Brian Bunting (9 April 1920 – 18 June 2008) was a

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 ...

n activist and journalist known as a stalwart of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

(SACP). 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 ...

(ANC) in the

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 1999. Bunting was involved in the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

in the 1950s and was briefly a native representative in the all-white

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1952 until 1953, when he was expelled for his communist affiliation. He went into exile in England from 1963 to 1991 to avoid state persecution. During that time, he wrote non-fiction books and edited the ''

African Communist ''African Communist'' is the magazine of the South African Communist Party, published quarterly. The magazine was started by a group of Marxist-Leninists in 1959. It has its headquarters in Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu languag ...

'', the SACP's mouthpiece. He also spent several decades as a member of the Central Committee of the SACP.

Early life and education

Bunting was born on 9 April 1920 in

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 ...

in the former

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. His parents were

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

and founding members of the

Communist Party of South Africa The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

(CPSA) in 1921;

Jeremy Cronin Jeremy Patrick Cronin (born 12 September 1949) is a South African writer, author, and noted poet. A longtime activist in politics, Cronin is a member of the South African Communist Party and a former member of the National Executive Committee o ...

later described Bunting's father, Sidney Bunting, as "the key early architect" of the party. He attended Jeppe High School in Johannesburg and matriculated early, at the age of 15. Thereafter he enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

, where he edited a campus newspaper and served as president of the student representative council.

Early journalism career: 1940–1963

After he graduated from Wits in 1940, he worked as a journalist for the ''

Rand Daily Mail ''The Rand Daily Mail'' was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The t ...

'' and ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. He also formally joined the CPSA, although he said that he had always taken his membership for granted, having grown up in the party. He initially refused to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, viewing it as an

imperialistic Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power ( diplomatic power and cultural imperialism). Imperialism focu ...

war, but he enlisted after Germany invaded the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1941. He served in the army's information service on the North African front. After the war, Bunting was assistant national secretary of the Springbok Legion, an influential

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 op ...

organisation for ex-servicemen, and edited its mouthpiece, ''Fighting Talk''. He was briefly arrested during a strike by black mineworkers in 1946. Later the same year, he moved to Cape Town to work as assistant editor and then editor-in-chief of the CPSA's weekly newspaper, the ''Guardian'', which was renowned for its progressive stance on race relations. When the ''Guardian'' was banned by the government, Bunting edited each of its several successor papers (the ''Clarion'', ''People's World'', ''Advance'', ''New Age'', and ''Spark''), working with

Ruth First Heloise Ruth First OLG (4 May 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar. She was assassinated in Mozambique, where she was working in exile, by a parcel bomb built by South African police. Family and ...

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the younger son of Ch ...

, and others. However, in 1948, the staunchly anti-communist

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

had been brought to power on a platform of legislating

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 ...

. From 1952, Bunting personally was

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

under the

Suppression of Communism Act The Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 (Act No. 44 of 1950), renamed the Internal Security Act in 1976, was legislation of the national government in apartheid South Africa which formally banned the South African Communist Party, Communist Party ...

, which circumscribed his political activity and ability to publish. Bunting was involved in the dissolution of the CPSA and then its re-emergence underground as the

(SACP). In November 1952, he was elected as one of three "native representatives" in the

, representing the non-white population of the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

, but he was removed from his seat in October 1953; like his predecessor in the seat,

Sam Kahn Sam Kahn (15 December 1911 – 25 August 1987) was a South African Communist and Member of Parliament from 1949 to 1952, for one of the constituencies representing native African voters. Born in Cape Town, he joined the Communist Party of So ...

, he was expelled because of his communist membership. In subsequent years, Bunting and his family faced tightening state repression: his wife was charged in the

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 ...

, and both she and Bunting were detained for five months after the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. The couple were placed under house arrest in 1962 and harassed by the Security Branch. As a result, they went into exile in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1963.

Exile: 1963–1991

For much of the next 28 years, the Buntings lived in

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

near

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

(

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

's resting place); their house became a meeting place for exiled South African communists, including SACP leader

Yusuf Dadoo Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo OMSG (5 September 1909 – 19 September 1983) was a South African Communist and an anti-apartheid activist. During his life, he was chair of both the South African Indian Congress and the South African Communist ...

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

, and Ruth First and her husband

Joe Slovo Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo (23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Com ...

. Bunting worked for

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

, a Soviet news agency, and edited the ''

'', the official journal of the SACP. He also served on the Central Committee of the SACP, ultimately for over fifty years. In addition, while in exile Bunting wrote and published two non-fiction books. ''The Rise of the South African Reich'' (1964) was, in James Zug's phrase, a "workmanlike examination of the origins and growth of the apartheid regime", while ''Moses Kotane: South African Revolutionary'' (1975) was "a bravura if biased history of the Communist Party marked as a biography of one of its leading officials" (

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.

Return to Parliament: 1994–1999

Bunting and his family returned to South Africa in 1991, the year after the SACP was unbanned by the apartheid government during the

negotiations to end apartheid The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution ...

. In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Bunting was elected to represent the

(ANC), the SACP's close ally, in the new multi-racial

. He thereby returned to the seat that he had been expelled from 41 years earlier. According to Jeremy Cronin, Bunting began his maiden speech in Parliament with the phrase, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." He served a single term in the National Assembly, leaving after the 1999 general election. During that period, at the SACP's 10th congress in 1998, Bunting, with

Billy Nair Billy Nair (27 November 1929 – 23 October 2008) was a South African politician, trade unionist, and anti-apartheid activist. He was a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and a political prisoner in Robben Island. Nair was a lon ...

, became the recipient of the SACP's inaugural Moses Kotane Award for outstanding service to the party and working class. Even after the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

, Bunting remained not only a staunch communist but "an unreconstructed

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

, one of the last true believers in the Soviet Union"; those who knew him personally described him as stubborn and even severe in his adherence to his political principles.

Personal life and death

Bunting married Sonia Isaacman on the day that he moved to Cape Town in 1946. They had three children before Sonia died in 2001. His health deteriorated in mid-2007 and he died on 18 June 2008, aged 88, at home in Rondebosch, Cape Town. In 2009, Bunting was posthumously awarded the

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 for "his excellent contribution to anti-apartheid literature and journalism and for his courage in exposing the evils of apartheid to the world".

References