Sidney Bunting

Through private studies, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws in 1904 from the South African College, Cape Town, so he could work as a lawyer.

[4] Bunting was an early exponent of the South African Labour Party (SALP), which was constituted following strikes that took place from 1907 onwards, and was shaped by members of the middle class of European origin.

[2] The SALP maintained close ties with the country's trade unions, but took reactionary and conservative positions with regard to demographic inequalities in the Cape Colony labour market.

In September 1914, Bunting led some members of the party to oppose participation by the Union of South Africa in World War I.

[5] Bunting had supported the Russian October Revolution,[2] and the ISL would be the forerunner to the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA).

The party had recruited numerous black members and Bunting defended many of them in court, often without financial payment.

Financially crippled and no longer able to work as a lawyer, he became a viola player in a touring cinema orchestra.