South African Communist Party
6 December 2021 The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys heartfelt condolences to the family of one of our highly revered struggle stalwarts, a paragon of human courage and resilience in the struggle for justice and social emancipation, Comrade Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim (84). The SACP also conveys its condolences to the African National Congress, the entire liberation movement as well as the people of South Africa for the loss of a cadre who selflessly and diligently served the nation. As a child, Comrade Ebrahim twice witnessed his father’s arrest and deportation from the Transvaal for crossing the provincial border into Natal without a permit. This would have an impact on him, and from then on, he would become a committed and trusted part of the liberation movement. Comrade Ebrahim’s anti-apartheid activism, particularly since officially joining the movement in 1952, taking part in the Defiance Campaign at only 15 years of age, remains an example and inspiration to the people of South Africa. Before the Defiance Campaign, Comrade Esmail was already distributing leaflets, rallying community members to oppose the racist regime and join the liberation struggle. Committed to the non-racial approach to struggle, he actively participated in the preparations for the Congress of the People through the National Indian Congress, as the chairperson of its Greyville branch elected in 1954. He was a delegate at the Congress of the People which drew up and adopted the Freedom Charter in 1955. Throughout the 1950s he was actively involved in the people’s campaigns. Ultimately, he joined Umkhonto WeSizwe in 1961, a joint SACP and ANC armed wing which served the entire liberation movement. He was arrested in 1963 and charged under the Sabotage Act with eighteen other accused in the Pietermaritzburg Sabotage Trial and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in Robben Island. After receiving banning and restriction orders from the racist regime, he went into exile, operating from the frontline states in the underground. Comrade Ebrahim’s contribution in the underground movement was so impactful that on 15 December 1986, apartheid agents captured, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and kidnaped him from Swaziland. The agents brought him into South Africa, severely tortured, and later charged him with treason. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Comrade Ebrahim’s fight against this injustice culminated in the 1991 internationally celebrated landmark State v Ebrahim court judgment in the Appellate Division – now Supreme Court of Appeal – which struck down the abduction as a violation of rules of international law particularly on extradition. Ebrahim’s unlawful extradition exposed the apartheid regime’s policy of abduction of liberation fighters from across the border, and particularly in Swaziland. It also exposed the Swazi state’s role in cooperation and connivance with the apartheid regime in such abductions and attacks on our liberation movement, for which justice has never been attained. In memory of Comrade Ebrahim, the SACP calls upon the leadership and entire membership of our movement to expedite the renewal of the ANC and the Alliance, organisationally and politically. However, the renewal process must be based on a clear programme, and not a mere moralistic issue. This must involve rejecting neoliberalism and putting people before profits. As part of the renewal, we need to strengthen the building of a progressive women’s movement and the progressive youth alliance, tasks which the SACP has pledged to take forward. ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA 1921–2021: 100 YEARS OF UNBROKEN STRUGGLE PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT SOCIALISM IS THE FUTURE—BUILD IT NOW! Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo SACP Central…
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SACP statement of condolences on the passing away of Comrade Ebrahim