Ishwarlal Laloo "Isu" Chiba (5 November 1930 – 8 December 2017) was a South African politician and revolutionary. He was arrested and sentenced at the

Little Rivonia Trial The Little Rivonia Trial was a South African apartheid-era court case in which several members of the armed resistance organization Umkhonto we Sizwe faced charges of sabotage. The accused were: Laloo Chiba, Dave Kitson, Mac Maharaj, John Matthe ...

in 1964 with

Mac Maharaj Sathyandranath Ragunanan "Mac" Maharaj (born 22 April 1936 in Newcastle, Natal) is a retired South African politician affiliated with the African National Congress, academic and businessman of Indian origin. He was the official spokesperson o ...

and

Wilton Mkwayi Wilton Zimasile Mkwayi (17 December 1923 – 24 July 2004) was an African National Congress veteran and one of the first six members of Umkonto weSizwe to be sent for military training. Early life Wilton “Bri-Bri” Zimasile Mkwayi was born ...

to join

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...

Govan Mbeki Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African politician, military commander, Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe, at its inception in 1961. He was also the son of Chief Sike ...

and other revolutionary prisoners on

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

Early life

He was born to a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

family in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. As a child he attended Bree Street Primary School and later Johannesburg Indian High School in

Fordsburg Fordsburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 8. Fordsburg is a residential suburb, although housing numerous shops and factories. Today, Fordsburg is a major centre of Indian and Pakistani culture, with a larg ...

. He married Luxmi in India on 5 May 1952. In the early 1950s, Chiba became friends with

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Con ...

, Herbie Pillay and Bobby and Tommy Vassen, all members of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress (TIYC).

Revolutionary

Prior to the events in Sharpville, Chiba was an activist in the

Transvaal Indian Congress The South African Indian Congress (SAIC) was an organisation founded in 1921 in Natal Province, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa. The congress is famous for its strong participation by Mahatma Gandhi and other prominent South African India ...

in the late 1950s and 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 ...

in 1960. After the

Sharpeville massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...

in 1960, he concluded that peaceful protest had failed and military action was necessary, so he joined the

ANC 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 ...

's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961. He was a platoon commander in 1962 and a member of the group's High Command by 1963. He was captured and tortured after a failed attempt to sabotage a railway line. He was arrested on the 6 July 1964 for sabotage. He and the rest of the group were sentenced as members of a banned organisation and sent to Robben Island. Released in 1982, he continued the work of the ANC as a member of the United tic Front. In 1983, he became one of the vice-presidents of the Transvaal Indian Congress. He was rearrested in July 1985 and released without a trial in March 1986, after which he went into hiding so he could continue his work for the ANC. Upon the ANC's legalization in 1990, he became the president of its Lenasia branch. He was elected to South Africa's parliament in 1994 and 1999. In 2004 he was named a member of the

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003, and is granted by the President (government title), president of South Africa, for contributions to South Africa in the following fields: (i) the struggle for ...

. He was a board member of the

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is a South African based foundation the seeks to promote non-racialism and the principles within both the Freedom Charter and the South African Constitution. It is named after anti-apartheid activist, political prisone ...

Death

Chiba died on the 8 December 2017. He is survived by wife Luxmi, three daughters - Gita, Kailash, and Yaswanti, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. He was laid to rest on the following day at

Avalon Cemetery Avalon Cemetery is one of the largest graveyards in South Africa. It was opened in 1972, during the height of apartheid, as a graveyard exclusively for black people. The huge extension was officially opened on 9 February by Matshidiso Mfikoe, at ...

References

1930 births 2017 deaths South African revolutionaries 20th-century South African politicians Anti-apartheid activists Members of the Order of Luthuli People from Johannesburg {{SouthAfrica-politician-stub