Two Canadians to receive prestigious order from South African government, for the first time since Brian Mulroney
2024年4月30日 - 9:11PM
For the second time in its history, the Order of the Companions of
OR Tambo will be awarded in silver to two Canadians who dedicated
over 20 years of activism to oppose the Apartheid regime in South
Africa. The recipients, Ken Luckhardt and Brenda Wall, are
long-time trade union activists. The only other Canadian recipient
was former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in 2015.
Wall and Luckhardt are to receive the prestigious lifetime award
in Pretoria, South Africa on April 30, 2024, from South African
President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.
The High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Canada,
Rieaz ‘Moe’ Shaik, said: “We take this moment to congratulate both
Ken and Brenda for the solidarity and commitment they have shown to
the liberation of South Africa from the ravages of Apartheid.”
While studying at the University of Alberta, Luckhardt and
Wall’s first act of resistance was organizing a mass occupation of
a cricket pitch in Edmonton, Alberta, when an Apartheid-sponsored
cricket team was paraded across Canada in 1976. They were arrested
along with 59 other protestors who were eventually acquitted.
But that was only the beginning. Two years later, Luckhardt and
Wall left their studies to volunteer with the South African
Congress of Trade Unionists (SACTU), the sister organization to the
African National Congress (ANC), which came to power when Nelson
Mandela was elected President in 1994. The two were sent to
England, Zambia, and Tanzania to research and write the history of
SACTU. Their book, Organize or Starve, was the culmination of
hundreds of hours of live interviews with underground trade
unionists, published in 1980 in London, UK.
“We remain humbled that SACTU took us in and entrusted us with
that enormous undertaking,” said Wall. Luckhardt and Wall enlisted
the support of many other Canadian trade unionists who excitedly
took up the call to educate and organize in workplaces throughout
the country.
“The supermarkets in St. Catharines, Ontario certainly didn’t
expect a group of mostly white, working-class auto workers to fill
up their carts with South African products like canned fruit, only
to abandon them on the conveyor and state that the goods were from
Apartheid South Africa,” added Luckhardt.
Doug Miller, SACTU solidarity alumnus said: “Alongside SACTU,
Brenda and Ken built the network and laid the groundwork for what
became a model of international worker solidarity. They worked with
rank-and-file union members and navigated union structures to lever
support for freedom and democracy for the working classes of South
Africa… Prison guards refused to allow South African produce to be
used in the kitchens they worked in. Airline agents refused to book
trips to and from South Africa. Longshore workers refused to
offload ships carrying cargo from South Africa.”
Three classes of appointments exist: the Supreme Companion
(Gold), Grand Companion (Silver), and Companion (Bronze). Other
awardees include Mahatma Gandhi (Supreme Companion, 2002), Kofi
Annan (Supreme Companion, 2004), Harry Belafonte (Grand Companion,
2008), Reverend Jesse Jackson (Grand Companion, 2013), and just
last year, Tracy Chapman (Grand Companion, 2023). Luckhardt and
Wall will each be receiving the Silver Grand Companion award.
Luckhardt and Wall said: “This award belongs to a cast of
thousands. Those imprisoned, tortured, and killed as they rose up
against Apartheid capitalism, both in and outside of the country.
To Canadian workers we worked with to display concrete actions of
solidarity for those oppressed. To the leaders and comrades of
SACTU for their steadfast struggle. To those who continue to fight
oppression and apartheid in Palestine and elsewhere. And finally,
to our beloved family who sacrificed time alongside us. Our living
room was often ground zero for organizing.”
High Commissioner Shaik added: “We hope that their commitment
and solidarity can be a source of inspiration for oppressed people
the world over, especially for the Palestinian people who are in
need, more than ever, of our shared humanity.”
Laura Walton, the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour
(OFL), offered words of congratulations on behalf of Ontario’s
labour movement: “As trade unionists, we are incredibly proud of
Ken and Brenda’s contribution to this historic struggle. This award
is a testament to their decades-long opposition to Apartheid in
South Africa, and shows what true international solidarity can
achieve. Our movement owes them a debt of gratitude, and we will be
inspired by their example as we turn our attention to today’s
struggles for a better world.”
This statement is supported by the High Commissioner of the
Republic of South Africa to Canada.
For more information, please contact:
Doug MillerLead, Canadian Anti-Apartheid
Activists History ProjectAlumnus, SACTU Solidarity Committee
doug.miller.mtl@gmail.com | 514-702-4271