Sam Kahn

Sam Kahn
'Native Representative' Member of Parliament for Western Cape Province
In office 1949–1952
Personal details
Born	15 December 1911 Cape Town, Union of South Africa
Died	25 August 1987 (aged 75) Israel
Political party	Communist Party of South Africa (until 1950)
Spouse(s)	Pauline Kahn
Alma mater	University of Cape Town

Sam Kahn (15 December 1911 – 25 August 1987) was a South African Communist and MP from 1949 to 1952, for one of the constituencies representing African voters. Born in Cape Town, he joined the Communist Party of South Africa and earned a LLB degree from the University of Cape Town in 1932. From 1938 onwards, he was nearly continuously a member of the central executive committee of the CPSA.

From 1943 to 1952, he was a member of Cape Town city council, and on 17 November 1948 he was elected to South African House of Assembly as a Communist, representing African voters in the western Cape Province (from 1937 to 1960, African voters voted for 'native representative' MPs instead of constituency MPs with White voters), campaigning on his disapproval of Prime Minister Malan's "nazi doctrine of white supremacy".^[1] He made his maiden speech on 27 January 1949 during a debate on a no confidence motion moved by the leader of the opposition, Field Marshal J. C. Smuts.

Expelled from parliament in 1952 upon suspicion of operating with illegal Communist organisations (the CPSA being outlawed in 1950), he left South Africa permanently in 1960 and settled down in the United Kingdom.^[2]

Early days

Sam came from a family of 9 children being the youngest or second youngest. His father died in the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only seven years old. His mother Betty had to bring the family on her own; she never remarried. They were desperately poor as a result of there being no breadwinner. As a result, Sam had to walk 3 miles to school and back everyday. This made him into a keen walker later on in life. Sam went to work at age sixteen in order to help support the family. Betty was very possessive and didn't want any of her children to get married, so very few of his siblings did get married. Sam's mothers' maiden name was Marx, his father was Joseph Kahn. Betty Marx had a musical brother who emigrated to America and whose son supposedly wrote the hit song "All of me" which was covered by Dean Martin and others and became a big hit.

Sam studied for a bachelor's degree in Greek and Latin at the University of Cape Town. He went on to do a law qualification and qualified as a barrister. However he lacked the £5 necessary to get the piece of paper which would have enabled him to operate as a barrister despite the fact that two of his brothers were comfortably off. He decided to practice as a solicitor instead of a barrister because he felt that by doing so he could remain close to the people he was determined to serve. Sam worked in the Traffic department of Cape Town City Council (1943 to 1952) and became involved in the analysis of traffic accidents, helping to make the roads of Cape Town safer by applying his skills in town planning. Later he practiced as a solicitor, often acting in cases where a black person had been unfairly treated as a result of the draconian laws which had been implemented by the ruling Nationalist Party; laws such as the Group Areas Act of 1951.

Sam Kahn also worked in a legal practice in downtown Cape Town for approximately 20 years, whilst simultaneously pursuing his political career. Popular amongst Africans, he defended many as clients in the course of his legal work. A member of the Cape Town City Council from 1943 to 1952, he was elected to Parliament by the Africans of the Cape western district in 1949 but was expelled three years later on the grounds that was a Communist.

In 1954 he visited Russia. Prohibited in 1954 from attending gatherings, he was subsequently convicted of violating his ban, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He left South Africa illegally in 1960 by spiriting himself out of the country in disguise - he grew a beard and dyed it red. This was typical of his sense of humour.

He left after getting a tip off that he was about to be arrested by BOSS. He donned a disguise and made his way out of the country through Swaziland. In Swaziland he and some other refugees chartered a small aircraft to take them north. The story has it that at one point in the journey Sam looked out the window and noticed a liquid leaking from the plane. He asked the pilot what it might be, and it turned out that the cap had mysteriously been left off the fuel tank. This may or may not have been an attempt at sabotage. He eventually arrived in England to be reunited with his wife and children, who had left a few months earlier in December 1959. Pauline and the children travelled from Cape Town to Southampton on an oceangoing mail liner called the RMS Pendennis Castle.

In England Sam settled in North London (1960-1984) and then in Guildford (1984-1987). Sam had four children with his wife Pauline. Sam Kahn died in Israel in 1987.

References

1. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853553,00.html
2. "Sam Kahn". South Africa History Online.