Sam Kahn
| Sam Kahn | |
|---|---|
| 'Native Representative' Member of Parliament for Western Cape Province | |
|
In office 1949–1952 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 December 1911 Cape Town, Union of South Africa |
| Died | 25 August 1987 (aged 75) Israel |
| Political party | Communist Party of South Africa (until 1950) |
| Spouse(s) | Pauline Kahn |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town |
Sam Kahn (15 December 1911 – 25 August 1987) was a South African Communist and MP from 1949 to 1952, for one of the constituencies representing African voters. Born in Cape Town, he joined the Communist Party of South Africa and earned a LLB degree from the University of Cape Town in 1932. From 1938 onwards, he was nearly continuously a member of the central executive committee of the CPSA.
From 1943 to 1952, he was a member of Cape Town city council, and on 17 November 1948 he was elected to South African House of Assembly as a Communist, representing African voters in the western Cape Province (from 1937 to 1960, African voters voted for 'native representative' MPs instead of constituency MPs with White voters), campaigning on his disapproval of Prime Minister Malan's "nazi doctrine of white supremacy". He made his maiden speech on 27 January 1949 during a debate on a no confidence motion moved by the leader of the opposition, Field Marshal J. C. Smuts.
Expelled from parliament in 1952 upon suspicion of operating with illegal Communist organisations (the CPSA being outlawed in 1950), he left South Africa permanently in 1960 and settled down in the United Kingdom.
Sam came from a family of 9 children being the youngest or second youngest. His father died in the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only seven years old. His mother Betty had to bring the family on her own; she never remarried. They were desperately poor as a result of there being no breadwinner. As a result, Sam had to walk 3 miles to school and back everyday. This made him into a keen walker later on in life. Sam went to work at age sixteen in order to help support the family. Betty was very possessive and didn't want any of her children to get married, so very few of his siblings did get married. Sam's mothers' maiden name was Marx, his father was Joseph Kahn. Betty Marx had a musical brother who emigrated to America and whose son supposedly wrote the hit song "All of me" which was covered by Dean Martin and others and became a big hit.
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