Isaac Phahla, affectionately known as Bawo’Phahla(father) and patriarch of the most politically influential metalworker’s union giant, died last weekend at the age of 65.
He was one of the committed freedom-fighters and self- taught financial expert the liberation movement, in conjunction with National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) ever produced. Phahla was a Numsa regional treasurer and national finance committee member for the past 12 years.
Long time anti-apartheid stalwart and Thokoza local chairperson of the South African Communist Party for three terms, he had established himself as one of the most talented financial practitioner in the union who invented his own “graphical financial analysis”. And consistently putting into use his newly- invented finance control dexterity, he rooted out abuse of telephones and stationary in the Ekurhuleni regional office.
Though considered most often to have reached his prime time, being the oldest activist among the highest decision- making Numsa central committee executive, Phahla was still looking forward to achieve bigger things in life because he could no longer study to become a lawyer, his long cherished wish. He still wanted to make his mark in the forthcoming International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) next November 2007 central executive committee conference in Bahia, Brazil.
In an SACP pre-national congress workshop convened to analyze challenges of the labour vanguard party in the Constitutional Hill’s women section jail in Hillbrow, northeast of |Johannesburg, Phahla displayed his most watchable tourist guide actor, when he lead Numsa delegation to the oldest prison cells, reminiscing about his days as student political activist when he was incarcerated in the same prison dungeons in 1962, together with old-time ANC veterans after the banning of the black political organizations.
Born in Dukathole Township near Germiston, in 3rd June 1943. Phahla grew up from humble beginning to become an ANC activist at the age of 20 when he was completing his joint matriculation board (JMB) education in Kilnerton Training College in Pretoria.
He became increasingly involved in the ANC activities at the time when the apartheid government had mounted a siege on ANC and PAC political activists. This resulted in his arrest together with the Constitutional Court deputy president judge Dikgang Moseneke, who was the youngest PAC student activist in the same college.
His home in Germiston was repeatedly raided by security police, then his father, sister Sylvia and also his brother in-law became victims of the state of emergency declared by the then Nationalist Party government intended to uproot so-called communists.
When Phahla was eventually released from year-long detention and after numerous political groupings went into exile, he went underground for a few years. He later sought refuge in his brother in-law’s mining family house(schoonplaas) in Randfontein and he ended up working in the same mine as a records clerk. Because he was often harassed, he never stayed in one place for too long.
A month before his death, he once boasted to the ailing national president of Numsa Mtutuzeli Tom, that he would never become sick and that he would “just sleep to his death”.
He remained a full- time shop steward at the Wispeco in Germiston and Numsa treasurer. He was divorced and survived by his eldest daughter and two sons. One of his sons is in the United States of America.
For more information contact;
Mziwakhe Hlangani, Numsa national spokesperson
Cell phone 0829407116