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The South African Communist Party (SACP) lowers its red flag in tribute to our veteran liberation stalwart, Comrade Shantavothie "Shanthie" Naidoo Tweedie, 91.

The SACP conveys its message of heartfelt condolences to her husband, Comrade Dominic Tweedie, and her entire family, as well as the South African liberation movement and the people of South Africa for the loss.

Comrade Shanthie began fighting for the liberation of our country at a very young age. At school, she took part in organising school boycotts and distributing leaflets while also attending mass political meetings in and around Johannesburg.

As a member of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress and Federation of South African Women, Comrade Shanthie played a crucial role in exposing the apartheid system. After 1953, she worked for the Congress of Democrats, an organisation of progressive Whites allied to the African and Indian Congresses, until it was banned in 1962. She thereafter worked for the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), a predecessor of our ally the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

The regime forced Comrade Shanthie out of her SACTU work in 1963 after she was subjected to restrictions under a five-year banning order. Eight months earlier, the apartheid regime had imprisoned her brother, Indres Naidoo.

When the banning orders proved ineffective in overcoming Comrade Shanthie’s revolutionary spirit, the apartheid regime moved forth to arrest her on 29 February 1965, charging her with contravening those banning orders after she attended the trial of Comrade Bram Fischer, the Chairperson of the SACP at the time.

The apartheid regime was so cruel to Comrade Shanthie to such an extent that, even when she fell ill and had to be hospitalised, the Security Police threatened her on her bedside for not reporting her change of address as required by the banning orders. In December 1968, the apartheid regime served her with orders that were more stringent for another five years.

After being banned again in 1968, Shanthie was detained in 1969 under the Terrorism Act and held at The Fort in the women’s section of the prison. Held in solidarity confinement, as part of the regime’s systematic torture methods, the regime refused the most basic of rights to Comrade Shanthie, including her right to shower or bathe.

Kept in solitary confinement, the regime prevented her family and legal representatives from communicating with her. Her family did not even know where she was held. The regime further utilised sleep deprivation methods on her. The police interrogated her for a whole week without sleep, among the interrogators being those who had earlier shot her brother, Indres Naidoo. Still, Comrade Shanthie remained focused on the liberation cause.

When after six months the apartheid regime attempted to force her to testify against Winnie Mandela and Joyce Sikhakhane, Comrade Shanthie refused to give any evidence against her fellow comrades. Guided by her revolutionary conscience, she preferred to suffer through a further two months’ imprisonment than betray the revolution, which the apartheid court imposed upon her upon her refusal.

Comrade Shanthie spent a total of 371 days in prison, most of it under solitary confinement. The regime intended to drain all her revolutionary energy, but she came out still committed to fight for the end of apartheid. Yet, even after her release, she still faced banning orders. The banning orders meant that she had to report to the police every Monday between 07h00 and 19h00. Further, she was not to attend social gatherings and not speak to any of her friends. She was also banned from publishing her feelings in writing and from communicating to any newspaper.

Following her exile from 1972, she continued to mobilise support for the South African struggle. Among others, she worked at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Morogoro, Tanzania. She helped to organise petitions, marches and all-night vigils outside South Africa House.

Returning to South Africa in April 1991 with her husband, Dominic Tweedie, following the unbanning of South African liberation organisations, including the SACP, Comrade Shanthie continued to contribute to the education of the people in our liberation struggle. Her understanding of our 1994 democratic breakthrough was not that South Africa was free at last, but that the struggle continued.

In paying tribute to Comrade Shanthie, the SACP calls for the advancement of women’s rights as we get closer to the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March on 9 August. The SACP also calls for our progressive movement to unite against neoliberalism as well as the imperialist attacks on our country which manifest themselves through the Trump administration.

Issued by South African Communist Party