Ray Simons

Ray Alexander Simons (née Alexandrowich; (31 December 1913 – 12 September 2004) was a South African communist, anti-apartheid activist, campaigner and trade unionist who helped draft the Women's Charter. She moved to Cape Town in 1929 to escape the persecution of Jews and communists.

Early life Simons was born in Varklia (Varakļāni), Latvia as Rachel Ester Alexandrowich on 31 December 1913. She was one of six children from Simka Simon and Dobe Alexandrowich. Her father was a teacher of Russian language, German Language and mathematics. He also ran a cheder where the Jewish boys studied talmud and prepared their bar mizvah. She lived in a household full of books which exposed her to socialist and communist ideologist. Her father died when she was 12 years old. His best friend, Leib Jaffe, influenced Ray's thinking about socialist ideas and awareness of the vital function of organization to advance worker's right. The death of her father caused Simons to become an atheist. When Simons was fourteen, she was invited to participate in a debate on the Balfour Declaration which was held by local Zionist organization. She declined because she believed that the fight against antisemitism should be a part of broader humanity's strive to achieve a new order of the world where all humankind would be free, including Jews. Because of persecution of Jews in Varakļāni, she was sent to Riga to advance her studies at the ORT technical college and lived with her close friend Leah. Five days after her arrival on 11 November 1929, she met Cissie Gool and lifelong friend John Gomas and joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). At that time, Simons was 16 years old.

Simons was fired from her first job after she participated in the anti-pass campaign. She became increasingly involved in trade union activity after she was fired from her job because of her attendance at founding conference of the Anti-Fascist League. Simon was elected as the chair of the Cape Town District Committee of the Communist Party in January 1931. Using Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 to ban the communist party in 1953, she was ordered to quit the position next year. In her exile in 1986, she was elected as Honorary President of the Food and Allied Workers' Union. They returned from exile in 1990. In 1941, she married Jack Simons, a lecturer at the University of Cape Town and a fellow communist. They had three children. Ray Alexander Simons Memory Centre and Heritage Square in Gugulethu was built and launched by Deputy President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe on 6 November 2010.