Benjamin Turok (26 June 1927 – 9 December 2019) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician, and economics professor. He represented the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

in the post-apartheid

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from 1994 to 2014.

Early life and activism

Turok was born to poor working-class

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents in Byelorussia in 1927, who were radicalized by the secular

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Bundist movement; his parents migrated to Libau, Latvia when his father became involved in the Jewish labor movement. Later, seeking safety, Turok's father moved the family to the then

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

in 1934. Jewish identification in his household was mostly cultural and his parents were involved in

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

: "There were play readings, poetry evenings, political debates and a host of similar events all focusing on the Jewish way of life". His parents were not religious and he did not have a

bar mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

, however he was obliged to attend Hebrew school. Turok graduated from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

in 1950. Returning to South Africa in 1953, he joined the

South African Congress of Democrats The South African Congress of Democrats (SACOD) was a radical left-wing white, anti-apartheid organization founded in South Africa in 1952 or 1953 as part of the multi-racial Congress Alliance, after the African National Congress (ANC) invited wh ...

and in 1955 became its secretary for the Cape Western region, acting as a full-time organiser for the Congress of the People. With Billy Nair, he drafted the economics section 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 ...

. He was also the African representative on the

Cape Provincial Council The Cape Provincial Council was the provincial council (South Africa), provincial council of the Cape Province of South Africa. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, with effect from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910 ...

and served time in police detention, including as a defendant in the

1956 Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not g ...

Personal life and death

Turok married Mary Butcher, a politician and activist. They had three sons together: Fred Turok; Ivan Turok; and Neil Turok, a cosmologist and founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Muizenberg, South Africa. He died on the morning of 9 December 2019 at his home in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He was 92 years old.ANC veteran Ben Turok has died
/ref>Ben Turok’s commitment to liberation, non-racialism and equality
/ref>

References

External links

2006 video interview

Personal website
*

at South African History Online
Archives of Ben Turok
at the University of London {{DEFAULTSORT:Turok, Ben 1927 births 2019 deaths Latvian emigrants to South Africa South African academics 20th-century South African economists University of Cape Town alumni Academics of the Open University People acquitted of treason African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009 Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 South African prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of South Africa White South African anti-apartheid activists Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists