Samuel Alfred (Taffy) Long, heralded as one of South Africa's greatest working-class martyrs, was arrested after the defeat of Fordsburg during the Rand Revolt. Long was arrested for the murder of Alwyn Petrus Marais, a Fordsburg shopkeeper, and later also charged with high treason and the possession of loot. On 17 November 1922, he was hanged at the Central Prison in Pretoria, together with Herbert Hull and David Lewis, both strikers, who had been sentenced for the murder of Lt Rupert William Taylor. When they were brought from their cells, the three men sang the 'Red Flag', the official anthem of early socialists and communists in South Africa.
eventREF E-0011442Revised
15 March 1922
Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
How we know this
- 01Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography, v.1 , Pretoria: HSRC.
- 02SAHO, Samuel Alfred (Taffy) Long, from South African History Online, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 17 February 2014]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011442
South African History Online (2011) 'Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011442 (Accessed: 10 November 2026).
South African History Online, Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011442, (accessed 10 November 2026).
"Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011442. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.
South African History Online. "Labour pioneer Samuel Long is arrested." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011442.
Also on 15 March
- 1922The Rand Revolt strikers’ stronghold at Fordsburg Square falls to the government
- 1946The Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act is introduced
- 1961South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth
- 1973The astronomical observatory at Sutherland in the Karoo is opened.
- 1974Percy Montgomery, Springbok rugby player of the Western Province, is born.
- 1978Durban magistrate rules the death of Dr Haffejee accidental
- 1985SAAN announces its decision to close the Rand Daily Mail
- 1994IFP makes election threat
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