Amina Cachalia’s father, EI Asvat, was an activist from Mahatma Gandhi’s time. As chairman of the Transvaal British Indian Association, forerunner of the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), he was active in the protest movement against the Asiatics (Land and Trading) Amendment Act (Transvaal), 37/19, an act that placed severe restrictions on trading rights, ownership and occupation of land. At this time, Indian politics was beginning to diversify. There were many new political formations and within the Congress there was a split between those who wanted to negotiate with the government and those who wanted to defy through passive resistance. Amina Asvat was born in 1930, into this period of political turmoil. She was the ninth of eleven children. Her mother was Fatima Essack and her elder sister Zainab Asvat, was eight years older.

The family had moved from Vereeniging to New Clare where hermother owned property. In New Clare, Amina grew up without any consciousness of colour and race. It was only when the family moved to Fordsburg and she went to an Indian school that she became aware of racial politics. It was here that she came under the influence of Mervy Thandray, a teacher who belonged to the Communist Party and took it upon himself to develop the awareness of his students about conditions in South Africa. Though as an Asvat, there was a predisposition towards political activism, it was not her father’s example that Amina followed. She was one of the younger children and very frail. Her father had spent more time with the older ones, teaching them about Gandhi and passive resistance. He died when she was about twelve and it was Mervy Thandray, later secretary of the TIC, who became Amina’s mentor. When she was fifteen years old, she transferred as a student to the Durban Indian Girls’ High School.

Amina was determined to take part in the Passive Resistance Campaign but she was never accepted, as she was too young and too delicate. She remained in Durban until thecampaign ended late in 1947, but she was never allowed to take part. She returned to Fordsburg and decided not to continue with formal education. Instead she took up shorthand and typing, found a job and became politically active. She joined the Indian Youth Congress and attended classes conducted by members of the TIC to learn about the situation in South Africa and ways to overcome injustice.

The Youth Congress was also involved in tasks such as distributing leaflets and so on. At that time, Amina did not have much contact with African people in general, only with the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) who frequented the TIC offices. When the TIC began offering bursaries to South African Indian students to study in India, Amina became interested and applied. This is when she first met her husband-to-be, Yusuf Cachalia, secretary of the TIC, who was interviewing applicants. When she applied for a passport, she was refused so she did not go to India. She worked for the Peace Council for a while, raising funds and organising meetings. She also became very involved in Congress work and was meeting people like Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph who were working at the Industrial Council. In 1948, she established the Women’s Progressive Union that worked hand-in-hand with the Institute of Race Relations. Her aim was to assist women to become financially independent.

The organisation which was well supported by the Indian community, offered classes in literacy, shorthand and typing, baby care, dress-making and music. It also offered basic training in nursing and a number of women took up nursing as a profession. The Women’s Progressive Union functioned for at least six years.

During the time of the Defiance Campaign, Amina, who had joined the ANC, worked hard, distributing leaflets, making home visits and recruiting volunteers. On 26 August 1952, she marched in the Germiston batch led byIda Mtwana. They were twenty-nine women in all, eleven Indian, one Coloured, Susan Naude, and seventeen African women. The group was arrested and sentenced to fourteen days in Boksburg prison. Amina, the youngest, had a heart condition so the rest of the women took special care of her. During the early fifties, Hilda Bernstein, a dynamic member of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and Ray Alexander Simonsmooted the idea of a women’s federation that would cut across colour and race.

They enlisted the aid of Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi, Josie Mpama (Palmer), Ida Mtwana and Amina and in 1954, the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was launched. Lillian Ngoyi was the first President and Amina, the treasurer. The immediate objective of the organisation was to oppose the proposed pass laws for women. So FEDSAW organised a protest march of women to the Union Buildings in 1955. Ida Mtwana led 2000 women, mainly African, in the demonstration. Then FEDSAW decided on a national march to include women of all races and on the 9th of August 1956, 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings to present their petitions against pass laws. The women’s efforts succeeded in delaying passes for African women for a few years.

At the end of 1956, the police arrested one-hundred-and-sixty-five activists on charges of treason. Charges against sixty-five people were dismissed after a year and thirty were sent to stand trial in Pretoria in 1959. In March 1961 all charges were dropped. During the proceedings in Johannesburg, Amina assisted her sister, Zainab Asvat, in support work for the trialists and those families that had been left destitute by the removal of a breadwinner. After the Treason Trial, and the banning of organisations, political activity went underground and took new forms. Activists were all regarded as threats to the state and in 1963 a number were banned. Amina was banned in November 1963 for a period of five years and Yusuf, her husband, was placed under house arrest. Amina couldn’t attend social and political gatherings, couldn’t leave the magisterial district of Johannesburg, and couldn’t enter any publishing house or educational premises. When Amina’s banning order was about to expire, she was served with another and then another. She remained under banning orders for fifteen years. The bannings, which restricted her movement and ability to associate freely with people, effectively put a stop to her political work.

Her banning ended in 1978 and she immediately became involved in the struggle against the government’s efforts to co-opt the Indian and Coloured communities. The government was trying to win legitimacy for the government appointed Indian National Council, which had become the South African Indian Council (SAIC) and was regarded by the Indian community in general as a body of sell-outs.

The government planned to legitimise this body by allowing Indians to elect their own representatives to it. Progressive Indians, like Amina, were opposed to this new form of apartheid and Anti-SAIC committees were formed to fight the bogus elections. Even though the vast majority of the Indian community boycotted the election, the government regarded the election results as endorsement of their policy and went on to propose the Tri-Cameral system. This led to the resuscitation of the TIC and the formation of the United Democratic Front and Amina became actively involved in campaigning against the new dispensation. When the new ANC government was formed in 1994, Amina was offered an ambassadorship, which she modestly declined. She is now widowed and lives in Johannesburg.

References

• Profile of Amina Cachalia [Online]. Available at: thepresidency.gov.za [accessed 29 October 2009].
• South African NRI women's rights activist honoured - A life worth celebrating. NRIpress [Online] 03 Jan 2004. Available at: nriinternet.com [Accessed 29 October 2009].
• Carlin, J. (unknown). Interview with Amina Cachalia, later joined by Rica Hodgson. Frontline [Online]. Available at: www.pbs.org [Accessed 29 October 2009].

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