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A3393-E5-01-Jpeg.Pdf IN MEMORIAM ALEX. HEPPLE 1904-1983 Photo: Eli Weinberg And we, shall we too, crouch and quail, Ashamed, afraid o f strife, And lest our lives untimely fail Embrace the death in life? Nay; cry aloud, and have no fear, We few against the world; Awake, arise! the hope we bear Against the curse is hurled. William Morris, No Master ALEX. HEPPLE 1904-1983 Alex. Hepple died peacefully in Canterbury on 16 November 1983, aged 79. He was leader o f the South African Labour Party (1953—58), founder and chairman o f the Treason Trial Defence Fund (1956—61), and o f the South African Defence and Aid Fund (1960—64). With his wife, Girlie, who was his close comrade in all his activities, he established the International Defence and Aid Fund’s Information Service in 1967 in London, and together they managed the Service until their retirement at the end o f 1972. He was the author o f Verwoerd (Pelican, 1967) and South Africa: a political and economic history (Pall Mall, 1966) as well as numerous pamphlets and articles on political and trade union affairs in South Africa. Alex. Hepple was born in Johannesburg on 28 August 1904. His father, an immigrant from Sunderland, was a militant member and branch secretary o f the Amalgamated Society o f Engineers, and his mother was a strong supporter o f the suffragettes. They were founding members o f the Labour Party, o f which Alex, became a lifelong member in South Africa and later, Britain. Among the formative experiences o f his youth were the victimisation o f his father for his part in the 1913 and 1914 Rand strikes, and the sight o f workers being fired on by Smuts’ troops during the general strike in 1922. The defeat o f that strike turned the right-wing Labour leaders into an alliance with the Afrikaner Nationalists to oust Smuts and to cement the industrial colour bar. Alex. Hepple, on the other hand, was one o f the few who decided to devote his life to the struggle to unite white and black workers for the common objective o f a democratic socialist society. He did so in the difficult and often unrewarding environment o f the white working-class community, helping to achieve the gradual liberalisation o f the Labour Party’s racial policies. He was elected as a Labour Member o f the Transvaal Provincial Council in 1943, and as Member o f Parliament for Rosettenville in 1948 and again in 1953. His election to Parliament coincided with the first victory o f the Broederbond Nationalists, and he made a brilliant and courageous contribution to the resistance against their policies o f racial discrimination and the suppression o f civil liberties. He often exposed issues which the Nationalists and the timorous Official United Party Opposition had tried to conceal. The South African Sunday Express (17 June 1956) commented: “Who will deny that he was the militant champion who always spoke up for the underprivileged and for social justice?” He was elected leader o f the Party in 1953, and immediately stated that he would pursue socialist principles and would use every opportunity to advance the cause o f the millions o f voteless blacks. Although he had support within the Party, this forthright anti-apartheid policy resulted in the absolute defeat o f the Labour Party at the hands o f the white electorate in 1958. As leader, he had established close links with the Congress Movement, one expression o f this being his participation in the Congress o f the People in 1955, when the Freedom Charter was adopted. He took the initiative in establishing the Fund to raise money for the defence o f 156 Congress leaders arrested on charges o f high treason in 1956 and ultimately acquitted in 1961. When it became clear that a permanent organisation was needed to help political prisoners and their families, he accepted Chief Albert Luthuli’s request to organise what became known as the South African Defence and Aid Fund, under his chairmanship. Countless victims o f apartheid received his support. The multi-racial and black trade unions relied heavily on his guidance. In 1962 he re-founded the Labour newspaper, Forward. When government restrictions made it impossible for the paper to be published, he came to England in 1965 and continued to work as a writer and propagandist against apartheid. Until the end, he inspired all those who knew him with his clear and undimmed vision o f a non-racial socialist South Africa. From: “South African Labour and the Socialist Objective” by Alex Hepple (Natal Mercury, 3 January 1951) “All those who become disgusted with the unending miseries o f capitalist society must eventually turn to Socialism as the only alternative. In all walks o f life we are confronted with the evils o f a social order which allows a few people to live in luxury while the majority struggle for existence, constantly haunted by the fear o f unemployment and poverty; a social order which allows surpluses and wasteful competition or shortages and prohibitive prices. There can be no doubt that capitalism has failed and more and more people throughout the world are turning to the planned society o f Socialism. It would be extraordinary if South Africa escaped this trend. Like socialists the world over, the South African Labour Party is faced with the task o f educating people in an understanding o f socialism. A planned democratic socialist society can abolish misery and want and ensure that all will work and give their best for the common good. The task o f the Labour Party today is to force the pace o f reform and to curb the greed and power o f vested interests. It can restrain those who seek to exploit the underprivileged. In fulfilling this role the Labour Party must speak for all the people. It cannot demand a better world for the poor White and deny it to the poor Black. The Labour Party knows that it must often take a stand that is not immediately popular, that it must lead public opinion rather than timorously follow it. There are serious political risks in this - risks which perhaps other parties would not take. But the Labour Party must take such risks if it is to be true to its Socialist objective. It dare not depend upon adroit political manoeuvring to win votes. Only a true Socialist Party, pledged to change the economic system, can offer any real hope to all the people o f South Africa. Those who talk o f a better world, increased productivity, social justice and a mighty South Africa cannot stand aside and criticise. They must play a part in the fight for these things.” VAIL PRINTERS LTD. Collection Number: A3393 Collection Name: Bob Hepple Papers PUBLISHER: Publisher: Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand Location: Johannesburg ©2015 LEGAL NOTICES: Copyright Notice: All materials on the Historical Papers website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published in any format, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Disclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein, you may download material (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only. People using these records relating to the archives of Historical Papers, The Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, are reminded that such records sometimes contain material which is uncorroborated, inaccurate, distorted or untrue. While these digital records are true facsimiles of paper documents and the information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand has not independe ntly verified their content. Consequently, the University is not responsible for any errors or omissions and excludes any and all liability for any errors in or omissions from the information on the website or any related information on third party websites accessible from this website. This document forms part of a collection held at the Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. .
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