JN Reddy

Jayaram Narainsamy Reddy (24 October 1925 – 5 July 2019) popularly known as JN Reddy, was a South African politician who was the leader of the Solidarity party which was represented in the House of Delegates, the body within the Apartheid Tricameral Parliament reserved for Indian South Africans. p.60 He was the leader of the opposition from 1984 to 1989, and the leader of the majority party in the House from 1989 to 1993. now in the Tiruvannamalai district. JN Reddy's father had ethnic-Telugu ancestry, as he belonged to the Reddy caste. JN Reddy's father came to South Africa at the age of 5, where his father was working for the South African Railways after serving out a term of Indentured servitude in a sugar plantation. which he described as the first black bank in South Africa, at a time when the major South African banks only employed white tellers. He was also active as an insurance broker at the time. and also served on the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. and for Indians to be allowed to work north of the Tugela River, for example in Richards Bay. p.40 To be able to lead the party, Reddy relinquished some of his business interests.

The election of 1984 was marked by boycotts, as many Coloured and Indian South Africans saw the tricameral system as a means to entrench Apartheid. This resistance was led by the United Democratic Front. Despite having been formed less than a year before the election, Solidarity contested all 40 constituencies in the House of Delegates.

There were suggestions at the time that Solidarity was somehow initiated by the government, as Prime Minister P. W. Botha preferred Dr. Reddy to the leadership of the National People's Party, Another reason was that Solidarity was able to afford to spend more than its opponents on propaganda, although Solidarity claimed that this was all funded by personal contributions. Five party members, including Poovalingam, refused to accept the coalition, and were suspended from the party. and Reddy assumed this position in March 1989. In 1991, it was expected that conservative parties such as Solidarity would align themselves with the National Party, Reddy resigned from the House of Delegates in 1993.