Catalyst for struggle activism

The deep tragedy of Johnny Issel’s activism was that for most of the period 1975 to 1990 he was either in prison, banned or on the run.

Despite his strong belief in the power of mass communication he was prevented from communicating broadly, except for the brief periods when he was unrestricted.

Historians studying the awakening of a people need to understand that every action requires a catalyst. Issel was, in many struggles, a catalyst. To understand the unfolding struggle of that time is to understand the revolutionary Johnny Issel. He was an activist without peer.

Raised in deep poverty in the Boland town of Worcester, Issel moved to Boksburg with his mother when he was a teenager and then, as a student, to the University of the Western Cape, at the age of 23.

His entry into politics was through the church. In his third year at university he joined the South African Students’ Organisation (Saso), started by people such as Steve Biko. Through it he was involved in leading the walk-off from campus in protest against apartheid education in June 1973.

‘Issel’s development’
The decision to take the struggle off the campus and into the Cape Flats community was seminal in Issel’s development.

He was detained in 1975 as one of a group of Saso leaders, some of whom were later charged and convicted, allegedly for organising rallies to celebrate Frelimo’s victory in Mozambique. He was banned on his release, detained again in 1976 and then released after about six months with a fresh banning order.

He assisted the Food and Canning Workers’ Union for the next few years and grew particularly close to Oscar Mpetha, the veteran trade unionist. The tide of community support turned in 1979 when, in quick succession, there were strikes and dismissals at the Fatti’s & Moni’s pasta factory in Cape Town and the Wilson-Rowntree sweet factory in East London.

In both instances community support for the workers was generated by consumer boycotts that were the fruit of Issel’s tireless efforts.

In January 1980 he took advantage of a brief respite from detention and banning and initiated the establishment of the first truly alternative newspaper, Grassroots.

He was banned, preventing him from continuing his work as the full-time Grassroots organiser and later that year was again detained for almost six months. After his release he became the director of an NGO, the Churches Urban Planning Commission, and used the position and the commission’s facilities as an important institution for training activists.

Time and again he would return to find activists to support trade union struggles.

Coming to the fore
A chink opened in the armour of the apartheid regime in 1982 with an attempt to lure coloureds and Indians into a tricameral parliament. This created an opportunity for the establishment of the United Democratic Front. In the build-up to its launch Issel’s genius came to the fore.

The Western Cape was a complex, divided region with a number of political formations. At his behest, each of these was invited to join forces. Issel wanted to be clear that those who refused to forge links had been given an opportunity to do so.

To ensure that the UDF was representative he was directly involved in establishing a raft of mass-based organisations affiliated to the front. He was directly involved in establishing the first community-based youth movement, the Cape Youth Congress (Cayco); he drew church youth clubs into the Inter Church Youth and drew in Muslims by setting up the Call of Islam.

Issel was also instrumental in initiating the idea of two organisations in the white community — Cape Democrats and Jews for Justice.

After a fresh banning order shortly before the launch of the UDF his views were articulated by his very young daughter, Leila, who enraptured the audience with her “My daddy says” speech.

As the UDF took root, repression intensified. Issel went underground and was deeply involved in recruiting for and the campaigns of Umkhonto weSizwe. He could call on people, whether for safe houses or as recruits, because he was trusted and respected.

After the ANC was unbanned in 1990 came the task of rebuilding the legal ANC. He was a member of the interim leadership core and was appointed regional organiser for the Western Cape. But he grew increasingly attracted to understanding the lives of fishing communities.

After the 1994 elections Issel became a member of the Western Cape legislature but resigned in about 1997 to link up once again with fishing communities. He appeared to be disillusioned with the trajectory of formal politics.

In 2003 he left for France and the United Kingdom on a journey of self-discovery, as he described it. While abroad, he suffered two debilitating strokes. Returning to Cape Town, he continued to battle ill health.

In 2007 he was honoured both by the Western Cape and by the national government, with the latter awarding him the Order of Luthuli in recognition of his contribution to the struggle for democracy.

He died at Groote Schuur Hospital on January 24, aged 64. We mourn one of South Africa’s greatest revolutionaries — a strategist, thinker and irrepressible militant.