Christopher Ndodebandla Dlamini (born 10 October 1944 – 19 November 2009) was a South African trade union leader. Dlamini grew up in Benoni and Springs. He became aware of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

at an early age, and saw himself as a supporter of the organisation, although he did not join. He was expelled from school in 1963, and began working in the stores at Sanbra Engineering. In 1973, he joined the new Engineering and Allied Workers' Union, and at the end of the year took part in a short strike which achieved an increased Christmas bonus. In 1974, Dlamini moved to work for

Rank Xerox Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

, and sat on the company liaison committee, but found it was far less effective than a trade union. When he moved to work for Kellogg's in 1977, he joined the Sweet, Food and Allied Workers' Union (SFAWU), and helped recruit other workers at the factory. He became a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

in 1979. Many of the union's members were unhappy with its leadership, and Dlamini won election as the union's president, taking it into the new

Federation of South African Trade Unions The Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was a trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was formed at a congress over the weekend of 14–15 April 1979 in Hammanskraal and officially launched five days l ...

(FOSATU). In 1977, Dlamini joined the

Azanian People's Organisation The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...

, but found it ineffective. At some point in the 1980s, he instead joined the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

, and later became part of its leadership. In 1984, he was a founder of the East Rand People's Organisation, which organised a two-day general strike in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. This resulted in his arrest on the charge of "economic sabotage". Dlamini was elected as president of FOSATU in 1982, and from 1984 worked full time between that role and his shop steward work. He supported the merger of FOSATU into the new

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, ...

(COSATU), and was elected as the new federation's vice president. COSATU encouraged mergers of unions in the same industry, and Dlamini led SFAWU into the new Food and Allied Workers' Union in 1986, becoming its founding president. In 1988, Dlamini was an organiser of a major anti-apartheid conference, as a result of which, he was banned and prohibited from leaving his house for ten days. He was part of a delegation which visited Nelson Mandela in prison in 1989, and in 1990, he took part in meetings with the leadership of the newly unbanned ANC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dlamini, Chris 1944 births 2009 deaths People from Benoni South African Communist Party politicians South African trade unionists