The unknown story of Valliamma Munuswami Mudliar, a South African heroine

The Consulate General of India in Johannesburg, in association with the Tamil Federation Of Gauteng, commemorated the 108th death anniversary of Valliamma Munuswami Mudliar at Braamfontein Cemetery on 20 February 2022. Indian Consul General Anju Ranjan stressed the need to remember the sacrifices of these courageous unsung heroes. (CGI Joburg)

by Selvan Naidoo and Kiru Naidoo

22 February 2022

The telling of a truly inclusive South African history can only be complete when the names of Valliamma Munuswami Mudliar, Sara ‘Saartjie’ Baartman, Charlotte Maxeke, Dorothy Nyembe, Phila Ndwandwe, Poomanie Moodley, Harriet Bolton, Victoria Mxenge are known to the majority of South Africans. Until their sacrifices are acknowledged and commemorated for the freedoms we enjoy today can we claim that our work as historians, archivists, filmmakers, journalists and writers is done.

Today marks the 124th birth anniversary of “Thillaiyadi” Valliamma Munuswami Mudliar. Valliamma has earned a special place in the annals of South African freedom history. The activist was born on 22 February 1898 in Johannesburg to Munuswami, a fruit and vegetable hawker and Mangalam Mudliar. Her parents came to South Africa from Thillaiyadi in Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

Being born in South Africa in the midst of the struggle against an oppressive colonial government, Valliamma’s destiny to campaign for a just society was inevitable. Her parents were passive resistors, both having served imprisonment. Valliamma, the oldest of four children often accompanied her parents to rallies and other politically associated meetings chaired by Mahatma Gandhi and Thambi Naidoo. Therein began her own journey in the resistance movement.

At the age of 15, she was the youngest amongst the eleven women who set out from Tolstoy Farm in the Transvaal to the Natal border. During the 17 days that followed she was actively involved in marches and demonstrations from the Transvaal, to Orange Free State and Natal, campaigning against the unjust and discriminatory laws affecting Indian South Africans. After illegally crossing the Natal border, Valliamma along with her entourage managed to convince the coal miners of Northern Natal and their wives to join the protest. This eventually led to over 50 000 plantation and mine workers joining the Great 1913 Strike.

On 22 December 1913, just 2 months after her departure from Tolstoy Farm, she, together with her mother and other women in the movement were arrested and sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour. Valliamma’s health deteriorated while in prison. The conditions in which inmates were kept were atrocious. She was bedridden before her release on 11 February 1914.

On her 16th birthday on 22 February 1914, the courageous teenage activist passed on. Mourning the death of Valliamma, Mahatma Gandhi wrote: “Her sudden and unexpected demise, after her return home holds it in all the elements of tragedy. We mourn the loss of a noble daughter … who has set an example of womanly fortitude, pride and virtue that will, we are sure, not be lost…”

“As a child she sought no special comforts, nor expected any favours, nor did she want any comfort for herself... She only wanted her people to be free.” - Natal Tamil Vedic Society Trust.

Valliamma is buried at the Braamfontein Cemetery in Johannesburg.

*Selvan Naidoo serves as a Director at the 1860 Heritage Centre and Kiru Naidoo serves as advisor to the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Special Collections.