Kay Moonsamy

Kesval Moonsamy (5 July 1926 – 21 June 2017) was a South African trade unionist, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was one of the 156 accused in the 1956 Treason Trial. He went into exile in 1965 and returned to South Africa in 1991. Moonsamy was elected treasurer of the South African Communist Party in 1997 and served as an African National Congress Member of Parliament from 1999 until 2009.

Early life The son of an indentured labourer, Kesval Moonsamy was born on 5 July 1926 in Durban, then part of the Union of South Africa's Natal Province. When he was 14, he became a factory worker to assist his family. He soon became involved in the trade union movement and by the age of 19, he was president of the Natal Box, Broom and Brush Workers' Union. Moonsamy had also become a member of the Communist Party of South Africa when he was 18 and 5 years later he gained election to the Durban committee of the party.

Anti-apartheid activism The National Party of South Africa came to power after their victory in the 1948 general election and began instituting the policy of apartheid. After the passing of the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 which banned the Communist Party of South Africa, Moonsamy began working for the party's underground structures. Following Limpho Hani's resignation as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa in August 1999, Moonsamy was elected to take up her seat in parliament. He went on to serve as a Member of Parliament until 2009.

In June 2016, Moonsamy and fellow activist of the 1946 Passive Resistance, Swaminathan Gounden, gathered at the Red Square in Durban which is now the Nichol Square Parkade. The square was the main place for political meetings during the 1940s and 1950s. His funeral was held on 24 June 2017 at the Clare Estate Crematorium.