While the SAP’s notorious Security Branch followed Seedat to many events from 1942, they also monitored her during children’s birthday parties, family events and prioritised the installation of a telephone for her in 1976 in the hope of capturing the discussions regarding Struggle activities.
Seedat’s youngest son Azad said his mother and his father Dawood were fully aware that every aspect of their life was being monitored by the security police, the Special Branch (SB).
The documents were handed to those who attended a posthumous celebration of Seedat’s 100th birthday on Sunday, which was attended by representatives from the ANC, SACP and ANC Women’s League.
Azad said that after the first democratic election in 1994, Struggle stalwarts were able to access SB police reports from the Apartheid Museum.
“They knew they were being monitored and were very careful. In 1976, when my father passed away, my mother moved to Phoenix and applied for a telephone. She was one of the first to get a phone and the SB came and installed the phone under the guise of being Telkom employees.
“From 1942 they started monitoring her activities as they noticed that she regularly attended Communist Party meetings where she often handed out literature and received donations for the benefit of the party,” he said.
Azad said his parents were aware from a young age of the importance of sacrifice to create a non racist, non sexist society.
“They understood they had to play a part in the Struggle. My mom always told us to be aware of the ‘Gestapo’, the Security Branch would come to raid our house between 2 and 3am and they did this regularly.
“She was a woman who would not take nonsense from anyone. During the defiance and passive resistance campaign, they lived a frugal lifestyle and siblings helped them to survive. They could not get jobs because they were always being arrested and life was tough, times were tough.
“My mother told us how when my father was 14, he attended an anti-pass campaign in Durban on December 16, 1930, and he witnessed four people being shot by police, among them Johannes Nkosi.
“Years later, when my father was aged 40 and when Nkosi and his grave site were long forgotten, my father identified the grave at Stellawood Cemetery, saved three months’ wages and erected a tombstone at the site.
“He and my mother organised a ceremony and invited Nkosi’s mother. After the ceremony, the Nkosi family were invited to dinner at the Seedat’s flat at Hampson Grove.”
Some of the Security Branch notes on Fatima Seedat:
- In 1950 apartheid spooks had documented information indicating that during 1949 Seedat was a regular correspondent for “The Tribune”, a newsletter of the Communist Party of Australia.
- On April 6, 1952 in Durban she and other known communists played a leading role in arranging a mass rally under the umbrella of the Natal Indian Congress. The speakers included Cassim Amra, Dr GM Naicker, JN Singh and AI Meer.
- On July 18,1953, in Durban, she attended a gathering organised by Johannes Nkosi Memorial Committee at Stellawood Cemetery for the unveiling of the tombstone of Nkosi. R Arenstein, a well-known communist was one of the speakers.
- On February 10, 1954 in Clairewood (sic) Durban, she attended a meeting organised by the “Clairewood Study Circle”. The meeting was addressed by Dr Y Dadoo and Walter Sisulu, among others.
- On December 5, 1961, at Louis Botha Airport in Durban, she was among the crowd, greeting (Nkosi Albert) Luthuli on his way to Oslo (to collect his Nobel Peace Prize) and on December 15, 1961, when Luthuli arrived, she was part of the welcoming crowd.