Prema Naidoo

Parmananthan "Prema" Naidoo (born 1945) is a South African former anti-apartheid activist, later a politician in local government Before his retirement, he was Chief Whip of the Johannesburg Metro Council.

Early life and education Parmananthan Naidoo was born in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, in 1945, the youngest son of Ama and Roy Naidoo,and grandson of Thambi Naidoo. (Note that SAHO incorrectly cites Thambi as his father.) His siblings included Shanti Naidoo and Indres Naidoo.

Naidoo attended the segregated government school for Indians in Doornfontein for primary school. After the school was closed by the apartheid government, Indian families had to move to Lenasia, a segregated suburb established by the Group Areas Act. He then attended the Central Indian School established in Fordsburg, which had been established by the Transvaal Indian Congress, a civil rights organisation. an escaped convict. Lee and two other political prisoners, Tim Jenkin and Alex Moumbaris, had escaped from the Pretoria Maximum Security Prison

On his release in 1983, Naidoo took part in the formation of the United Democratic Front and was detained again for eight months during the State of Emergency of 1985.

Post-apartheid After the first non-racial elections of 1994, Naidoo served in senior local authority positions in Johannesburg. He was councillor and Chief Whip in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, before retiring in 2016. he is a member of the board of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

Footnotes