Yusuf Dadoo
Encyclopedia
Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo was a Muslim
Indian
South Africa
n communist
and anti-apartheid
activist. In his life he was chair of both the South African Indian Congress
and the South African Communist Party
, as well as being a major proponent of cooperation between those organisations and the African National Congress
. He was a leader of the Defiance Campaign
and a defendant at the Treason Trial
in 1956. His last days were spent in exile in London
, where he is buried at Highgate Cemetery
a few metres from the grave of Karl Marx
.
, near Johannesburg
. His parents, Mohammed and Fatima Dadoo, were Muslim
immigrants from Western India. As a young child he had the formative experience of being scolded by his mother for climbing a tree in his neighbourhood park, which was reserved for white people only. At age 10, the Krugersdorp Municipality attempted to evict his father from his shop on racial grounds, but he was successfully defended in court by Mohandas Gandhi. In high school, Yusuf attended meetings by former stalwarts of Gandhi, and along with Ismail Cachalia and other schoolmates, raised funds and awareness for the All India National Congress. At age 15, he presided over a protest organised and led by visiting Indian poet Sarojini Naidu
against the proposed Class Areas Bill. Later that year, he was sent to Aligarh College
in India
to complete his schooling, as the Johannesburg Indian Government School did not offer secondary education up to matriculation level.
to study medicine. In London, Yusuf continued to be politically active, and was arrested for participating in a protest against the Simon Commission
. Hearing of his arrest, his parents had him transfer to Edinburgh University, where he completed his studies. In Edinburgh, Yusuf met many fellow students from around the British Empire
, giving him a broader view of colonialism
. Inspired by the 1929 rise of the Labour Party, he began to read Marxist
literature, joined the Independent Labour Party
, and delivered communist speeches at the Edinburgh speakers' corner
. He also befriended fellow student and Indian South African
Monty Naicker
. In 1936 he was awarded his medical degree, LRCPS
, and returned to South Africa resolved to revitalise the struggle against racial discrimination there.
, but found it to be dominated by the interests of wealthier
Indians over the working class
, and by moderate
s reluctant to engage in passive resistance
against the government. In 1938, Yusuf became a founding member and the secretary of the Non-European United Front (NEUF).
In 1939, along with both younger members and veterans of Gandhi's campaigns, he founded a nationalist bloc within the TIC, with the goal of commencing a passive resistance campaign against the recently passed Asiatic Land Tenure Act. This view rapidly gained in popularity, and despite the misgivings of its leadership, the TIC set the date of 1 August 1939 for the commencement of passive resistance. At the time, neither the Natal Indian Congress
(NIC) nor the South African Indian Congress
(SAIC) officially endorsed the campaign, despite popular support among Indians. The campaign was postponed, however, at the personal request of Gandhi, leaving Yusuf to join the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and focus on anti-war activism
with the outbreak of World War II
.
In 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union
prompted the CPSA to drop its opposition to participation in the war, and change to a position of support for what it saw as a "people's war". Inspired by the exploits of the Red Army
in the defence of the Soviet Union
, non-European protest movements in South Africa became more militant. By the end of the war, the African National Congress
was dominated by leaders such as Walter Sisulu
, Oliver Tambo
and Nelson Mandela
, while the TIC and NIC were dominated by Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker, respectively. In 1946 Yusuf and Monty led the Indian Passive Resistance Campaign against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Bill, which continued until 1948 but did not succeed in having any of the legislation it opposed repealed.
In 1947, the two, along with Alfred Bitini Xuma
signed the "three doctors pact" of cooperation between the ANC, TIC and NIC, calling for the right to vote
, freedom of movement
, education
and equal opportunity
for all non-European South Africans.
(NP) was elected into power in the all-white 1948 general election
. The NP immediately began implementing a formal policy of apartheid. In 1949, they also introduced the Suppression of Communism Bill
to ban the Communist Party, causing the CPSA to pre-emptively disband and go underground. In 1950, Yusuf was elected president of the SAIC, which promptly joined with the ANC in organising a defiance campaign against unjust laws
. Yusuf was the deputy chair of the planning council, headed by Walter Sisulu, and the two were mainly responsible for the report around which the campaign was organised.
By 1952, the government responded to the Defiance Campaign by introducing new and more oppressive legislation. Yusuf was banned from attending all gatherings and ordered to resign from the SAIC and the Defiance Campaign planning committee. In 1953, Yusuf and others secretly reconstituted the CPSA as the South African Communist Party (SACP), with Yusuf serving as chairman of the central committee. That same year, Yusuf was further banned from participating in 15 protest organisations. Under these bans, he was unable to openly participate on the Congress Alliance
and the writing of the Freedom Charter
, although he continued to be consulted in secret, his advice being greatly respected. In 1957 he was explicitly banned from speaking to more than one person at a time.
prompted the government to declare a state of national emergency
and issue warrants for the arrest of most known leaders of protest organisations. Yusuf evaded arrest and operated underground for several months, until the SACP, in consultation with the SAIC, decided to smuggle him out of the country to act as an international spokesperson for the struggle. Yusuf disagreed strongly, but was overruled, and finally agreed to go into exile in London.
In 1972, the then-chairman of the SACP, John Beaver Marks, passed away, and Yusuf was unanimously elected in his place. He continued in this role, as chairman in exile, until his death.
on 19 September 1983. Before his death, he attempted to arrange with Joe Slovo to have his body smuggled to South Africa for burial as an act of defiance, but this plan failed. Instead, he was given a Muslim burial
(at his behest) and interred at Highgate Cemetery
alongside fellow Muslim Communist, Iraqi
Saad Saadi Ali, and a few metres away from the grave of Karl Marx
. His dying words were "You must never give up, You must fight to the end."
After the 1994 general election
and the downfall of Apartheid, Dr Dadoo came to be considered a national hero. In Krugersdorp, a primary school and a hospital were named after him.
Centenary celebrations for Dr Dadoo were held in 2009 at the University of Johannesburg
. In Nelson Mandela's message to the celebrations, he called Dadoo "one of the giants of our country's struggle for freedom", and "[one of] the founders of a democratic South Africa".
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
Indian
Indian South Africans
Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'. Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India during late 19th-century through early...
South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and anti-apartheid
Internal resistance to South African apartheid
Internal resistance to the apartheid system in South Africa came from several sectors of society and saw the creation of organisations dedicated variously to peaceful protests, passive resistance and armed insurrection. It came from both black activists like Steve Biko and Desmond Tutu as well as...
activist. In his life he was chair of both the South African Indian Congress
South African Indian Congress
The South African Indian Congress was an organization founded in 1924 in Natal , South Africa. The congress is famous for its strong participation by Mahatma Gandhi and other prominent South African Indian figures during the time. Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri was elected the first president of the...
and the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
, as well as being a major proponent of cooperation between those organisations and the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
. He was a leader of the Defiance Campaign
Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951....
and a defendant at the Treason Trial
Treason Trial
The Treason Trial was a trial in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956....
in 1956. His last days were spent in exile in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he is buried at Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
a few metres from the grave of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
.
Early life
Yusuf was born on 5 September 1909 in Krugersdorp, in the West RandWest Rand
The West Rand is the name of the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of...
, near Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. His parents, Mohammed and Fatima Dadoo, were Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
immigrants from Western India. As a young child he had the formative experience of being scolded by his mother for climbing a tree in his neighbourhood park, which was reserved for white people only. At age 10, the Krugersdorp Municipality attempted to evict his father from his shop on racial grounds, but he was successfully defended in court by Mohandas Gandhi. In high school, Yusuf attended meetings by former stalwarts of Gandhi, and along with Ismail Cachalia and other schoolmates, raised funds and awareness for the All India National Congress. At age 15, he presided over a protest organised and led by visiting Indian poet Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu , also known by the sobriquet The Nightingale of India, was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet...
against the proposed Class Areas Bill. Later that year, he was sent to Aligarh College
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to complete his schooling, as the Johannesburg Indian Government School did not offer secondary education up to matriculation level.
University in London and Edinburgh
With his secondary schooling completed, at age 18, Yusuf returned to Krugersdorp, where his father insisted that he help with running his business, despite Yusuf's desire to study law. After two years of clashes, including Yusuf organising a strike by his father's African workers, and running away from home, Mohammed agreed to send Yusuf to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to study medicine. In London, Yusuf continued to be politically active, and was arrested for participating in a protest against the Simon Commission
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
. Hearing of his arrest, his parents had him transfer to Edinburgh University, where he completed his studies. In Edinburgh, Yusuf met many fellow students from around the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, giving him a broader view of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
. Inspired by the 1929 rise of the Labour Party, he began to read Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
literature, joined the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
, and delivered communist speeches at the Edinburgh speakers' corner
Speakers' Corner
A Speakers' Corner is an area where open-air public speaking, debate and discussion are allowed. The original and most noted is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom. Speakers there may speak on any subject, as long as the police consider their speeches lawful, although...
. He also befriended fellow student and Indian South African
Indian South Africans
Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it 'the largest 'Indian' city outside India'. Most Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India during late 19th-century through early...
Monty Naicker
Monty Naicker
Gagathura Mohambry Naicker was a medical doctor and a South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian Tamil descent.-Early Life:His father was a trader, exporting bananas....
. In 1936 he was awarded his medical degree, LRCPS
United Examining Board
The United Examining Board was formed in 1993 to administer non-university qualifying examinations in medicine and surgery. The diplomas offered by the United Examining Board were registerable with the General Medical Council in order to register as a medical practitioner in the United Kingdom,...
, and returned to South Africa resolved to revitalise the struggle against racial discrimination there.
Return to South Africa and revitalisation of the struggle
Shortly after his return home, Yusuf bought a house and set up a medical practice in Doornfontein, Johannesburg. He soon became involved with the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), an organisation that had been involved with the earlier Gandhian protestsMohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a young man of 24 when he arrived in South Africa in 1893.Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893 to work as a legal representative for the Muslim Indian Traders based in the city of Pretoria....
, but found it to be dominated by the interests of wealthier
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
Indians over the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, and by moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
s reluctant to engage in passive resistance
Nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence. It is largely synonymous with civil resistance...
against the government. In 1938, Yusuf became a founding member and the secretary of the Non-European United Front (NEUF).
In 1939, along with both younger members and veterans of Gandhi's campaigns, he founded a nationalist bloc within the TIC, with the goal of commencing a passive resistance campaign against the recently passed Asiatic Land Tenure Act. This view rapidly gained in popularity, and despite the misgivings of its leadership, the TIC set the date of 1 August 1939 for the commencement of passive resistance. At the time, neither the Natal Indian Congress
Natal Indian Congress
The Natal Indian Congress was an organization that aimed to fight discrimination against Indians in South Africa. The Natal Indian Congress was started by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later known as the Mahatma...
(NIC) nor the South African Indian Congress
South African Indian Congress
The South African Indian Congress was an organization founded in 1924 in Natal , South Africa. The congress is famous for its strong participation by Mahatma Gandhi and other prominent South African Indian figures during the time. Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri was elected the first president of the...
(SAIC) officially endorsed the campaign, despite popular support among Indians. The campaign was postponed, however, at the personal request of Gandhi, leaving Yusuf to join the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and focus on anti-war activism
Opposition to World War II
Opposition to World War II was most vocal during the early part of World War II, and stronger still before the war started. Some communist-led organizations with links to Comintern opposed the war during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact but then backed it after Germany invaded the Soviet...
with the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
prompted the CPSA to drop its opposition to participation in the war, and change to a position of support for what it saw as a "people's war". Inspired by the exploits of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
in the defence of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, non-European protest movements in South Africa became more militant. By the end of the war, the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
was dominated by leaders such as Walter Sisulu
Walter Sisulu
Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress .-Family and Education:...
, Oliver Tambo
Oliver Tambo
Oliver Reginald Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress .-Biography:Oliver Tambo was born in Bizana in eastern Pondoland in what is now Eastern Cape...
and Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, while the TIC and NIC were dominated by Yusuf Dadoo and Monty Naicker, respectively. In 1946 Yusuf and Monty led the Indian Passive Resistance Campaign against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Bill, which continued until 1948 but did not succeed in having any of the legislation it opposed repealed.
In 1947, the two, along with Alfred Bitini Xuma
Alfred Bitini Xuma
Dr Alfred Bitini Xuma, commonly referred to by his initials as Dr AB Xuma was a South African leader and activist and president-general of the African National Congress from 1940 to 1949...
signed the "three doctors pact" of cooperation between the ANC, TIC and NIC, calling for the right to vote
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
, freedom of movement
Freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human right concept that the constitutions of numerous states respect...
, education
Right to education
The right to education is a universal entitlement to education, a right that is recognized as a human right. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights the right to education includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to...
and equal opportunity
Equal opportunity
Equal opportunity, or equality of opportunity, is a controversial political concept; and an important informal decision-making standard without a precise definition involving fair choices within the public sphere...
for all non-European South Africans.
Apartheid and resistance
In 1948, the National PartyNational Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
(NP) was elected into power in the all-white 1948 general election
South African general election, 1948
The parliamentary election in South Africa on 26 May 1948 represented a turning point in the country's history. The United Party, which had led the government since its foundation in 1933 and its leader, incumbent Prime Minister Jan Smuts was ousted by the Reunited National Party , led by Daniel...
. The NP immediately began implementing a formal policy of apartheid. In 1949, they also introduced the Suppression of Communism Bill
Suppression of Communism Act
The Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 was legislation of the national government in South Africa, passed on June 26 of that year , which formally banned the Communist Party of South Africa and proscribed the ideology of communism, defined by the government as any scheme that aimed "at...
to ban the Communist Party, causing the CPSA to pre-emptively disband and go underground. In 1950, Yusuf was elected president of the SAIC, which promptly joined with the ANC in organising a defiance campaign against unjust laws
Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951....
. Yusuf was the deputy chair of the planning council, headed by Walter Sisulu, and the two were mainly responsible for the report around which the campaign was organised.
By 1952, the government responded to the Defiance Campaign by introducing new and more oppressive legislation. Yusuf was banned from attending all gatherings and ordered to resign from the SAIC and the Defiance Campaign planning committee. In 1953, Yusuf and others secretly reconstituted the CPSA as the South African Communist Party (SACP), with Yusuf serving as chairman of the central committee. That same year, Yusuf was further banned from participating in 15 protest organisations. Under these bans, he was unable to openly participate on the Congress Alliance
Congress Alliance
The Congress Alliance was an anti-apartheid coalition formed in South Africa in the 1950s. Led by the ANC, the Congress was a multi-racial alliance committed to a democratic South Africa.- Congress Alliance, multi-racial struggle, and the Freedom Charter :...
and the writing of the Freedom Charter
Freedom Charter
The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies - the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress...
, although he continued to be consulted in secret, his advice being greatly respected. In 1957 he was explicitly banned from speaking to more than one person at a time.
Exile and party chairmanship
In 1960 the Sharpeville MassacreSharpeville massacre
The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal . After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69...
prompted the government to declare a state of national emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
and issue warrants for the arrest of most known leaders of protest organisations. Yusuf evaded arrest and operated underground for several months, until the SACP, in consultation with the SAIC, decided to smuggle him out of the country to act as an international spokesperson for the struggle. Yusuf disagreed strongly, but was overruled, and finally agreed to go into exile in London.
In 1972, the then-chairman of the SACP, John Beaver Marks, passed away, and Yusuf was unanimously elected in his place. He continued in this role, as chairman in exile, until his death.
Death
Yusuf died of prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
on 19 September 1983. Before his death, he attempted to arrange with Joe Slovo to have his body smuggled to South Africa for burial as an act of defiance, but this plan failed. Instead, he was given a Muslim burial
Islamic funeral
Funerals in Islam follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia calls for burial of the body, preceded by a simple ritual involving bathing and shrouding the body, followed by salah...
(at his behest) and interred at Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
alongside fellow Muslim Communist, Iraqi
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
Saad Saadi Ali, and a few metres away from the grave of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. His dying words were "You must never give up, You must fight to the end."
Legacy
Condolences were sent by communist and socialist leaders worldwide, as well as from other anti-apartheid activist leaders. In South Africa, however, a meeting and two pamphlets paying him tribute were immediately banned.After the 1994 general election
South African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
and the downfall of Apartheid, Dr Dadoo came to be considered a national hero. In Krugersdorp, a primary school and a hospital were named after him.
Centenary celebrations for Dr Dadoo were held in 2009 at the University of Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Rand Afrikaans University . Prior to the merger, the Daveyton and Soweto campuses of the former Vista University had been incorporated into RAU...
. In Nelson Mandela's message to the celebrations, he called Dadoo "one of the giants of our country's struggle for freedom", and "[one of] the founders of a democratic South Africa".
External links
- Yusuf Dadoo page at South African History Online
- Photo of Dadoo and Mao Zedong
- Photo of Dadoo and Gandhi
- Photo of Dadoo with Nelson Mandela and James Moroka
- The Life Story of Yusuf Dadoo, national chairman of the South African Communist Party and a tireless fighter for national and social liberation at the SACP.