Reggie September
Reggie September (June 13, 1923[1] - November 22, 2013) was a South African politician, trade-unionist, Member of Parliament and executive committee member of the African National Congress (ANC).
Life
September was born in Cape Town in 1923 to a working-class family. He graduated from Trafalgar High School[1] before gaining employment as apprentice in the shoe industry, and becoming a trade unionist. He joined the National Liberation League, founded by Cissie Gool, before becoming a founder member of the South African Coloured People's Organisation in 1953 (later known as the South African Coloured People's Congress).
In 1960, the South African government detained him for five months without charge, and he was repeatedly harassed and detained after that as the apartheid government cracked down on internal resistance. He fled the country in 1963 and served as the African National Congress' Chief Representative for the United Kingdom and Western Europe until 1978, and as member of the ANC's Revolutionary Council in Lusaka.
He returned to South Africa in 1991 after the unbanning of the ANC, and was elected as a member of parliament in 1994 in South Africa's first democratic elections.
He retired in 2004, and died November 22, 2013 at the age of 90.[2][3][4][5]
References
- ^ a b "Reginald (Reggie) September". South African History Online. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ^ "ANC bids farewell to Reggie September". Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Reginald (Reggie) September (1923– )". The Presidency. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
- ^ Percy Mabandu. "Obit – Reggie September: A great veteran of the struggle". City Press. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
- ^ SAPA. "ANC mourns September's death". IOL.co.za. Retrieved 2013-11-26.