Two Canadians to receive prestigious order from South African government, for the first time since Brian Mulroney

TORONTO, April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the second time in its history, the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo will be awarded in silver to two Canadians who dedicated over 20 years of activism to oppose the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The recipients, Ken Luckhardt and Brenda Wall, are long-time trade union activists. The only other Canadian recipient was former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in 2015.

Wall and Luckhardt are to receive the prestigious lifetime award in Pretoria, South Africa on April 30, 2024, from South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.

The High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Canada, Rieaz ?Moe' Shaik, said: "We take this moment to congratulate both Ken and Brenda for the solidarity and commitment they have shown to the liberation of South Africa from the ravages of Apartheid."

While studying at the University of Alberta, Luckhardt and Wall's first act of resistance was organizing a mass occupation of a cricket pitch in Edmonton, Alberta, when an Apartheid-sponsored cricket team was paraded across Canada in 1976. They were arrested along with 59 other protestors who were eventually acquitted.

But that was only the beginning. Two years later, Luckhardt and Wall left their studies to volunteer with the South African Congress of Trade Unionists (SACTU), the sister organization to the African National Congress (ANC), which came to power when Nelson Mandela was elected President in 1994. The two were sent to England, Zambia, and Tanzania to research and write the history of SACTU. Their book, Organize or Starve, was the culmination of hundreds of hours of live interviews with underground trade unionists, published in 1980 in London, UK.

"We remain humbled that SACTU took us in and entrusted us with that enormous undertaking," said Wall. Luckhardt and Wall enlisted the support of many other Canadian trade unionists who excitedly took up the call to educate and organize in workplaces throughout the country.

"The supermarkets in St. Catharines, Ontario certainly didn't expect a group of mostly white, working-class auto workers to fill up their carts with South African products like canned fruit, only to abandon them on the conveyor and state that the goods were from Apartheid South Africa," added Luckhardt.

Doug Miller, SACTU solidarity alumnus said: "Alongside SACTU, Brenda and Ken built the network and laid the groundwork for what became a model of international worker solidarity. They worked with rank-and-file union members and navigated union structures to lever support for freedom and democracy for the working classes of South Africa... Prison guards refused to allow South African produce to be used in the kitchens they worked in. Airline agents refused to book trips to and from South Africa. Longshore workers refused to offload ships carrying cargo from South Africa."

Three classes of appointments exist: the Supreme Companion (Gold), Grand Companion (Silver), and Companion (Bronze). Other awardees include Mahatma Gandhi (Supreme Companion, 2002), Kofi Annan (Supreme Companion, 2004), Harry Belafonte (Grand Companion, 2008), Reverend Jesse Jackson (Grand Companion, 2013), and just last year, Tracy Chapman (Grand Companion, 2023). Luckhardt and Wall will each be receiving the Silver Grand Companion award.

Luckhardt and Wall said: "This award belongs to a cast of thousands. Those imprisoned, tortured, and killed as they rose up against Apartheid capitalism, both in and outside of the country. To Canadian workers we worked with to display concrete actions of solidarity for those oppressed. To the leaders and comrades of SACTU for their steadfast struggle. To those who continue to fight oppression and apartheid in Palestine and elsewhere. And finally, to our beloved family who sacrificed time alongside us. Our living room was often ground zero for organizing."

High Commissioner Shaik added: "We hope that their commitment and solidarity can be a source of inspiration for oppressed people the world over, especially for the Palestinian people who are in need, more than ever, of our shared humanity."

Laura Walton, the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), offered words of congratulations on behalf of Ontario's labour movement: "As trade unionists, we are incredibly proud of Ken and Brenda's contribution to this historic struggle. This award is a testament to their decades-long opposition to Apartheid in South Africa, and shows what true international solidarity can achieve. Our movement owes them a debt of gratitude, and we will be inspired by their example as we turn our attention to today's struggles for a better world."

This statement is supported by the High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to Canada.

For more information, please contact:

Doug Miller
Lead, Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activists History Project
Alumnus, SACTU Solidarity Committee

[email protected] | 514-702-4271