[1] She was born to R. Munuswamy Mudaliar and Mangalam, a young immigrant couple from a small village called Thillaiyadi in Mayiladuthurai district in India to Johannesburg – the gold-city of South Africa to work for their way out of difficulty.

Young Valliammai joined her mother in the march by women from Transvaal to Natal – which was not legally permitted without passes.

Valliamma, and her mother Mangalam, joined the second batch of Transvaal women who went to Natal in October 1913 to explain the inequity of the three pound tax to the workers and persuade them to strike.

(Valliamma’s father, R. Munuswamy Mudaliar, owner of a fruit and vegetable shop in Johannesburg and a satyagrahi in the Transvaal, was recovering from an operation).

Valliamma fell ill soon after her conviction, but refused an offer of early release by the prison authorities.