Tribute to Billy Nair

ANC veteran and stalwart Billy Nair passed away this morning in Durban, after being admitted to hospital last Thursday in a critical condition. SAHO and History Matters salutes Billy Nair for his years of service and dedication to democracy in South Africa. Please feel free to use this space to write tributes or condolence messages to friends of Billy Nair and his family.

Billy Nair’s official biography, obtained from the ANC’s website:

Billy Nair was born in Durban on 27 November 1929, one of the five children of Pravathy and Kisten Nair, an engineer’s assistant in a cargo vessel which transported sugar.

He attended school in Durban and matriculated at Technician College, Durban in 1949, having studied part-time whilst employed as a shop assistant from 1946-48 and as a bookkeeper for a firm of accountants. Nair worked for six months for a diary, but was fired in 1950 as a result of his trade union activities. In 1951 he became full time secretary of the Dairy Worker’s Union.

Nair’s political awareness was fired by critical debates in his college students union and by the impact of the passive resistance campaign held from 1946-48 against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representative Act. He attended all the mass rallies held by the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in Durban and watched groups of passive resisters march along West Street into Gale Street where they squatted in the open veld.

In 1949 Nair joined the Natal Indian Youth Congress and became its secretary in 1950. He also joined the NIC, serving as a member of its executive in the 1952 Defiance Campaign called by the Congress Movement. He was part of the first group of resisters-led by Dr Naicker- who occupied the �Europeans only’ waiting room at the Berea Station. Nair and 21 others were arrested, and he was found guilty and sentenced to a month’s imprisonment.

As the secretary of the Dairy Worker’s Union, Nair was active in the trade union movement in 1951, but his involvement increased substantially after the banning of three leading trade unionists in Natal who had served as secretaries of 16 trade unions. Nair addressed the 3000 strong Congress of the people in Kliptown where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955. Nair was a member of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was formed in March 1955 with 19 affiliates representing 20 000 workers. Nair served on its first executive committee was also secretary of its Natal regional committee.

In 1956 was one the 156 Congress activists accused of treason and he spent most of his time in Johannesburg and Pretoria during the lengthy trial. In 1956, Nair was one of the 91 accused against whom the initial indictment was quashed. Bail restrictions had prevented him from participating overtly in trade union work, but practically all SACTU members defied these conditions.

During the 1960 state of emergency, Nair went underground for two months before being arrested and detained for three months at Durban Central Prison until the end of the emergency. He was issued with a two year banning order which reissued in 1961 for a further five years.

Nair was active in Umkhonto we Sizwe(Spear of the Nation) from its inception on 16 December 1961 until his arrest in 1963. As one of its Natal Comanders, he participated in a raid on a dynamite magazine in Mariannhill, Pinetown, later using stolen explosives in various acts of sabotage fro 1962 onwards. These included attacks on government installations such as railways, electric pylons and institutions linked to the apartheid structures such as the offices of the Indian Affairs Department, the Coloured Affairs Department and the Bantu Administration. The offices of the Nataler newspaper were also sabotaged, as were those of AS Kajee who, lead the Indian Council, an ad hoc advisory committee established by government.

Nair was detained on 6 July 1963, and after spending 100 days in detention , charged with sabotage together with 18 others. He received a 20 year sentence which he served on Robben Island.

Whilst in prison, Nair completed the B.A. and B.COM and most of the B.PROC degrees through the university of South Africa. Upon his release on 27 February 1984 he confirmed his commitment to the struggle until South Africa was Free for all its people. He became active in the United Democratic Front (UDF) and participated in the anti-election campaign of 1984. He was detained in August, just before the elections for the House of Representative and the House of Delegates and was held in Pietermartizburg under section 29 of the internal Security Act. On his release Nair went into hiding because, although previous detention orders had ben issued by the Minister of Law and Order. He and five other Archie Gumede, Mewa Ramgobin, Paul David, George Sewpershad and MJ Naidoo – occupied the British Consulate until 12 December. All those at the consulate except Nair was charged with high treason.

At the beginning of August 1985 Nair was detained in terms of Section 28 of the Internal Security Act at the Brighton Beach Police station. This followed the presentation of a memorandum to foreign embassies drawing their attention to alleged atrocities committed by the state and calling countries to take action against the South African government. During his time in detention Nair was assaulted, but refused to make a statement. His wife brought a supreme court application restraining the police from assaulting him which resulted in two policemen being charged, found guilty and sentenced to fines, Nair was released on 9 October 1985.

On 10 June 1986, just before the second state of emergency, Nair went into hiding and remained underground until the unbanning of the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) in February 1990. During this period he met representives from the churches and the Congress of South African Trade Unions to initiate a campaign for national unity and to campaign for a Christmas against the emergency. In addition, he held discussions with representatives from big business regarding the effects of the state of emergency and their attitude to apartheid and the general situation in South Africa.

Following the unbanning of the ANC, Nair’s membership of the SACP become public and he plans to play a major role in the restructuring in South Africa. Nair was a member of the Natal regional executive committee of the United Democratic Front and also served on its national executive committee. He was vice-chairperson of the Durban Central Resident’s Association formed in 1984 to resist the removal of people from the Warick Avenue triangle and resist rent increases in and around Durban.

Nair was detained in Durban on 23 July 1990 under Section 29 of the Internal Security Act, following police allegations of an ANC/SACP/UMKHONTO we SIZWE plot to seize power in the event of negotiations with the government breaking down. While in detention Nair suffered a heart attack, and had to undergo a double heart by-pass operation. While he was recuperating, Nair was charged with 9 other in the ‘Vula’ trial. All 10 were granted indemnity from prosecution and released. When the SACP was relaunched as a legal body on 29 July 1990, Nair was elected as a central committee member after being a member of the party’s interim leadership group.

He was a member of the interim leadership group of ANC 1990 and elected National Executive Committee July 1991. Nair was elected a member of the National Assembly of the S.A. Parliament, being 39th on the African National Congress list of 400 Nominees.