Activist Dawood Seedat (1916-1976) was remembered for the sacrifices he made during the 50th death anniversary memorial lecture in Durban on Saturday.

Seedat was described as a fiery communist party leader from the 1940s. He was also the former secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) Durban District.

Speaking at the Imam Husain Mosque in Ottawa, north of Durban, the keynote speaker, Yunus Carrim, stated that some people did things for the Struggle and were not recognised.

“A country that loses its past does not understand its present and is unable to shape its future effectively. Our country is in danger of this. People are far too unaware of our history and care even less. This applies to the contribution of Dawood and Fatima Seedat, who played a significant role in the Communist Party and ANC.  Far too little is being done to educate people about our history,” he said, who is the SACP politburo member and former minister of Communications.

Carrim said both Seedat and Fatima had remarkable political lives. 

“In the political context, the 1930s were an era of extreme polarisation. People had to make the choices. Dawood Seedat made the right choice to support the Struggle of the poor against the rich.”

Carrim added that the Seedats were involved in shaping the political landscape of that era.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Seedat was the grandson of a Ladysmith trader, M.E. Seedat, who had nine children, one of whom, Ahmed, moved to Durban to educate his sons Dawood, Hoosen, Mohammed, and Moosa.

After qualifying as a bookkeeper, Seedat entered the political Struggle in 1938. In 1943, he was elected secretary of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) – now the SACP.

In 1945, Seedat married Fatima, a revolutionary in her own right, who was imprisoned during the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Both Seedat and Fatima were banned for five years in January 1964, under the Suppression of Communism Act.

“One particular story related by Phyllis Naidoo encapsulates the essence of Dawood Seedat. When he was 14, he attended an anti-pass campaign at Cartwright’s Flats in Albert Street, Durban, on 16 December 1930. Seedat witnessed four people being shot by police, among them Johannes Nkosi,” stated his son, Azad Seedat.

Seedat identified Nkosi’s grave at Stellawood Cemetery and erected a tombstone at the site.

Seedat co-founded the Liberal Study Group (LSG) in 1937, which radicalised Indian professionals. According to his family records, he also published a booklet Don’t Support the War. A Secret Memorandum of the Department of Justice dated January 20, 1964. This pamphlet, coupled with Seedat’s agitation, had a marked deterrent effect on the recruitment of Indians for the war at the time.

In July 1940, in reaction to its anti-war rhetoric, police raided the Seedat home in the Warwick Avenue area.

On February 5, 1941, Seedat addressed a mass meeting at Red Square in Durban, before 2,000 people. According to his family, he made a statement that became synonymous with his name: ‘If freedom will not be given to us, we will have to use force and take our freedom.’ He was charged with contravening the new National Security Regulations of 1941.

Seedat was sentenced to three months with hard labour on July 17, 1941, and also on August 31, 1942, he was imprisoned for a further 40 days.

In 1956, Seedat was among 156 arrested for treason, but the charges were dropped on April 20, 1959. In 1960, he was re-arrested during the state of emergency.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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