize with three of his designs in the Rembrandt art competition.

He has worked as a sports administrator, soccer referee, teacher and PR manager in the dairy industry. In 1974 he became a member of the South African Indian Council (SAIC) and later elected to the board, which represented the interests of the Indians within the apartheid system . In 1976 he resigned in protest against the exclusion of blacks . Rajbansi and four other dissatisfied SAIC members founded a reform group led by YS Chinsamy under the name Reform Party . At that time he was also active in the Southern Durban Local Affairs Committee , from which he was expelled in 1977 at the instigation of the provincial government. In 1981 he founded the National People's Party (NPP) and was elected chairman. In the same year the NPP won the election for the SAIC - with six percent turnout.

Rajbansi applied for the newly created House of Delegates with the NPP . In the 1984 election, the party received 18 of the 40 seats, so that Rajbansi, supported by another party, took the lead in the body. By chairing the Ministers' Council for Indian Affairs , he was a Minister without Portfolio in the Botha II cabinet . At the national level had Rajbansi the National Liaison Committee with Minister of Constitutional Development Chris Heunis and the National Consultative Committee , the administrator of the province of Natal , Stoffel Botha was passed. In May 1987 the NPP lost its majority when the coalition broke, but Rajbansi remained at the head of the body thanks to the support of President Pieter Willem Botha . He was suspended following allegations of bribery in the course of a property sale and, following a preliminary ruling by the James Commission, dismissed from the cabinet in December 1988. The report certified that he was "arrogant, ruthless, ruthless and a vicious tyrant" and accused him of lying and false testimony. He had to leave the House of Delegates and threatened to found a new party, but soon afterwards returned to the head of the NPP. In June 1990 he was fined for double fraud.

In the 1994 elections , he ran the newly founded Minority Front (MF), which, however, remained without a mandate. It was only in the 1999 , 2004 and 2009 elections that she was able to win one or two seats. Rajbansi was chairman of the MF until his death. Most recently he was a member of the Provincial Legislature of KwaZulu-Natal .

Rajbansi was first married to the journalist Asha Deni (Ashadevi), with whom he had four daughters and a son. They lived in Chatsworth . In 2000 the marriage was divorced. In 2001 Rajbansi married fellow party member Shameen Thakur, a member of the Provincial Legislature of KwaZulu-Natal.

Honors

  • 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award from India International Friendship Society

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Amichand Rajbansi dead at 69. news24.com from December 29, 2011 (English), accessed on November 14, 2018
  2. ^ A b c d Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics . Johannesburg 1987, pp. 250-252
  3. ↑ Minority Front's 'Bengal Tiger' Amichand Rajbansi dies aged 69. mg.co.za from December 29, 2011, accessed on November 14, 2018
  4. ↑ SAIC at omalley.nelsonmandela.org (English), accessed on November 14, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Rajbansi, Amichand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Bengal Tiger (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Clairwood , Durban , Natal Province
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 2011
Place of death Umhlanga , eThekwini