Marimuthu Pragalathan Naicker
Marimuthu Pragalathan Naicker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 July 1920 Durban, Natal, South Africa |
| Died | 29 April 1977 (aged 56) |
| Burial place | Golders Green Crematorium, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | journalist, anti-apartheid activist and trade unionist |
| Years active | 1944-1977 |
| Employer(s) | New Age, The Guardian, Flash, Sechaba |
| Organization(s) | Natal Sugar Workers' Union, Anti-Segregation Council, South African Communist Party, South African Indian Congress, African National Congress, International Organization of Journalists |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Monty Naicker (cousin) |
Marimuthu Pragalathan "M. P." Naicker (c. 28 July 1920 – 29 April 1977) was a South African journalist, anti-apartheid activist and trade unionist. He was a member of the South African Communist Party, South African Indian Congress and African National Congress.
Early life
[edit]Naicker was born in 1920 in Durban, South Africa.[1][2] He was born into a working class family of Indian descent, and had to leave primary school to work in a factory.[1] In 1943, he married a woman named Sarogoonam, also known as Saro.[3][4]
Career and activism
[edit]Naicker began working as a lorry driver then was employed as a full time union organiser in Natal, organising among sugar plantation workers.[1] He rose to become secretary of the Natal Sugar Workers' Union.[1] He joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) at age 18, after reading the writings of Karl Marx.[5]
In 1944, Naicker joined the Anti-Segregation Council,[5] which was founded to pursue mass mobilisation against Indian segregation. His cousin Monty Naicker was the founding chairperson.[6] Naicker was involved in the organisation of the 1946 passive resistance campaign with Debi Singh,[3][7] and edited the Passive Resistance Bulletin (Flash).[5] He was imprisoned twice during the campaign for month long terms.[5] His wife Saro also participated in the campaign and was imprisoned for a month with hard labour.[4]
In 1952, Naicker was appointed as Volunteer-in-Chief and as joint secretary, alongside Massabalala Yengwa, of the Joint Action Council in Natal for the Defiance Campaign of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC).[7] He served a month imprisonment with hard labour for having participated in the Campaign.[5] Whilst in prison, he met and befriended Albert Luthuli.[5] Around this time, he worked for the leftist newspaper New Age,[3] based in Johannesburg, alongside other employees such as Joe Nzingo Gqabi.[8] It ceased publication in 1963.
In 1956, he was appointed editor of the anti-apartheid newspaper The Guardian.[9] He is credited with reorganising the papers Durban based bureau and establishing the paper as a key publication in resistance politics in Natal.[10]
He was charged alongside 155 other activists at the 1956 Treason Trials.[7] His charge was withdrawn in 1958, but he was imprisoned again for four months in 1960, for 90 days in 1963 and 180 days in 1964.[1]
Exile
[edit]In 1965, he left South Africa [1] and was active in political work and the anti-apartheid movement in exile. During his exile, he became the Director of Publicity of the African National Congress (ANC) External Mission in London,[7][11] using the pseudonym Mandla Nkosi.[3]
He was also a journalist for the ANC journal Sechaba, serving as the first editor from 1967.[1][3] His wife Saro[4] and daughter Suganya joined Naicker in exile,[12] and Saro also worked for Sechaba.[4]
Naicker became a member of the International Organisation of Journalists (IOJ) committee. In 1971, was awarded their gold pin and in 1976 he was awarded the Julius Fucik medal for outstanding services to journalism.[1]
Naicker also travelled abroad to several African nations, the Soviet Union and Chechoslovakia to represent the ANC.[3]
Death
[edit]Naicker died in 1977 from a suspected heart failure during a flight from England to Germany.[3] He was travelling to deliver ANC publicity material for printing.[1]
He was buried at the Golders Green Crematorium in London.[11] At his funeral there were tributes from from the Acting President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo; the Chairman of the SACP, Yusuf Dadoo; and activist Brian Bunting. The ANC choir sang Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Verwey, E. J. (1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography. HSRC Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-0-7969-1648-8.
- ^ "Indian South Africans timeline 1920-1929". South African History Online. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g Pillay, Thumba (17 June 2015). "Unsung struggle icon". Post South Africa. Retrieved 12 February 2025 – via PressReader.
- ^ a b c d Rajab, Devi (10 October 2018). "Saro Naicker: a life well lived". Post South Africa. Retrieved 12 February 2025 – via PressReader.
- ^ a b c d e f Piillay, Thumba (July 2020). "MP NAICKER: 100 years" (PDF). Mercury – via The Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre (GLDC), University of KwaZulu-Natal.
- ^ Vahed, Goolam (2009). "Monty ... meets Gandhi ... meets Mandela: The Dilemma of non-violent resisters in South Africa, 1940-1960". Historia. 54 (1): 34–50. ISSN 0018-229X.
- ^ a b c d "Naicker, Marimuthu Pragalathan (M.P.)". The O'Malley Archives, Nelson Mandela Foundation. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
- ^ "Joe Nzingo Gqabi". South African History Online. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
- ^ Zug, James (2007). The Guardian: The History of South Africa's Extraordinary Anti-apartheid Newspaper. Michigan State University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-86888-480-3.
- ^ Switzer, Les (1997-02-13). South Africa's Alternative Press: Voices of Protest and Resistance, 1880-1960. Cambridge University Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-521-55351-3.
- ^ a b c "Journalist and anti-apartheid activist M.P. Naicker dies". South African History Online. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
- ^ Pillay, Thumba (August 2020). "'MP' paid the price for freedom" (PDF). Mercury – via The Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre (GLDC), University of KwaZulu-Natal.
- 1920 births
- 1977 deaths
- People from Durban
- South African people of Indian descent
- Indian diaspora in South Africa
- South African anti-apartheid activists
- South African communists
- South African exiles
- South African journalists
- South African Marxist writers
- South African trade union leaders
- Members of the South African Communist Party
- People convicted of treason against South Africa
- Prisoners and detainees of South Africa
- South African emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Refugees in the United Kingdom