Obituary
>From the Special Provincial Official Funeral Programme for the late
Cde Reggie Vandeyar
Reggie Vandeyar, the youngest of eight children, was born on 15 July 1931 in
Newclare, Johannesburg. His father died when he was just eleven months old
leaving his mother to raise the family.
His early life was characterised by abject poverty which left him barefoot,
poorly dressed and constantly hungry. One day, while strolling around town
and hustling for money with his friend, Paul Joseph, they were directed to
the offices of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). They were told
that if they distributed leaflets, they would be given some food. This was
Reggie's first political experience - at the age of twelve - and a turning
point in his early life. It set off a lifetime commitment to the struggle
for freedom and democracy in South Africa.
Reggie joined the young Communist League (YCL) in 1943 and attended the
weekly meetings held by the CPSA on the City Hall steps. He heard speeches
of leading communists such a Joe Slovo, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Ruth First and Moses
Kotane, who greatly influenced his thinking.
Reggie found work at the Ambassador Hotel as a porter. Over the years he was
promoted to floor-waiter, dining-room waiter and senior waiter. At work he
politicized a number of Indian and African workers who had grievances and
got them to join the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) and the black trade
union movement. While working at the Red Lantern in Fordsburg, he met and
fell in love with his wife, Asoo. The couple lived in Fordsburg and their
two children, Sushila and Karuna, were both born at 36A Park Road.
During his free time he attended public meetings at the "Red Square" in
Fordsburg and sold copies of the Clarion and New Age. Reggie was formally
recruited into the Transvaal Indian Congress in 1948 and participated in the
Defiance Campaign of 1952. He was a delegate to the Congress of the People
held on the 25-26 June 1955 in Kliptown, where the Freedom Charter was
adopted.
Following the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960, a state of emergency
was declared and the ANC and other liberation movements were banned. This
forced thousands of Congress Alliance activists to operate clandestinely or
to go into exile. Reggie, a disciplined and trusted comrade, was an early
recruit into the underground of the South African Communist Party (SACP).
His unit was led by Wolfie Kodesh and included Laloo "Isu" Chiba and Paul
Joseph. The unit concentrated on sabotage of telephone lines.
During the latter half of 1961, the SACP's sabotage units were instructed to
disband and to become part of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). The reconstituted unit
was composed of the same individuals, except that Wolfie now reported to the
Johannesburg Regional Command of MK. Reggie took part in the bombing of
three targets on the night of MK's formation on 16 December 1961. As a
result of the bombings, the Special Branch raided Reggie's house and found
potassium permanganate powder and a rusted gas pistol in his toolbox. He was
charged on a count of possession of a firearm and explosive material and
sentenced to fifty pounds on each count.
Upon his release Reggie was asked to form his own MK unit and he recruited
Indres Naidoo and Shirish Nanabhai, both executive members of the Transvaal
Indian Youth Congress. Subsequently Shirish, Indres and Reggie executed and
number of acts of sabotage. On 17 April 1963, the unit had planned to bomb a
signal box at the Riverlea railway station. Just after placing the explosive
and lighting the fuse, the whole area lit up and police surrounded them. The
unit had been betrayed by an informer, Gamat Jardine, who had infiltrated
the unit with the promise of providing explosives and guns.
Reggie and his fellow unit members were brutally tortured, which inflicted
lifelong damage to his back and spine. They were among the first to be
charged under the Sabotage Act. Justice Bekker sentenced Reggie, Shirish and
Indres each to ten years imprisonment which they served in the General
Section of Robben Island with fellow comrades such as Henry "Squire"
Makgothi, Jacob Zuma, Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, James Chirwa and Henry Fazzie.
When Reggie was released in 1973, he was banned and put under house arrest.
In spite of the banning order and house arrest, Reggie continued to play an
active political role and was instrumental in the revival in the mid-1980s
of the TIC and the establishment of the United Democratic Front (UDF). After
the expiry of his second, five year banning order, he was elected as one of
the Vice-Presidents of the TIC.
Reggie's crowning moment of honour came in 2002, when he received from the
former Minister of Defence, the late Joe Modise, and the former Minister of
Intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils, MK's gold, silver and bronze medals for long
and distinguished service in the struggle. In 2014, President Zuma awarded
to him the Order of Mendi (Silver) for his remarkable bravery during the
struggle against apartheid and for striving for a free and democratic South
Africa.
Reggie passed away at the age of 84 on 17 September 2015. He is survived by
his wife, Assoo, and two children, Sushila and Karuna.
Hamba Kahle Comrade Reggie
- revolutionary, MK combatant and working class hero!
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