Elijah Barayi

Elijah Barayi (15 June 1930 – 24 January 1994) was a South African trade union leader.

Born in Lingelihle Cradock, Barayi was one of eight children that, all came from a working-class family. Cradock was known for being a politically active town, which later on became known as the "Cradock Four" for anti-apartheid activism. Elijah Barayi studied at Lwana Primary School, and he also got his certificate at Nuwell High School. Barayi joined the ANC Youth League as a teenager in 1952. He was arrested in the early 1950s for being a participant in the Defiance Campaign. The Defiance Campaign was known as the first civil disobedience since the apartheid laws were set in place. This campaign involved many volunteers from different areas of South Africa, who broke these apartheid laws on purpose to shed light on the injustice done against them. He and many others were arrested during a state of emergency after the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960. This was seen as a turning point in ANC activism, which pushed many activists underground. Barayi aspired to study at Fort Hare University, which produced many notable African leaders, including Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. His family was unable to afford tuition, so he instead became a clerk at the Department of Native Affairs, which is a government office that was responsible for enforcing apartheid policies. Later, he decided to resign from this job because he viewed the department as enforcing discrimination. This decision reflected his stance on social and political justice.