Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia

Born: 1915
Updated: 21 Jul 2026

Born in 1915 and restricted to Johannesburg by the apartheid government. A leading figure in the South African Indian Congress in the 1940s and 1950s; he was instrumental in bringing about African/Indian co-operation during the 1952 Defiance campaign. He was arrested several times for civil disobediance and convicted with 19 other leaders in the Defiance Campaign in Dec 52, receiving a 9 month suspended sentence. He has been continuously under ban since 1953 and was under house arrest from 1963 to 1973. In 1963 his second wife, Amina, was issued with a banning order, making it necessary for them to obtain government permission to speak to one another.

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, March 19). Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/xh/ref/B-0079921

South African History Online (2012) ' Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia', South African History Online, 19 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/xh/ref/B-0079921 (Accessed: 29 July 2026).

South African History Online, Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia [website], https://sahistory.org.za/xh/ref/B-0079921, (accessed 29 July 2026).

" Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia." South African History Online, 19 Mar. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/xh/ref/B-0079921. Accessed 29 July 2026.

South African History Online. " Yusaf Ahmed Cachalia." South African History Online. March 19, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/xh/ref/B-0079921.