Pieter Beyleveld

In Summary :
An Afrikaner trade unionist prominent in left-wing politics. He was born in 1916 in the Orange Free State and educated in farm schools. He was a founder member and an officer of the Springbok Legion and in 1952 became a national organizer of the Labour Party. When the Congress of Democrats was formed in 1953 he was elected as its first president, and two years later became the first president of the South African Congress of Trade Unions. He was a leading organizer for the Congress of the People in 1955. In 1958 he ran for Parliament in a Cape Coloured constituency but was defeated by a United Party candidate. Police later traced a connection between Beyleveld and the underground Communist Party, and he was jailed in 1964 under the 90-day detention act. He was persuaded to become a state witness, and his testimony led to the conviction of Abram Fischer and 13 others charged with membership in the Communist Party and conspiracy to commit sabotage. He admitted at this trial that he himself had secretly joined the Communist Party in 1956.