Phyllis Altman

Phyllis Miriam Altman (née Sachs), was the daughter of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants Morris and Beile Sachs.[2] She attended Jeppe High School for Girls.[4] Altman, like other girls at her high school, sewed "for the poor Blacks" on Thursdays.[1] Altman attended the University of Witwatersrand on a loan from the Transvaal Education Department that stipulated she teach after graduation.[4] During her time at university, she took part in student demonstrations protesting the "Greyshirts and the bulldozing of Sophiatown."[4] She earned an undergraduate degree and then finished an Honours degree in History before spending a year at the Teachers' Training College in Johannesburg.[4] She was almost expelled from the Teachers' Training College because of her activism, but she graduated and spent three years teaching at "all White schools."[4] After teaching, she started working for the anti-fascist Springbok Legion.[1] In the Springbok Legion, she helped support ex-servicemen of color,[2] where she was able to see the "disastrous effects of the Apartheid system on African men."[1]

For three years, Altman and her husband Ray Altman, a South African trade unionist, lived in London.[4] In 1952, she published The Law of the Vultures.[4][5] The book was based on her experience working with the Springbok Legion.[4] Not long after its publication and good critical reception internationally, a professor at the University of Witwatersrand called the book "subversive," which caused many booksellers to return copies of the book.[4]

Altman joined the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) in 1956 and quickly became very involved with the organization.[1] Altman was the only full-time paid employee of SACTU between 1956 and 1963, where she worked as Assistant General Secretary.[1] During this time, she kept in contact with South African unions and international unions, both.[6] Her distribution of materials to libraries and trade unions around the world enabled the preservation of primary materials relating to SACTU.[1] Altman represented SACTU at the Fourth Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in 1957.[1] During government sweeps in 1960, resulting in people becoming "emergency detainees," Altman took refuge in Swaziland.[7] She was banned in 1964 under the Suppression of Communism Act which prevented her from teaching and working with the unions.[2] She left South Africa in 1964.[1] Altman still helped SACTU, remotely, operating with others out of London.[8]

When Solly Sachs left the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) in 1967, John Collins hired Altman to be in charge of administrative affairs.[9] Altman was the general secretary of what was known as Programme 1, which helped secretly channel funds to defence lawyers in South Africa.[10] She was very secretive about the system, using a secret code with her contacts and a system that was difficult to crack.[2] Altman was also able to successfully deflect attempts by South African spy Craig Williamson, to infiltrate IDAF.[10]

Altman also edited books for IDAF under the Kliptown Books name.[2] Collins died in 1982, and Altman stayed afterwards long enough to ensure that the reorganization was "firmly established," and then retired.[10]

Altman was also involved in a programme that educated "Rhodesian blacks interned in camps."[2] Half of the cabinet of Robert Mugabe had degrees they had earned with Altman's help.[2]

Altman's role in working with IDAF became known after the release of Nelson Mandela.[2] Altman died on 18 September 1999 in London.[2]

• The Law Of The Vultures (1952)[11]
• Come Back, Africa! Fourteen Short Stories from South Africa (1968)[12]

• List of people subject to banning orders under apartheid