Alexander Hepple (28 August 1904 – 16 November 1983) was a trade unionist, politician, anti-apartheid activist and author and was the last leader of the original

South African Labour Party The South African Labour Party ( af, Suid-Afrikaanse Arbeidersparty), was a South African political party formed in March 1910 in the newly created Union of South Africa following discussions between trade unions, the Transvaal Independent Lab ...

. Hepple was born in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wit ...

, a suburb of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

to Thomas and Alice Hepple, founding members of the South African Labour Party in 1908. His father immigrated to South Africa from

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in the north-east of England and was a shop steward of the

Amalgamated Society of Engineers The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) was a major British trade union, representing factory workers and mechanics. History The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the Journeymen Steam Engine, Machine Makers' and Mi ...

and a leader during its

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

in 1913. Alex Hepple was a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management withi ...

and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

who was an activist from an early age. He was elected to the

Transvaal Province The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...

's provincial council in 1943 as a Labour Party MLA and then as a Labour Member of Parliament in the

House of Assembly of South Africa The House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the ''Volksraad'', or "People's Council") was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1981, the sole parliamentary chamber between 1981 and 1984, and latterly the white rep ...

in the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

and 1953 general elections. Hepple was leader of the South African Labour Party from 1953 to 1958 and moved it towards liberal policies on race in opposition to the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

National Party government. He also founded and chaired the anti-apartheid Treason Trial Defence Fund from 1956 to 1961 and chaired the South African Defence and Aid Fund from 1960 to 1964. However, the white working class electorate that had supported the Labour Party by and large rejected Hepple's policies and repudiated the Labour Party in the

1958 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1958. * 1958 Cardinal electors in Papal conclave * 1958 Papal conclave Africa * 1958 French Togoland parliamentary election * 1958 Nigerien Constituent Assembly election * 1958 South African general e ...

in which the Labour Party lost all five of its seats, including Hepple's. The Labour Party was dissolved soon after the election. He continued and expanded his activism after losing his parliamentary seat. In 1962, he and his wife, Josephine, re-established the newspaper, ''Forward'' only to see it closed by government censorship in 1964. The Hepples then moved to England where they founded the International Defence and Aid Fund's Information Service, an organization that reported on repression and detentions by the apartheid government. In 1967, Hepple wrote ''Verwoerd'', a biography of South African Prime Minister

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...

who was considered the architect of apartheid. He also wrote ''South Africa: a political and economic history'' in 1966 as well as articles and pamphlets on South African politics. Hepple died in 1983 in exile in

Canterbury, England Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the ...

and was celebrated by the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

whose secretary-general Alfred Nzo, wrote that Hepple "was known and loved by the oppressed people of South Africa for his opposition to the draconian apartheid policies of the South African regime." His son,

Bob Hepple Sir Bob Alexander Hepple (11 August 1934 – 21 August 2015) was a South African-born legal academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights. Early life and education He was the son of Alexander Hepple (1904–1983), ...

, was a South African and British academic and lawyer who was "Nelson Mandela’s legal advisor through his 1962 trial". "Hepple was also one of the original Rivonia Trial accused". Bob Hepple was "knighted in 2004." "He was awarded the South African

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003, and is granted by the president of South Africa, for contributions to South Africa in the following fields: (i) the struggle for democracy, (ii) building democ ...

(Gold) in 2014".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepple, Alex 1904 births 1983 deaths South African people of English descent Labour Party (South Africa) politicians Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) South African activists H South African expatriates in the United Kingdom