Man with the one black glove by Salie Manie

Salie Manie takes us through his life as a young man, an anti-apartheid activist, a trade unionist and an ANC parliamentarian. His critical role in the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) provides a rare insider view into the inner workings of the trade union movement, as well as the 1990 SAMWU strike that brought Cape Town to a standstill.

Salie Manie was born in 1949 in District Six and grew up in Athlone. In the 1980s he served as a shop steward and then as Vice President of the Cape Town Municipal Workers Association, and later as Western Cape leader of the South African Municipal Worker’s Union. He also served on the economic and development task force of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and was involved in devising the Reconstruction and Development Programme. He was Vice Chairperson of the local government negotiating forum during the transition to democracy and represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly from 1994 until his resignation in 2007. He is the author of several books on Islam, including Essentials of Tawhid, A Journey of the Heart and Hidden Secrets.