Ebrahim "Cassim" Saloojee (7 May 1935 – 1 February 2009) was a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist. During apartheid, he was the treasurer of the United Democratic Front, a defendant in the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial, and later the president of the Transvaal Indian Congress. He represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly from 1994 until his death in 2009.
Cassim Saloojee | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 9 May 1994 – 1 February 2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ebrahim Saloojee 7 May 1935 Krugersdorp, Transvaal Union of South Africa |
| Died | 1 February 2009 (aged 73) Johannesburg, Gauteng Republic of South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
Early life and career
editSaloojee was born in Krugersdorp in the former Transvaal[1] on 7 May 1935.[2] His family later moved Roodepoort and then to Bloemhof. He began school in Sophiatown and matriculated in 1954 in Johannesburg, where he had moved as a teenager for schooling. Yusuf Dadoo, who was also from Krugersdorp, was an important influence for Saloojee, and he joined the youth wing of the Transvaal Indian Congress while in Johannesburg.[1]
After matriculating, he began studying medicine at a college in Bombay, India, but later returned to South Africa to train as a teacher at the Transvaal College of Education. However, he came to dislike teaching within the confines of the apartheid-era Bantu Education Act and from 1967 he worked as director of the Johannesburg Indian Social Welfare Agency. He also chaired an alternative theatre group, the Phoenix Players, and was a founder of Johannesburg's Market Theatre.[1]
Anti-apartheid activism
editAfter a year in the United States, where he studied on a scholarship at Princeton University, Saloojee became involved in activism against the Group Areas Act as a founding member and chairman of the Action Committee to Stop Evictions (ACTSTOP), which opposed evictions of Indian families (including his own) from rentals in downtown Johannesburg.[1][3] During this period, in the early 1980s, Saloojee became increasingly involved in anti-apartheid politics, partly due to the influence of his teenaged sons. He was involved in boycotts of the Indian Council and later of the Tricameral Parliament, both formed to provide nominal political representation to Indians in the apartheid government. He was a founding member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983 and became its national treasurer.[4]
In this capacity, he was arrested in February 1985,[5] and – alongside Albertina Sisulu, Archie Gumede, Frank Chikane, and other UDF leaders – was charged with treason in the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial. The charges against him were dropped in December 1985.[6] In August 1988, at the Transvaal Indian Congress's first conference since its revival in 1983, Saloojee was elected to succeed Essop Jassat as president of the congress.[7]
Post-apartheid career
editIn South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Saloojee was elected to represent the African National Congress in the new National Assembly.[8] During his first term in Parliament from 1994 to 1999, he chaired the Portfolio Committee on Social Welfare.[1] He became one of the longest serving Members of Parliament, serving until his death in 2009.[9]
Personal life and death
editSaloojee was married to Khatija and had two sons.[1] He died on 1 February 2009 at his home in Johannesburg after a long illness.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Cassim Saloojee". South African History Online. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Caryle (20 November 1981). "Lure of City Jobs Puts Great Strain on Apartheid Housing Law". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ Marx, Anthony W. (1991). "Race, Nation, and Class Based Ideologies of Recent Opposition in South Africa". Comparative Politics. 23 (3): 313–327. doi:10.2307/422089. ISSN 0010-4159.
- ^ "6 Critics of Apartheid Seized in South Africa". Los Angeles Times. 19 February 1985. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "South Africa Clears 12 of Treason: Charges Against Most Prominent Foes of Apartheid Dropped". Los Angeles Times. 9 December 1985. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC)". O'Malley Archives. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 – via Yumpu.
- ^ a b "Parliament to pay tribute to deceased members, 5 Feb". South African Government. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2023.