Swaminathan Karuppa "Swami" Gounden (1927 – 30 November 2021) was a South African trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist from Natal.
Born in 1927 in Durban,[1] Gounden entered politics through the trade union movement and joined the Communist Party of South Africa at Magazine Barracks in 1944.
[1] Over the next five decades, he was active in civic organisations in Natal, notably residents' associations in Asherville and the United Democratic Front.
[1] In 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa awarded him the Order of Luthuli in Silver, "For his life-long and courageous fight against apartheid oppression".
[3] He died on 30 November 2021, aged 93,[4] and was granted an official provincial funeral, at which KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala delivered the eulogy.