Eddie Daniels (political activist)
| Edward (Eddie) Daniels | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 October 1928 District Six, Cape Town, Cape |
| Nationality | South African |
| Known for | anti-apartheid activism |
Eddie Daniels (born 25 October 1928) is a South African former activist against apartheid who spent 15 years as a political prisoner on Robben Island during the years that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there.
With an English-born father and a Coloured mother, Daniels was automatically racially classified as Coloured, a term he takes exception to. He prefers to be called South African. His childhood was largely happy in the neighbourhoods of District Six and Lavender Hill, Cape Town. Encounters with gangs and police injustice helped to form his ideas of fairness and decent behaviour. Living close to Table Mountain, Daniels and his friends had plenty of opportunity to spend time walking and climbing.
Daniels attended local schools, and finished his schooling with a standard six certificate (grade eight). He had various small jobs while still a schoolboy, and eventually, shortly after the end of World War II, Daniels attempted to join the Merchant fleet, but had to defer that ambition till later, in 1954, he was able to go whaling. After his days at sea, Daniels joined the diamond-mining business in Oranjemund, where he operated large machines to clear the bedrock of sand. Since nobody enquired, Daniels was accepted as white. The beauty of the wild and solitude both at sea and in the desert all appealed to him.
Daniels was particularly perceptive, and was soon sensitised to the inequalities around him. In 1952 he started being more active, attending meetings and protest marches. This was also the start of Daniels' involvement with his political home, the Liberal Party.
On returning from Oranjemund to Cape Town, Daniels became aware of more injustices through his involvement in a photographic business. He started seeing the hurt that people suffered simply because they were non-white. After becoming involved in various demonstrations, he found that the Liberal Party of South Africa espoused the principles (democracy and justice in a non-racial South Africa) that he valued. "It was a happy day that I joined the Liberal Party of South Africa (LP), because there I met some of the nicest and bravest people dedicated to the principles of non-racialism and justice." When Daniels told Walter Sisulu how he joined the LP, Sisulu was amazed that Daniels just walked up and joined an organisation on the basis of its principles.
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