Remembering Sunny Singh: ANC Icon and Liberation Struggle Hero

The ANC liberation struggle icon and Umkhonto weSizwe operative Sunny Singh died unhappy with the current state of the party he had dedicated his life to.

Singh was laid to rest on Tuesday, he died on Thursday at the age of 86.

Speaking at his funeral service in Durban, his fellow Operation Vula commander Mac Maharaj told  mourners that Singh was concerned about the state of the ANC, a party he dedicated his life to. He, however, stated that Singh had always hoped that things would get better for the party and it would return to its past glory.

“Comrade Singh was very concerned and unhappy about the current state of affairs of his beloved movement, the ANC. However, as a principled and disciplined member he always lived in hope that at some stage the party would renew itself,” said Maharaj.

Singh was a member of Operation Vula, an underground group of Umkhonto weSizwe armed operatives, who were led by Maharaj and tasked to secretly enter South Africa through Mozambique and Swaziland to overthrow the then apartheid government. 

He was honoured with a special provincial state funeral by the President Cyril Ramaphosa in recogntion of his contribution to the liberation of the oppressed people and the attainment of freedom in the country. The eulogy was delivered by KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Thamsanqa Ntuli on behalf of the provincial government. Ntuli thanked Singh for his contribution to the liberation of black people.

Singh grew up in Umkumbaan, Cato Manor – a crowded, working-class settlement in the west edge of Durban. His father had come to Natal as an indentured worker; his mother worked long hours as a factory machinist. He showed signs of political consciousness at a young age when he challenged the family’s landlord who became his first “immediate enemy”.

He told him that exploitation could come from one’s own community, as much as from the state. As a young boy, Singh had seen people being humiliated over rent and arrears, and saw decent families live in fear of eviction. He joined the Natal Indian Congress in 1950 and he was in the first group that joined Umkhonto weSizwe army when it was formed in 1962.

He was arrested and jailed for 10 years on Robben Island after participating in a sabotage operation in Natal. He became the ANC’s representative in the Netherlands before returning home in 1991. After the 1994 democratic elections, he joined the police and later became a Colonel in the Crime Intelligence unit.

Among the senior ANC leaders who attended his funeral were ANC KwaZulu-Natal convener Jeff Radebe who was imprisoned with Singh on Robben Island, provincial coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu and SACP senior leaders Yunus Carrim and Ronnie Kasrils.  

[email protected]