Yusuf Dadoo

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Grave of Yusuf Dadoo (right)

Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo (born September 5, 1909 in Krugersdorp , † September 19, 1983 in London ) was a South African politician of Indian descent . He was a leading member of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

Life

Origin and background

Yusuf Dadoo's parents Mohamed and Amina Dadoo were born in the Indian town of Kolwad near the city of Surat . Mohamed Dadoo emigrated to South Africa in 1896. Like almost all Indian immigrants in South Africa, he was a member of the working class . Shortly thereafter, Mahatma Gandhi succeeded in uniting the workforce of Indian descent in South Africa through passive resistance actions . The Indian Congress subsequently appeared as a representative of the Indians and opponents of the oppression of all non-whites in South Africa.

Yusuf Dadoo spent the last part of his school education at Aligarh Muslim College, India . He moved to London in 1929 to study medicine. However , he was arrested because of a demonstration against the Simons Commission . He then continued his studies in Edinburgh . There he began to study the teachings of Marxism .

Political activities in South Africa

In 1936 Dadoo returned to South Africa. In 1939 Dadoo became the main representative of the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), which was part of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC). Up to 6,000 of the then 25,000 people of Indian origin in the Transvaal came to the rallies .

As early as 1938, Dadoo had co-founded the Non-European United Front . Dadoo was the first secretary of this organization fighting for the rights of all non-whites. As a result, Dadoo also became popular with the black population.

Also in 1939 Dadoo became a member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA, later SACP). In 1940, Dadoo was arrested for speaking out against oppressed South Africans participating in World War II, but released on payment of a fine. In 1941 he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPSA. In the same year he was imprisoned in Boksburg for a long time .

In the following two years there were further actions of passive resistance against the government. During that time, Dadoo was arrested twice. In 1946 Dadoo became chairman of the TIC and led a strike of over 100,000 mostly black miners. In 1947 Dadoo traveled to India and met Mahatma Gandhi there. Yusuf Dadoo was elected President of the SAIC in 1950. In the same year the Communist Party of South Africa was to be banned by the government of the National Party under Jan Smuts , elected in 1948 . It therefore dissolved in order to be able to continue working underground . At a secret congress that changed the name to SACP, Dadoo was elected to the party's central committee in 1953 . Together with Walter Sisulu from the African National Congress (ANC) and other politicians, Dadoo planned the Defiance Campaign , in German: "Disregard campaign" to protest against the rigid laws of the apartheid government . Dadoo was banned and sent to prison again several times.

In 1955, Dadoo, Trevor Huddleston and Albert Luthuli were the first three people to receive the ANC's highest honor, the title Isitwalandwe , at the “People's Congress” under the leadership of the ANC in Kliptown , in German, for example, “who wears the feather headdress of a rare bird”. Like Luthuli, he was unable to attend the award ceremony because of his ban. From 1956 he was one of the defendants in the Treason Trial , but like all the other defendants was acquitted.

Time in exile

In 1960 Yusuf Dadoo was involved in founding the Umkhonto we Sizwe underground army . At the same time, the existence of the SACP was made public. In order to act more effectively, the SACP and SAIC decided that Dadoo should go into exile in London. His task there was to involve other forces in the fight against the South African government. So he traveled to the Soviet Union and numerous other countries. In 1961 he participated as a member of the ANC delegation at the third and final All-African Peoples' Conference in Cairo , where the ANC called for sanctions against South Africa. In 1969 he took part in the Morogoro Conference in Tanzania . There Dadoo was elected Vice President of the Revolutionary Council , German: "Revolutionary Council". Its task was to support the ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe.

In 1972 Dadoo was elected chairman of the SACP to succeed the late JB Marks . He held this office until his death in September. He was buried just a few meters from Karl Marx 's grave in Highgate Cemetery .

Nicknames

Dadoo's nicknames were Doc ("doctor") and Mota ( Gujarati for "the most respected").

Honors

  • In 1955, the ANC recognized his commitment to the Defiance Campaign with the Isitwalandwe award .
  • The hospital in Dadoo's hometown Krugersdorp was named Yusuf Dadoo Hospital after the end of apartheid .
  • Dadoo was posthumously awarded the South African Order for Meritorious Service in gold in 1999 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on February 13, 2017
  2. ^ Facsimile of the New Age of April 6, 1961 (English; PDF)
  3. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 1999 (English), accessed on August 25, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Dadoo, Yusuf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dadoo, Yusuf Mohamed (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Krugersdorp
DATE OF DEATH September 19, 1983
Place of death London