MOLTENO, DONALD

Donald Molteno (February 13, 1908-December 24, 1972) was born into a family with deep political traditions and roots in the liberal history of the Cape Province and became one of the most outspoken advocates of black political rights in Parliament.

PHOTOCAPTION: Molteno,Donald SOURCE:EA LIBRARY

His grandfather had been a Prime Minister of the Cape and an uncle the Speaker of the last Cape Colony Parliament. Molteno studied the law, taking his degrees at Cambridge. He practiced as a barrister throughout his life, leaving active politics in 1964 to become a lecturer in law at the University of Cape Town and spending his last years as the Dean of the Faculty of Law there.

Molteno was elected in 1937 to the South African House of Assembly and served until 1948. Before 1936, Cape Africans meeting certain qualifications were allowed to vote on the common roll. With the passage of the 1936 Hertzog Bill, this direct representation was revoked. Africans would now vote for three special Native Representatives.

Molteno was one of these three Native Representatives, his constituency being a huge tract of land from Cape Town to Mafeking to Kimberly called the Cape Western Electoral Circle.

At the time of his election, Molteno declared that he did not desire a Parliamentary career, but he saw “the present native and racial policy of the country as disastrous to its future.” In the Cape liberal tradition, Molteno believed in black political participation and pinned his hopes on a franchise, albeit qualified, for which he fought unceasingly.

He was also staunchly against the formalising of apartheid through such measures as passing laws and spearheaded fights against them in Parliament. Beyond his Parliamentary career, Molteno involved himself in other efforts that reinforced his views. These included being a founding member of the Liberal Party (the only legal multi-racial party in South African history); moving later to the Progressive Party; becoming a President of the South African Institute of Race Relations; and serving as a patron and advisor to several anti-apartheid groups including the Black Sash, a group that he shepherded from silent protest to more active political involvement through their opening of legal advice offices for Africans.

As a Native Representative, Molteno came to be known by his constituents as Dilizintaba (He Who Removes Mountains).

STEVEN McDONALD