Mewa Ramgobin | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office May 1994 – May 2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mawalal Ramgobin 10 November 1932 Inanda, Natal Province Union of South Africa |
| Died | 17 October 2016 (aged 83) Cape Town, Western Cape Republic of South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Other political affiliations | Natal Indian Congress |
| Spouse(s) | Mariam Moosagee Amajee |
| Children | 6 |
| Alma mater | University of Natal |
Mawalal "Mewa" Ramgobin (10 November 1932 – 17 October 2016) was a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist. A stalwart of the Natal Indian Congress, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009.
Born in Inanda and descended from Indian indentured labourers, Ramgobin became a student activist at the University of Natal. With his former wife, Ela Gandhi, he rose to prominence as a political and cultural activist in the Phoenix Settlement in the 1960s. A lifelong Gandhian, he was a central figure in the Natal Indian Congress, which he helped revive in 1971. He was later the founding treasurer of the United Democratic Front and the first accused in the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial. Between 1965 and 1990, he spent 12 years under house arrest.
After his three terms in the post-apartheid Parliament, Ramgobin retired from active politics in 2009, though he remained active in his lifelong cultural activism. In his later years, he established the Centre for Learning of Ubuntu, chaired the Phoenix Settlement Trust, and continued his sporadic writing career.