Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane

Born: 1910
Updated: 23 Aug 2019

Summary

Teacher, assistant secretary of the Natal ANC, he led the first batch of Durban volunteers in the Defiance Campaign, member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC, provincial treasurer and later secretary of the Natal

Pitness Simelane was born in 1910. He was a leader of the African National Congress in Natal in the 1950s. As a teacher in the 1930s he helped establish high schools for Africans. He was later employed in a pharmacy. In 1952, while serving as assistant secretary of the Natal ANC, he led the first batch of Durban volunteers in the Defiance Campaign. He was elected to the national executive committee of the ANC in December 1952 and also rose steadily in the Natal provincial leadership, becoming provincial treasurer in 1953 and secretary in 1956. In December 1956 he was among those charged with treason and was a defendant until late 1958.

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, February 17). Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0009056

South African History Online (2011) 'Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane', South African History Online, 17 February. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0009056 (Accessed: 13 October 2026).

South African History Online, Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0009056, (accessed 13 October 2026).

"Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane." South African History Online, 17 Feb. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0009056. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Pitness (Stalwart) H. Simelane." South African History Online. February 17, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0009056.