Manonmoney Ama Naidoo OLS (née Pillay; 30 November 1908 – 25 December 1993) or Ama Naidoo was a South African anti-apartheid activist.

Family and early life

Naidoo was of South African Indian descent and was born in Asiatic Bazaar

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. She had her primary school education in the Pretoria primary school. She was the only daughter and had 8 brothers. Her parents had a family business. She had to care for the family and home and hence she did not pursue an independent career. In 1934 at the age of 26 she married Naransamy Roy Naidoo. He was the son of one of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

’s closest friends and a dedicated Satyagrahi, Thambi Naidoo. He sent his children to live and learn under the tutelage of Gandhi at the

Tolstoy Farm Tolstoy Farm was an ashram initiated and organised by Mohandas Gandhi during his South African movement. At its creation in 1910 the ashram served as the headquarters of the campaign of satyagraha against discrimination against Indians in Trans ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. Roy Naidoo was among the children who went to

where he received training in simple living and self-sufficiency. In 1914 after Gandhi finally left

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Roy Naidoo together with the Phoenix boys went to

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's Ashram,

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

where they lived for two years and received some training in arts and crafts as well as Indian culture and language. The party then moved to

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandhi who lived at Sabarmati (Gujar ...

Political activism

Naidoo's husband Roy returned home to South Africa in 1928. He began work with the trade union movement and joined the Communist Party of South Africa CPSA. Naidoo worked closely with him. She joined him in the 1946 Passive Resistance campaigns and courted imprisonment which she served bravely. In 1952 she again joined the defiance campaign and was again imprisoned. In 1954 she joined the

Federation of South African Women The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was a political lobby group formed in 1954. At FEDSAW's inaugural conference, a Women's Charter was adopted. Its founding was spear-headed by Lillian Ngoyi. Introduction The Federation of South Afri ...

(FEDSAW) and was elected on to its executive committee. She attended the Kliptown People’s Congress and participated in the adoption of the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

. In 1956 she marched to the Union buildings with 20,000 women against the pass laws. She participated in almost all the campaigns and marches held in Johannesburg. There were candlelight processions, night vigils, and in 1963 she marched to the Union Buildings in protest against the formation of the

South African Indian Council The South African Indian Council was a body created by the apartheid-era South African government in 1968 to make recommendations to the government about matters affecting Indians. It was the first time that Indians were granted any sort of re ...

created by the

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

government. She was outspoken and ready to participate in political activity. She watched all her children ( Shanthie, Indres, Murthie, Ramnie and Prema) being imprisoned, detained, tortured and harassed by the apartheid security police but remained steadfast right to the end. The Naidoo home was always a hive of activity. Leaders such as

Moses Kotane Moses Mauane Kotane (9 August 190519 May 1978) was a South African politician and activist. Kotane was secretary general of the South African Communist Party from 1939 until his death in 1978.

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

and many others were constant visitors. Mandela enjoyed her crab

curries Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internation ...

Death

On 25 December 1993 she died, just under two years prior to South Africa's first multiracial elections held under a

universal franchise Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. Naidoo was posthumously awarded an

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is awarded by the President of South Africa for contributions to the struggle for democracy, human rights, nation-building, justice, or peace and conflict ...

in Silver in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidoo, Ama 1908 births 1993 deaths South African anti-apartheid activists South African people of Tamil descent People from Pretoria South African politicians of Indian descent Recipients of the Order of Luthuli Naidoo family