Clements Kadalie

Clements Kadalie (1896 – 1951) was born Lameck Koniwaka Kadali Muwamba in Nyasaland (present-day Malawi). At age sixteen, he was a qualified teacher. He later settled in Cape Town, South Africa where he became South Africa's first black national trade union leader.

Early years Clements Kadalie was born Lameck Koniwaka Kadali Muwamba in 1896 in Nkhata Bay District at the village of Chifira village near the Bandawe Mission Station in Nyasaland, presently Malawi. He was the second born son of Mr. and Mrs. Musa Kadalie Muwamba. He was the grandson of Chiweyu, a paramount chief of the Tonga of Nyasaland. Educated by Church of Scotland missionaries, Kadalie completed teacher training in 1913 graduating from Livingstonia. After a short stint of primary school teaching, Kadalie joined the stream of Nyasalanders seeking employment in neighbouring South Africa in early 1915.

Career

In 1918, he settled in Cape Town, where he befriended Arthur F. Batty, an emerging trade unionist and political activist. In early 1919, with Batty's advice, Kadalie founded the Industrial and Commercial Union (ICU), later renamed the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union of Africa, to protest against unfair labour laws and to protect workers' rights.

One of Kadalie's grandchildren, Rhoda Kadalie (1953–2022), was a prominent academic, columnist and executive director of the Impumelelo Social Innovations Centre.

Clements Kadalie died in London in 1951.