SACP message of condolences to the family of our struggle stalwart Comrade Pathasarvasvaran Samotharan Govender

24 March 2021

The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the family of our struggle stalwart, Comrade Pathasarvasvaran Samotharan “Charm” Govender (9 April 1961 - 22 March 2021). Cde Charm was buried on Tuesday, 23 March 2021. The SACP also sends its deepest condolences to the entire liberation movement, as well as his colleagues at the South African Revenue Service where he was employed.

Fondly known among his comrades as Comrade “Charm”, after completing his high school schooling in eThekwini, Govender went on to attain his A-Level education in the United Kingdom where he was exposed to the revolutionary work and members of the SACP and the African National Congress. As a student in Chatsworth and the Greater Durban and KwaZulu-Natal area, he actively participated in student, community, political and grassroots struggles, which increased his consciousness about the world around him.

Upon his return to South Africa in 1978, Comrade Govender participated in people’s actions against the apartheid system. These included raising issues which included unreasonably high rents, high water charges, as well as the right to home ownership, poor service delivery and high transport costs, among others. As the struggle against apartheid intensified, he began to work more in the underground SACP and ANC structures, connecting with comrades in exile and also served as part of Operation Vula which was led by Comrade Oliver Tambo.

In 1986, following a shooting by apartheid security police who were pursuing him, he sustained a fractured knee and was detained during the state of emergency under the Internal Security Act. In detention, the apartheid security police brutally tortured him. Consequent to the incessant brutality meted upon him, he sustained injuries that left him in pain throughout his life.

After our 1994 democratic breakthrough, he continued his quest for a non-racial democratic South Africa, working for civic organisations such as the Gandhi Development Trust, Satyagraha newspaper, Monty Naicker Commemoration Committee and the Kharwastan Civic Association, among others.

For his selfless contribution to the democratisation of our country, President Nelson Mandela presented Comrade Govender with a medal for his selfless and wholehearted service to the country.

In memory of Comrade Govender, the SACP reiterates its call for justice for all apartheid victims, in particular those who were tortured and killed. The SACP calls for a wider inquiry into apartheid killings and disappearances of freedom fighters. In addition to the necessity of punishing the guilty, this could contribute towards closure for the affected families.

The SACP also calls for principled unity of our movement against capitalism and imperialism. We all must stand firm in defence of our democracy, which includes a decisive opposition to neoliberalism as well as corporate capture of the state.

HAMBA KAHLE MKHONTO

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY | SACP

EST. 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA | CPSA

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