A Life Committed

Born in the old Transvaal town of Schweizer Reneke, Essop Pahad started on a path of political activism from his parents’ flat in Becker Street, Ferreirastown, where an all-welcome policy prevailed and visionaries of the Congress alliance, such as Yusuf Dadoo, Walter Sisulu, O.R.Tambo, Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada were regular visitors. His parents instilled in the family strong anti-racist principles and a genuine concern for all human beings regardless of race, class or religion.

A graduate of the ‘Congress School’ in Johannesburg, Essop’s growing commitment to social justice was nurtured by teachers who were among the struggle’s most eminent leaders. An executive member of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress, Essop was banned in 1964 and went into exile in the UK where he was recruited into the South African Communist Party (SACP). In 1973 he studied at the Lenin Party School in Moscow and then worked in Prague representing the SACP on the editorial board of the World Marxist Review for a decade. During this time he was sent by the ANC for military training with Umkhonto we Sizwe in Angola, which he was unable to complete as he contracted malaria.

Essop returned to South Africa in 1990, where he played a central role in shaping our new democracy. A Life Committed is the memoir of a revolutionary whose diverse experiences with other progressive people and movements, local and international, enabled him to deepen his understanding of how to better face the challenges confronting South Africa, Africa and the world. The book is spiced with anecdotes from his impressive memory archive and lightened by his mischievous sense of humour. Profiles of his mentors and friends from liberation movements and workers’ parties provide insight into the extent of the fierce integrity, compassion and humanity of the author.