Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors

Date: 24 May 1952
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors

Emil Solomon (Solly) Sachs addressed 15 000 workers on the steps of the Johannesburg City Hall during a protest meeting organised by the Garment Workers' Union of South Africa (GWU). He was later arrested as the protest was deemed unlawful by the government and he appeared in court the following Monday. The case was postponed and Sachs again tried to address a mass meeting of striking garment workers in front of the city hall. He was rearrested and released on bail a day later. In July 1952 he was found guilty on two charges and sentenced to six months' forced labour on each. His appeal against the sentence, which he argued himself, was dismissed on 2 September 1952. The sentence was suspended for two years.

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How we know this

01Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography , v.1 , Pretoria: HSRC.
02Blackwell Reference Online,"Sachs, Solly (1900”“1976)",From:Blackwell Reference Online,[Online],Available at: www.blackwellreference.com,[Accessed on: 20 May 2014]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011778

South African History Online (2011) 'Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011778 (Accessed: 16 August 2026).

South African History Online, Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011778, (accessed 16 August 2026).

"Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011778. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Solly Sachs addresses Garment Worker’s protestors." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011778.