Francis Napier Broome was the Judge President Natal and M.P.

The Commission was appointed by the Governor-General, G.B. van Zyl, to report on housing, health, welfare and recreational facilities in Durban, on the respective responsibilities of the Government, the Provincial Administration and the local authority and to make recommendations.

Champion, A.W. George - Mahlathi (African politician and entrepreneur) 1893-1975

Alison Weasels George Champion, born in Natal in 1893, was named after an American missionary who had adopted his father. After an abbreviated schooling at Amanzimtoti Zulu Training College - later Adams College he became a policeman in Johannesburg, Natal and Zululand until World War1 then a mine clerk and first President of the Transvaal Native Mine Clerks Association; by the early 1920's he was becoming increasingly prominent as an African spokesman, particularly by means of the forum provided by the Johannesburg Joint Council.

In 1925 Champion met Kadalie and shortly thereafter joined the ICU, first as its Transvaal, and subsequently, Natal Secretary. Under Champion, the Natal branch soon became the strongest. However, a personality clash - amongst other reasons - with Kadalie, led to a split within the ICU, Champion forming the ICU Yale, Natal. In 1930, having been accused of fomenting unrest at the time. of the Durban Boer Protests of 1929, Champion was banished from Durban until pardoned in 1933.

Champion meanwhile, had become active in the African National Congress, siding with the more progressive faction within the Congress in the late 1920's and serving as Minister of Labour under J.T. Gumede. A right-wing backlash against Gumede's policies brought Pixley Seme to the fore and simultaneously cost Champion his position in the inner councils of Congress. In 1937 Champion returned to the executive of Congress, where he remained for the next 14 years.

The Natal Congress under Dube's leadership since its inception, had become increasingly stagnant and insular; when Dube resigned in 1944, a power struggle developed between Mtimkulu, his designated successor, and Champion. A Congress Youth League had been formed in Natal in the course of 1944 and, seeing in Champion a character capable of bringing the aberrant Natal Congress back into the main stream of Congress politics, the younger members of Congress backed Champion.

He served as President from 1945-1951. Relations with Xuma deteriorated in this period; aware of Champion's power to command popular support, Xuma had been prepared to make compromises and concessions to avoid any antagonism developing between them. However, as Congress gradually began to move in a more progressive direction, swayed by the Youth League and the broad left, concessions to Champion became Increasingly difficult as his rear-guard actions intensified. Convinced that the Youth League was 'driving the train against the red light' he warned that precipitate action would be fatal for Congress. In 1451 he was succeeded as Natal president by a less controversial figure, Albert Luthuli.

Champion had been involved in other forms of political activity in this period. In 1942 he had been elected to the Natives Representative Council, and was re-elected in 1945 and 1948 - eventually becoming one of the last people to remains a member of the discredited council. In addition, Champion chaired the Durban Combined Advisory boards for many years, a portfolio that complemented his essentially reactionary beliefs.

One dimension to his popularity lay in his appeal to Zulu ethnicity. Indeed, he devoted much time to establishing a National Fund in the name of the Zulu nation, aimed at promoting economic development by stimulating entrepreneurship with loans. The sums collected were small however, and after his death were incorporated into the Luthuli Memorial Fund. Of more lasting impact was a scheme he claimed to have instigated - the Bantu Investment Corporation, established in 1959 to promote African enterprise in the reserves.

Champion died in 1975.

Brigadier the Hon. Ernest Thomas Stubbs, C.B.E., was born 1878 in the Queenstown district into a family of pioneers and early English settlers. He fought in the Anglo-Boer War, later served for the Department of Native Affairs in the Northern Transvaal from 1902-1913. He was an Assistant Magistrate ad Native Commissioner at Louis Trichardt in 1907. By 1913 he was Senior Magistrate, and in 1924 Magistrate and Native Commissioner in the Rustenburg district. During the First World War he was involved in the suppression of the rebellion in the Northern Transvaal in 1914. He was Senator representing the Dominion Party but later resigned from the Dominion Party in 1948 because of its anti-Native policies. During the Second World War he served as Director in the Non-European Army Services, and received the Grant of Dignity as a Commander of the Most Escellent Order of the British Empire. He died in January 1959.

F.C. Synge - Theologian, Warden of St. Paul's Theological College, Grahamstown.

Reverend Douglas Torr was born and educated in Johannesburg. He holds a B.A. Honours degree in Church History from Rhodes University, an M.A. from the University of Natal, and is currently working on a doctorate with Unisa. Reverend Torr was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Diocese in Johannesburg in 1990.

He has served the diocese in the following capacities:

Chaplain to St. Joseph's Children's Home

Rector of St. Luke's Bosmont church

Priest in charge of St. Margaret's Noordgesig church

Priest in charge of St. Mary's Cathedral

Rector of St. Mary's, Jeppe

Priest in charge of St. John the Divine in Belgravia

During his terms as a priest for the last 10 years he was also employed part-time as coordinator of Diocesan Social Responsibility. Reverend Torr's other involvements include: "BIG"- Basic Income Grant, Independent Electoral Commission and South African Council of Churches.

Having being a conscientious objector, and having being prosecuted for this stand, he remains committed to working with a wide variety of peace and justice issues.

Joost de Blank was the Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa from 1957 to 1963 and was known as the "scourge of apartheid" for his ardent opposition to the whites-only policies of the South African government.

On the 9th July 1875, two young missionaries, Ernest Creux and Paul Berthoud founded the Swiss Mission station of Valdezia in the Northern Transvaal. It was on many occasions a hard hit and tested society. The field of action was in the unhealthy Lowveld, on the Transvaal side as well as beyond the Portuguese East African border, into Mozambique. The mission has constantly developed, not only geographically, but in the nature of its work and variety of its undertakings

Its hospitals were famous for the efficiency of their work and the practical help which they rendered to patients. There are hospitals and clinics, three of the hospitals having training schools for nurses. Female missionaries were of great importance in teaching and social work. Its schools and Normal College have done outstanding work. From the scientific standpoint, writers such as H.A. Junod, H.P. Junod, A.A. Jacques and others have contributed much to Bantu studies in all its branches, especially in linguistics and social anthropology. The church has helped to foster good race relations

There is a feeling of affinity and friendship between the Reformed Church of Switzerland, including the Mission Suisse Romande and a large section of South Africans of the same religious faith. There is a strong desire for union between the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa Presbyterian/Congregational and the Tsonga Presbyterian Church (Swiss Mission in South Africa). Among the tribes of Portuguese East Africa as well in the Northern Transvaal, in Pretoria and Johannesburg, thousands of African people have been built into the fabric of a church whose standards are unusually high. Its relations with other missionary societies have been most cordial and brotherly.

The principal task of the mission was evangelisation, but another very important function was education. Schools were opened at Shiluvane, Lemana Training Institution, near Elim, and Rikatla Bible School for the Mozambicans. Some schools had an industrial and agricultural syllabus

Church organization, Shangaan literature, the Blue Croat (temperance movement), scout and guide troops, teaching patrols who were went out from the stations Into the bush, are all part of the work of the Swiss Mission.

The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was formed at the "First National Conference of Women" as the inaugural conference was called, held in the Trades Hall, Johannesburg on 17 April 1954. This meeting was the culmination of months of planning, having been first suggested at a conference held in Port Elizabeth in April 1953, which was an informal meeting of women, trade unionists and African National Congress members to which Ray Alexander had been invited. She, from her home in Cape Town, assisted by Hilda Watts in Johannesburg, organised the inaugural conference. Both women had been members of the Communist Party of South Africa before its banning in 1950 and had widespread contacts amongst women of various organisations.

There were close on 150 delegates representing 230,500 women at the inaugural conference and they came from all over South Africa and from a wide cross-section of women of all colours, although mainly Black. They were drawn mostly from the Congress Alliance, made up of the African National Congress, South African Indian Congress, South African Congress of Democrats, South African Coloured Peoples Organisation and trade unions which left the Trade Union Congress of South Africa and formed the South African Congress of Trade Unions in 1955. The conference adopted a Women's Charter which included these words "We women have stood and will stand shoulder to shoulder with our menfolk in a common struggle against poverty, race and class discrimination". A draft constitution was drawn up stating the aims and objects of the Federation as being "To bring the women of South Africa together, to secure full equality of opportunity for all women, regardless of race, colour or creed; to remove social and legal and economic disabilities; to work for the protection of the women and children of our land". There was some debate as to whether the Federation should provide for individual membership but this point was settled in 1956 when the National Conference voted in favour of the Federation consisting only of affiliated organisations and no individual members.

By 1957 the following organisations had affiliated: African National Congress Women's League, South African Congress of Democrats, South African Coloured Peoples Organisation, Cape Housewives League, League of Non-European Women (Cape), Transvaal Indian Congress for Women and the Food and Canning Workers' Union. The Federation grew into a massive organisation which played its part in the national struggle for liberation and was involved in the convening of the Congress of the People by the Congress Alliance at Kliptown on June 25-26, 1955, at which the Freedom Charter was adopted. FEDSAW led the great protest against the extension of passes to African women in the 1950s, the most important event in this campaign being the mass gathering at Pretoria on 9 August 1956, thereafter observed as "Women's Day" during which 20,000 women stood in silence for 30 minutes after presenting their petition. It was on this occasion that they sang "Strijdom, you have tampered with the women/ you have struck a rock/ you have unleashed a boulder/ you will be crushed", later to be adopted as an anthem. This was followed by several demonstrations in 1957 and 1958. Other campaigns protested against Bantu education, beerhalls, Group Areas, discrimination in the nursing profession, rent increases and basic community problems. They supported the boycott of the Union Festival in 1960 and the stay away from the Republic celebrations in 1961. In 1962 they tried to draw up a Bill of Women's Rights.

From the very beginning the Federation suffered from the fact that, although as an organisation it was never banned, the leaders - Ray Alexander, Hilda Bernstein, Lilian Ngoyi, Frances Baard, Helen Joseph, Dorothy Nyembe, Amina Cachalia and Albertina Sisulu were and so were its affiliates, the African National Congress Women's League and the women's branch of the South African Congress of Democrats. The Federation was weakened by the Treason Trial of 1956-1961 and some members were detained during the state of emergency which followed Sharpeville in 1960. For a few years they struggled on under difficult circumstances but the last conference of any size took place in August 1962. Thereafter it went into rapid decline as more and more women were either banned, house-arrested or left the country. By the mid-1960s it had ceased to exist as a viable, mass-based organisation. It was never dissolved and, from time to time, the members attended historical funerals wearing their black and green uniforms.

In the early 1980s there was an attempt to revive the Federation. A 30th birthday celebration meeting was held in Mamelodi on 9 August 1984. On the 2 August 1986 a national assembly of women was held, followed a week later by a prayer service to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the march to Pretoria to protest against passes for women. Grassroots organisations were formed, including the Federation of South African Transvaal Women (FEDTRAW) in the Transvaal in December 1984, and others were formed in the Eastern and Western Cape, Natal and the Orange Free State.

In the Transvaal an interim committee was formed, an open day held on 1 June 1987 which included speakers from the old executive of FEDSAW and newsletters were published. In the Western Cape there was a regional launch in August 1987. Women demanded an end to conscription, a free equal educational system for all and the total abolition of apartheid. Further repression followed during the state of emergency and it was not until 1990 that women were free to demonstrate openly. In the intervening 30 years times had changed and many women had other loyalties than to FEDSAW. There had been a division in the ranks as not all women could subscribe to a total redistribution of wealth as demanded by some organisations. Many women preferred to join organisations like the African National Congress Women's League. As a national organisation FEDSAW has not been resurrected.

Inspector in the Dept. of Bantu Education Field Officer in the SAIRR.

The black-white joint councils appeared under a variety of names - Europeans and Africans/Non-Europeans/Bantu/Natives, according to the accepted nomenclature of the time. There were, in addition, Coloured-European and Indo-European joint councils. In only two instances did a joint council include Africans, Europeans and Coloureds (Bloemfontein and Umtata) and in only one case (Johannesburg) was there a separate council for European and African Women.

The joint councils owed their inspiration to two Americans, Dr. James Aggrey, who was black, and the Rev. Thomas Jesse Jones who was white. They came to South Africa in 1921 as members of' a commission sent by the Phelps-Stokes Foundation to enquire into education for Africans. They were deeply distressed by the signs of racial tension and advocated the introduction of inter-racial councils which had proved successful in the American south. They persuaded black leaders and white liberals, in particular C.T. Loram {Chief Inspector of Education in [Natal) and J.D. Rheinallt Jones (Secretary for the Witwatersrand Council of Education) to form racially mixed councils, adapting, where available, the native welfare societies, composed solely of whites.

The first joint council was established in Johannesburg in 1921. Soon joint councils sprang up in other towns throughout South Africa and also in Southern Rhodesia and the need became obvious for a national organisation. This resulted in the formation of the South African Institute of Race Relations in 1929 but joint councils continued to exist. There was a close relationship between the Institute and the joint councils. The Institute's secretariat helped to send out circulars and Institute staff such eel J.D. Rheinallt Jones, Ngakane and A.L. Saffery travelled the country encouraging the formation of new councils and trying to resurrect defunct ones. Despite efforts to link joint councils by newsletters, conferences and the Consultative Committee, essentially each council operated on its own and stood or fell according to the enthusiasm of its members.

The people who participated in joint councils were mostly from the professions. There were clergy of all denominations, including the Dutch Reformed Church, and without their help the councils could not have survived. From the universities there were people like E. Brookes, M. Hodgson (later Mrs Ballinger), L.A. Hoernlee, D.D.T. Jabavu and W.M. Macmillan. There were lawyers like D. Molteno, O.D. Schreiner and W.H. Ramsbottom, journalists like R.T. Mackenzie, R.F. Selope Thema and H. Selby Msimang, civil servants like C.T. Loram and Major J.F. Herbst, municipal officials like G. Ballenden, head of the Native Affairs Department of Johannesburg City Council and businessmen like J.H. Pim and M. Webb.

The aims of joint councils were:

1. To promote the well-being of the Union and good relations between the European and Non-European peoples through discussion and practical co-operation.

2. To investigate and deal with any matter affecting the relations of the races.

3. To initiate or support measures for the amelioration of social and economic conditions, particularly within the Council's own areas.

4. To make representation on specific matters to Governmental and other authorities.

5. To publish the results of discussions and investigations on racial matters.

6. To enlighten the public and create a sound public opinion on racial questions.".

Fundamental to all these objectives was the fact that a joint council involved the races working together. While not achieving all their aims they were instrumental in having improvements made in the living conditions of Non-Europeans, particularly in having clinics, creches and schools built. They took a strong line on questions of broad policy issues such as the Colour Bar legislation and organised campaigns to make the people's feelings known to government.

The joint councils had varying fortunes from those which had only a brief existence to others which functioned far many years such as Johannesburg (1921-1955), Grahamstown (1921-1973), Port Elizabeth (1924-1952), Pietermaritzburg, (1927-1960) and Pretoria (1934-1963). Lack of visible achievements led blacks to withdraw from the joint councils and join political organisations. Nevertheless, the joint council movement was an interesting experiment in race relations, in learning to work together within the existing system to bring about changes.