Sonia Bunting
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Sonia Bunting, OLS (9 December 1922 – 24 March 2001) 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 journalist, and a political and anti-apartheid activist. After being charged with treason and imprisoned, being detained a second time, and barred from publishing, she and her husband went into exile in London, where she joined 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 ...
(AAM) and organised the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners. When 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) ban was lifted in 1991, she returned to South Africa where she was involved in political activism until her death in 2001. She was posthumously honored by the government of South Africa with the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 2010.


Early life

Sonia Beryl Isaacman was born on 9 December 1922 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 ...
, South Africa to Dora and David Isaacman. Her parents were Jewish exiles, who had fled from Eastern Europe to escape
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s. After her
matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...
from her secondary education, Isaacman enrolled at the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
to pursue medical studies. In 1942, while studying at university, she joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), the only multiracial political party in the country at that time. She began campaigning for
universal suffrage 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 ...
and subsequently terminated her medical studies after completing one year of schooling.


Career

Isaacman went to work in the offices of the SACP, where she met Brian Bunting, a young
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 ...
veteran and fellow communist. In 1946, the couple married and they relocated to
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 ...
, where their three children, Peter, Margaret and Stephen were born. Bunting continued working for the SACP there, and also began working at the Cape Town Peace Council as its secretary. When in 1950,
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
and the party were banned in
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 ...
, she began working at ''The Guardian'', a newspaper with communist ties. When it was banned and renamed ''The Spark'', and then subsequently banned and renamed ''New Age'', she continued working for the paper. Appointed as a member of the delegation led by Ahmed Kathrada to represent South Africa, at the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students, she traveled to
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
in 1951. In 1953, the party reorganized under the name of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and Bunting was one of its founding members. In reaction to increased restrictive legislation passed by the pro-
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 focused on political activity. As a white woman, she was in a unique position to speak out against racial oppression. She was invited as one of the platform speakers at the 1955 Congress of the People held in
Kliptown Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which form ...
, where 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 ...
was adopted. In 1956, Bunting, Kathrada, and 154 other activists were arrested and charged with
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
. The
trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
lasted until 29 March 1961, but Bunting was acquitted along with 91 others and returned to her home and children in October 1958. The year following her release, she was barred from attendance at meetings and forced to withdraw from twenty-six organizations with which she was affiliated. In March 1960 when the Sharpeville massacre occurred, Bunting was arrested again and held in the Pretoria Central Prison for more than three months. ''New Age'' was banned and closed in 1962, and all the journalists working there, which included Bunting, her husband,
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 ...
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 ...
among others, were barred from publishing. She and her husband were placed under 24-hour
house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
for a five year period, making political activity impossible. The situation led the Buntings into deciding to leave South Africa for London in 1963. The exit visas for their exile stated that they could never return to South Africa. Upon arrival in London, Bunting joined 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 ...
(AAM) and continued her political work with the SACP. When
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 ...
was arrested, the World Campaign for the Release of South African Political Prisoners was established with Bunting as its organizer. She mobilized efforts to place
economic sanctions Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...
on South Africa and isolate the country from the world economy, as well as headed up the efforts to publicize the situation in South Africa and the plight of Mandela and other political prisoners. She has been widely credited and is most remembered for her role in organizing the campaign to save Mandela from the gallows when the
Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location f ...
took place. When the trial ended and the defendants were sentenced to prison, she continued to work for their release, through the only "operating office of the SACP in the world", which was headquartered at 39 Goodge Street, London. Simultaneously, in 1968, she began coordinating the publishing efforts of the ''African Communist'', the quarterly journal of the SACP, while working full time at the ''Inkululeko Publications''. For almost two decades, she engaged in all of these activities as well as speaking engagements aimed at a free South Africa and a world which recognized the human rights of people throughout the world. In 1991, after twenty-eight years in exile, the couple returned to Cape Town, when the bans against the SACP and 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) were lifted. Bunting served for the ANC in the campaigns of the 1994 and 1999 elections and was one of the founders of the Cape Town Friends of Cuba, continuing her political activities until her death.


Death and legacy

Bunting died on 24 March 2001 in Cape Town. In 2010 she was honored by President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
with the Silver Order of Luthuli for her commitment to racial equality, human rights and nation-building efforts in South Africa.


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting, Sonia 1922 births 2001 deaths Journalists from Johannesburg Activists from Johannesburg University of the Witwatersrand alumni Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists White South African anti-apartheid activists Jewish women activists South African human rights activists Members of the South African Communist Party Recipients of the Order of Luthuli Jewish communists South African exiles