Reflecting on the life of Thayalan Reddy: activism, education and community service

FROM playing an active role in the fight against apartheid to becoming a teacher and later serving his community, Thayalan Reddy has made a profound impact in the lives of others over the past several decades. 

The 86-year-old of Glen Hills in Durban North, is one of the eight trailblazers, who shared their stories in the book, Reflective Memories - Voices of Indentured Labourer Descendants - South Africans born between 1935 and 1955, Volume Two. 

Childhood

Reddy, the third eldest of six children, was born in Sea Cow Lake on August 26, 1939. 

Both his paternal and maternal grandparents, who hailed from Vellore in Tamil Nadu, South India, worked as indentured labourers on sugar estates in South Africa. His paternal grandfather lived and worked in Esparanza, and his maternal grandfather in Riverside, Durban North. Reddy said his father, Kanniah Reddy, worked at the Coronation brick-and-tile factory. He thereafter worked for Bakers Ltd as a tinsmith.

“One of his tasks was to make the tins that were used to bake the bread. Thereafter, he moved into the hotel industry.”

He said his mother, Iyalandam, was a housewife. 

When he was a few months old, the family moved to Riverside. 

“My father bought land in Rustomjee Road and built us a three-bedroom house. I remember we had a mango and moringa tree. My mother also had a small garden and grew a few Indian vegetables. I often helped her plant and harvest the vegetables.

“I had a wonderful childhood as all the children played different games together. We used to play football and cricket on the school grounds, and we had tournaments with the children from the ‘top side’ of the area against the ‘lower side’.  

“We were also quite a close-knit community. You could walk into each other’s homes. Our house was lively as we always had family visiting and we often made trips to the Durban beach, especially during the Easter holidays. It was something we looked forward to,” he said.  

Reddy said the family later moved to Redhill due to the Group Areas Act. 

“While many families went to Chatsworth, we bought a piece of land and built our house, in which I resided for many years.” 

Education 

At age seven, he attended Class 1 in the hall at a Hindu temple in his community. He later attended Sir Kumar Reddi School from Class 2 to Standard 6. 

“There were not enough classes at the school, so we had to do Class 1 in the hall. As a child, I loved reading and remember when I started attending the school, there wasn’t a library but a bookshelf with mainly King Authur tales. The principal kindly allowed me to borrow the books. I read them all. 

“I also used to attend Tamil school, which my father was instrumental in starting. We initially had classes at the school, but when the platoon system was applied at the school, the classes were moved to the basement of one of the residents.”

Reddy said he thereafter attended and matricated from Sastri College in 1958. 

Further studies 

While he was initially uncertain about his future career, he enrolled to study towards a Bachelor of Art degree at the then-University of Natal. 

“At the time, there weren’t many study options available, mainly medicine, law and teaching. However, since I had a passion for the subject of English, I thought becoming a teacher would be the best option for me. I went on to major in English, speech and drama, history, political science and special French. 

“After I completed my degree, I pursued a University Education Diploma specialising in English, history and play production in 1962. I started my first job as a teacher the following year,” he said. 

Reddy said he later graduated with an honours degree in English through the University of South Africa in 1969. 

Ten years later, he received a Fulbright Scholarship and completed his Master's degree in linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, US. 

Political activism

As a young boy, while he noticed the “differences” between how people were treated, it was while at university that his political activism started. 

“In Riverside, the Indians used to live together in one section of the area, and the whites on the other side. I also noticed the few ‘non-white’ seats in the buses. But I was a child, so all I could do at the time was ask my parents questions. 

“During my first year at university, I joined the Unity Movement. It was a small political organisation, which started in Cape Town that was rooted in the anti-apartheid struggle. When I joined, I attended meetings and distributed pamphlets. It often landed me in hot water with the police. I recall being arrested while distributing the pamphlets in Fynnlands in the Bluff area. It was an area where many Indians had settled and were being forced to move to Chatsworth due to the Group Areas Act. I was arrested and taken to the police station. 

“However, another incident occurred while returning to KwaZulu-Natal after attending a Unity Movement conference in Cape Town. I was with other activists and we were stopped by members of the Special Branch. We had a lot of pamphlets. They only took our names and we continued with our trip. But from then I knew I was going to be under-surveillance. 

“Shortly after that I received a letter from the then-minister of justice to the effect that I must present myself before a legal officer in Salmon Grove. I was informed that should I not cease my political activities, I would be banned under the Suppression of Communism Act. I indicated to the officer that I stood for democratic values,” he said. 

Reddy said later on his name, together with other anti-apartheid activists such as Mewalal Ramgobin, Ela Gandhi, Girja “Sunny” Singh, and George Singh were listed in This Day newspaper under the heading “Enemies of the Apartheid State”. 

Career

Reddy was appointed as an English teacher at Stanger Secondary School in 1963. 

“After serving three years at the school, I was sent on a ‘punitive transfer’ to teach at Windsor High School in Ladysmith. While at Stanger High, some of the pupils had painted some political slogans on the walls, and it was believed that some teachers  may have had a hand in it. There was also some murmur that I may have been involved due to my political tendencies leading to my transfer. However, I had no involvement in it. 

“I spent a year in Ladysmith and when I returned to Durban I taught at various schools and was also appointed as the head of the department of English before being promoted to a lecturer at the Springfield College of Education. During my time at the college, I climbed the ranks to senior lecturer and associate head of department,” he said. 

Reddy said he later decided to return to the school system and served as the principal at Avonford Secondary School.  

Prior to his retirement in 1998, he served as the subject advisor for English main and second language in the Pietermaritzburg region for a year. 

In addition, Reddy was also the main matric examiner for the English language paper and later served as a national external moderator for Umalusi. 

Reddy added that during his time within the education sector, he authored various articles such as Teaching Creative Writing, Psycholinguistics and Reading, Teaching Strategies in Literature and Theoretical Models of Reading, among others, which were published in journals. He also presented papers at conferences around the country.  

Throughout his career, Reddy was involved in various educational institutions, including the Teachers' Association of South Africa, the Black Council for Education and Research, and the Pan South African Language Board. 

For his contributions to the promotion of English, he was awarded a Fellowship by the English Speaking Board (International) Ltd at St Andrew's College in the United Kingdom in 1984, and the Gold Medal by the English Academy of Southern Africa in 2010. 

Theatre and drama

Reddy added that during his time in the education sector, he directed and acted in various plays. Among the plays he directed were The Iron Harper, Androcles and the Lion and The Prince and the slipper. He also starred in the play Hunting the Sun, Lady Precious Stream, Tobias and the Angel, and A Man for all Seasons, among others. 

Community involvement 

Over the years, he contributed to various organisations, such as the iKhwezi Community College, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership School for Girls, and the Wilderness Leadership School. 

“I was invited by the director of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership School for Girls to recruit eligible pupils, which I did. I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the school and there were many international celebrities in attendance. The school’s fundamental value is to encourage each girl to develop her critical thinking to create the best life possible for her, and then use her life in service to others, no matter her calling.”

Reddy served as a coordinator for the Words on Water Literary Festival in association with the Indian Consulate and DUT, contributed to the University of KwaZulu-Natal as a teaching practice consultant and academic editor of dissertations, and currently serves on the committee of the Sastri College Alumni.

In addition, he founded the Redhill/Avoca Civic Association to deal with community issues. 

“I was recently honoured with other stalwarts for our many years of dedicated service to the area.”

Family

He married Chandrawathie, a retired teacher, on December 12, 1970. They celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. They have four sons and seven grandchildren.  

He added that nowadays he often attended events, enjoyed spending time with his family, playing golf, reading and travelling around the globe with his wife. They recently visited Turkey.

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