1 November 2015
The South African Communist Party (SACP) sends its massage of sincere condolences to the families of the Party`s veteran Comrade Sarah Carneson, who died on Friday in Cape Town, and Chumani Nqakula, who was killed yesterday in Johannesburg.
Chumani Nqakula...
was the son of former SACP leader Comrade Charles Nqakula, who, together with his wife, current Minister of Defence Comrade Nosiviwe Nqakula are long standing African National Congress (ANC) members. The SACP commends the police for moving swiftly by arresting the suspected murderer who killed Chumani. Justice must be seen running its course in this murder case and other killings that are committed in our country.
Comrade Sarah Carneson died at old age...
She was a trade unionist and member of the SACP. Comrade Sarah, whose parents were founding members of our Party, which was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), became a trade unionist and in her own right our Party`s Young Communist League activist in 1931, at the age of 15. She joined the Party in 1934.
As part of her service to the people, Comrade Sarah taught workers to read and write at the SACP`s night schools. In 1938 she began working for the National Union of Distributive Workers and also became the Secretary of the Tobacco Workers` Union. In 1954 she was banned by the apartheid regime under the Suppression of Communism Act and could no longer hold office in any union. She went underground in 1960 as part of the SACP`s underground organisation and struggle.
In 1967 Comrade Sarah was imprisoned for breaching her banning order, and shortly after her release she went into exile, in 1968, so that she could work for the Trade Union Movement and continue the course of struggle for political liberation and universal social emancipation.
Comrade Sarah returned from exile in 1991 and together with her husband, Comrade Fred, who also became a stalwart of the SACP, from 1936, settled in Cape Town.
In memory of Comrade Sarah Carneson, the SACP says let us work together particularly as the working class and intensify the struggle against the undesirable conditions facing women, young and old. Women are on the receiving end of all forms of exploitation in our society, including, inequality, unemployment and poverty. This struggle calls for the building and strengthening of the progressive women`s movement!
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