Helen Joseph, tireless campaigner against apartheid, was born in Sussex, England on the 8th of April 1905. Before coming to South Africa in 1931, she taught in India. In 1932 she married Dr. M.W. Joseph. Between 1942 and 1946 Joseph was a full time Welfare and Information Officer in the South African Air Force, a move which was to alter her life irreversibly.

Joseph divorced in 1949. From 1951 to 1966 she became Secretary of the Transvaal Clothing Industry Medical Aid Society. It was here that she met Solly Sachs, from whom she learnt much of her politics. In 1953 Helen Joseph became a founding member and member of the National Executive Committee of the South African Congress of Democrats. She became the Transvaal Secretary and a National Executive member of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) in 1954. Joseph was a speaker at the Congress of the People and in 1956 she was one of the leaders of the mass protest of 20,000 women at the Union Buildings. In December of the same year she was charged with treason. She was banned in 1957 and in 1962 she was the first person to be placed under house arrest (1962-1971).

Other organisations in which Helen Joseph was involved were: the Human Rights Welfare Committee, which aided banished people; the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), of which she was Honorary National Vice-President (elected in 1971); the Anglican Students Federation, of which she was an Honorary life President and the United Democratic Front, of which she was an Honorary Patron (elected in 1983).

Helen Joseph died on December 25th, 1992 at the age of 87.

Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was born in Cape Town on 20 March 1894, the younger son of Andries Brink Hofmeyr (1851-1897) and his second wife Deborah Catherina Boyers. His father was business manager of the newspaper Ons Land, Secretary of the Afrikaner Bond and a cousin of J.H. 'Onze Jan' Hofmeyr. His mother, a member of an old Stellenbosch family, was a strong imperious character, who had an important influence on her younger son.

Hofmeyr was a brilliant student, with an intellect bordering on genius. He matriculated, aged twelve, at the South African College School in 1906, first in the school and third in the Cape Colony. In 1909 he obtained a B.A. with first-class honours at the South African College, winning the university gold medal for literature and a Rhodes scholarship. Before going to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1913, he took a Science B.A. and a first-class Classics M.A. His career was equally brilliant at Oxford where he gained a double first in classical honour moderations in 1914 and literae humaniores in 1916. In this year he returned to South Africa, lecturing in classics at the South African College and, in December, being appointed Professor of Classics at the South African School of Mines and Technology, Johannesburg, later the University of the Witwatersrand. This was the start of an illustrious career at 'Wits' where he became principal in 1919, vice-chancellor (then an honorary post) in 1926 and chancellor in 1938.

Hofmeyr left the academic world in 1924 to become Administrator of the Transvaal, thus marking the beginning of his political career. He was a successful administrator, attracting the notice of men such as J.B.M. Hertzog and J.C. Smuts. In 1929 he won a by-election at Johannesburg North and helped to play a considerable part in welding the National and South African. Parties into the United Party. He became Minister of Education, the Interior and Public Health in 1933. His liberal attitude towards Blacks, Coloureds and Indians embarrassed the United Party, despite which he remained in the cabinet, changing his portfolio to Labour and Mines in 1936, until 1938 when he resigned over the appointment of A.P.J. Fourie to the senate as a member specially qualified to speak for the Blacks. He resigned from the United Party caucus in 1939 over the Asiatics (Transvaal Land and Trading) Bill but remained in parliament as an independent United Party supporter.

The outbreak of war led to his returning to the cabinet as Minister of Finance and Education and during the war years he worked unstintingly for the war effort, shouldering much of the burden when Smuts was overseas and he was acting prime minister. It was felt by many that his liberalism cost the United Party the election in 1948, although Hofmeyr himself retained his seat.

Many honours were bestowed on him. In 1945 he was awarded a D.C.L. by Oxford University and was sworn in as a privy councillor; in 1946 he was made an honorary fellow of Balliol and an honorary bencher of Gray's Inn. He was a brilliant administrator, an indefatigable worker and a liberal thinker but essentially a simple man who enjoyed boys' camps and cricket. His early death (on 3 December 1948) was a tragedy for South Africa.

Bibliography

Dictionary of South African Biography, Vol. II, p.309

A. Paton. South African tragedy: the life and times of Jan Hofmeyr (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965)

Klenerman, Fanny, 1916-1983, interviews, audio cassettes

In April 1919 the Helping Hand Club for Native Girls was established by a small group of women presided over by Mrs. Clara Bridgman. They purchased a small house in Fairview where there were no restrictions on African residents.

The Club intended to provide domestic Servants working in the District with accommodation as well as instruction and recreation for others. It also attempted to find suitable work for women who resided at the hostel.

In 1930 the Helping Hand committee decided to provide training in domestic service, and atraining school was built. Lessons in cooking, dressmaking, laundry and general housework were given as well as courses in English, reading, arithmatic, first aid and home nursing. After 1940 however, the hostel side of the Club developed increasingly, while the training aspect decreased.

In 1974 the Helping Hand Club changed its constitution. Accordingly, the Helping Hand trust was formed whereby 50% of the Club's funds were to be used for black educational purposes, while the remaining 50% would take the form of donations to other black welfare organisations.

In 1990, R 84 000 was donated to the Department of Bursaries and Scholarships at the Universty of Witwatersrand for black women. The Residue of the Helping Hand Trust Funds, R10, 000 was donated to the Family Planning Association of South Africa.

At the meeting on 20th February 1990 the Helping Hand Trust was finally terminated.

Yvonne Silbert was born in Krugersdorp In 1926. Before she was twenty she wrote a musical play called 'Take It or Leave It!' The play was produced in Johannesburg by Norah Taylor in August 1948.

Yvonne Silbert travelled around the reef teaching Speech and Drama, and acted in amateur theatre productions in South Africa. A play she wrote about Crippen was presented on Springbok Radio.

In 1950 Yvonne Silbert married Rupert Abrahams, an attorney. Two weeks later she contracted poliomyelitis and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She regained the use of one hand but composed no more songs as she could no longer play the piano.

She continued to write plays and short stories. Most of her time was taken up with teaching speech and drama, and she produced a number of Shakespearean plays at Afrikaans high schools.

She died in 1975

Helen Suzman was born Helen Gavronsky on the 7 November 1917, in Germiston, Transvaal Province. She studied Economy and Statistics at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1937 she married Dr. Moses Suzman and they had two daughters. Between 1941 and 1944, Suzman worked as a statistician for the War Supplies Board. In 1944 she returned to the University of the Witwatersrand as a lecturer in Economic History, where she remained until 1952. During that time she joined the South African Institute of Race Relations

Suzman gave up teaching for politics when she was elected to parliament in 1953 as a member of the United Party. Six years later, when the Progressive Party (PP) was founded, she represented the Houghton constituency as that party's sole member of Parliament from 1961-1974, winning international fame for her courage and ability. She remained in Parliament with its successors, the Progressive Reform Party and then the Progressive Federal Party (PFP).

During her time in Parliament she defended the right to freedom of expression for all South Africans. As an English speaking Jewish woman in a Parliament dominated by conservative Afrikaner men she was even more of an outsider and often treated with disrespect. As a member of Parliament she was able to visit prisons, amongst them Robben Island, and inspected the living conditions of prisoners. She also visited Nelson Mandela numerous times in prison. In 1989 she retired from Parliament while remaining actively involved in South African politics. She spent a total of 36 years in Parliament.

Outside Parliament she became 'ombudsman' to the oppressed and unrepresented, and though sharply reviled by the nationalist government, she nevertheless achieved success in promoting human rights. Suzman won important changes for example in prison conditions. She campaigned against the reintroduction of the death penalty and also defended the right of women to choose on the issue of abortion.

Internationally, she has been awarded over 28 honorary degrees and nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1993 she published her autobiography "In no uncertain terms: A South African memoir". In 1996 she was awarded the Politeken and Dangens Nyheters Freedom Prize, jointly with Nelson and Winnie Mandela.

Helen Suzman died on the 1 January 2009, aged 91.

Enuga S. Reddy was the Former Assistant General of the United Nations and Head of its Centre against Apartheid.

T.C. Robertson was born in 1907 in Middelburg, Transvaal, where he grew up and matriculated at the Middelburg High School in 1923. He then completed two years of a law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand before entering the profession of journalism. In 1926 he was the Johannesburg correspondent of "Ons Vaderland" and the following year became editor of the "Livingstone Mail" in Northern Rhodesia and a correspondent of the "London Times". He then travelled to the Far East, working, in Ceylon and Australia. On his return in 1931 he was parliamentary correspondent of the "Cape Times" and in 1934 on the editorial staff of the "Rand Daily Mail" and "Sunday Times". He covered the 6th Imperial Press Conference in 1935 and was the author of a book on it. In 1937 he edited "Forward", a labour party newspaper.

In 1938 Robertson stood unsuccessfully as labour candidate for Fordsburg and in 1939 became parliamentary correspondent for "Rand Daily Mail" and "Sunday Times" visiting East Africa as a war correspondent. During, the war years he was director of the Union Unity Truth Service, a propaganda machine for General Smuts, supporting the war effort and editor of its journal ''Libertas". He was given occasional assignments in North Africa and reported the whole of the Madagascar Campaign. There is a small amount of material in this collection on the Union Unity Truth Service but the bulk of it is in a separate collection, A883.

In 1945 he returned to his original love, nature, and sat at the feet of Dr. Hugh Bennett, the father of soil conservation, who arranged a two year course for him in the USA. On his return General Smuts persuaded him to stand as a United Party candidate for Witbank but was unsucessful. In 1948 he became Director of the National Veld Trust and remained in this position until his retirement in 1966. He served on several committees connected with conservation and was the author of books and articles: Grond is Lewe (soil is life), 1968; Water, 1970; Big Game, 1970; South African Mosaic, 1978. This last was his major work, incorporating some extremely good illustrations. He was a speaker at many conferences and spearheaded the publicity campaign to make people aware of the environment and dangers facing it. He was truly the pioneer of South African Conservation, having a great influence on conservationists like Ian Player and James Clarke.

He received several honours, a doctorate from the University of theWitwatersand in 1979; the Decoration for Meritorious Service in 1983, was nominated for the Tyler Award and given the gold medal by the National Veldtrust in 1978.

T.C. Robertson spent his retirement years in Scottburgh, actively pursuing his conservation aims despite increasingly poor health due to diabetes. He was a man of great humanity and lover of life. He died on 11 January 1989 in Durban.

Leibl Feldman 1896-1975

He was born on 8 June 1896 in Skopiskis, northern Lithuania. He was the second son of Joseph and Minnie Feldman. He came to South Africa in 1910 at the age of 14. His education took place at the Jewish Government School, Johannesburg. Leibl went into partnership, in a small shop trading under the name of Feldman & Stein. After a year Stein sold out to Leibl. The firm then became L. Feldman and survived under this name for 40 years.

Trade did not occupy all his interest and energy. He was a man of wide interests and a strong social conscience. After the World War I he became involved with the Jewish War Victims Relief Fund. In November 1918 he was instrumental in founding a branch of the Socialist-Zionist Poalei Zion Party in Johannesburg. In the late 1920s he became involved in the Organisation for Rehabilitation and Training (ORT). The aim of the body was to reconstruct the nature of Jewish life all over the world. In 1929 he joined the Jewish Workers Club which was anti- Zionist. In 1932 he married Shura Miller. They had one son and two daughters.

When World War II broke out he became involved in the South African Jewish war appeal. In 1946 he volunteered to join the South African Jewish Board of Deputies which visited the Displaced Persons camp in (?).

V.R. Sargent was born in the Cape in 1909. However, the family returned to England shortly after he was born because of ill health suffered by Mrs. Sargent. After the end of the fist World War, V. R. Sargent had a long connection with the army in the U.K. and ended up in the officers training corp. He passed his exams, which entitled him to be commissioned in any British army unit. In 1928 he returned to South Africa. In 1930 he went to Rhodesia to the mining districts of Ndola and broken Hill. During the Second World War he was seconded from the South African Airforce to the position of Empire Training command in the Royal Airforce.

He spent most of his working life on the mines in South Africa. He retired as a shift boss. In latter years he was employed at the S.A.R.C. as a painter, where he met a lot of personalities. He was a great family man.