KAJEE, ABDULLA ISMAIL

Kajee Abdulla Ismail, (1896-1947) an able and energetic Moslem businessman and philanthropist known for his gradualist and accommodationist policy, dominated the Natal Indian Congress from 1936 to 1945 and became secretary of the South African Indian Congress in 1937.

PHOTO CAPTION: Kajee Abdulla Ismail. SOURCE: EA Library

Kajee was born in Surat, India, and brought to South Africa as a baby. He was educated in South Africa as well as Algarn College in India. In 1922 Kajee founded a commercial house in Durban which controlled cinemas and factories and became one of the largest commercial ventures run by a South African of Indian descent. He also established child welfare programmes for South Africans of Indian descent.

In 1936 Kajee arranged a gentleman’s agreement with the white supremacist Natal Municipal Association opposed to the occupation of property by South Africans of Indian descent in white occupied areas. “Kajee’s Assurance” approved by the Natal Indian Congress pledged that South Africans of Indian descent would voluntarily refrain from occupying property in white areas. Kajee later argued that this agreement did not exclude the purchase of property in white areas for investment. This was a strategy to prevent legislative prohibition by the dominant white Natalians.

As a result of this policy and other issues, South Africans of Indian descent were divided into two bickering camps, the predominately Moslem Natal Indian Congress and the Hindu-controlled colonial-born and settlers Indian Association. An attempt to unify the two groups into the Natal Indian Association in 1939 fell through when Kajee and his supporters withdrew at the last minute and retained the Natal Indian Congress. During the Second World War, the urban working class among South Africans of Indian descent led by young radicals pressured their leadership to  broaden the membership of Congress and to adopt a militant strategy for reform. Kajee and his supporters in Congress continued to cooperate with the South African government.

In 1944 Kajee negotiated the Pretoria Agreement and was appointed to the so-called Third Broome Commission which was to formulate alternatives to the legal separation of South Africans of Indian descent from white Natalians. Before the commission concluded its work, the white-controlled South African government issued the Residential Property Regulation Ordinance which legally prevented South Africans of Indian descent from buying property in white-occupied areas of Natal. Kajee resigned from the commission.

In 1945 Kajee’s supporters boycotted the annual meeting of the Natal Indian Congress and the militant G.M. Naicker was elected president. In 1946 Kajee travelled to the United Nations in New York as part of the delegation of the South African Indian Congress to air the grievances of South Africans of Indian descent. Kajee collapsed and died the following year during a meeting with South Africa’s white authorities to discuss the rights of South Africans of Indian descent.

Kajee’s reputation as an advocate of the rights of South Africans of Indian descent was blemished by the accommodationist strategies he employed. Yet, Kajee was one of the long lines of black leaders who would cooperate in vain with white Natalians to effect reforms. He supported both the Natal Indian Congress and the South African Indian Congress and was also associated with welfare programs for South Africans of Indian descent.

C. TSEHLOANE KETO