Hanef Bhamjee

Mohamed Hanef Bhamjee (1 December 1946 – 8 January 2022), known as Hanef Bhamjee, was a South African–British campaigner and organiser in the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and Secretary of the Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1981 to 1994.

Early life in South Africa Bhamjee was born on 1 December 1946 in Wolmaransstad in South Africa's former Transvaal Province. His brother, Yusuf Bhamjee, was also an activist and politician. Schooled in Pietermaritzburg, Bhamjee was involved in anti-apartheid youth politics and the Natal Indian Congress. As a high school student, he was recruited to become the youngest member of a Pietermaritzburg-based political study group that also included Harry Gwala and other stalwarts of the African National Congress.

Life in Britain Bhamjee came to Wales in 1972, where the Anti-Apartheid Movement was already active in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. He succeeded in growing the movement to a network of 22 branches across Wales.

The assets of the WAAM were transferred to Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) Wales. Bhamjee became Secretary of ACTSA Wales and the Wales Anti-Racist Alliance. In 2009 Bhamjee returned to South Africa to be presented with a Mahatma Gandhi Award for reconciliation and peace.