The Apartheid years
Marxist activism
By 1957, Alexander was a member of the Cape Peninsula Students' Union, an affiliate of The Non-European Unity Movement of South Africa. He joined the African Peoples Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA) which was established in 1960. However he was ejected from APDUSA in 1961 and with Dulcie September, Ottilie Abrahams, and Andreas Shipinga, among others, formed a study group of nine members in July 1962, known as the Yu Chi Chan Club (YCCC); Yu Chi Chan is the Chinese name for guerrilla warfare, which Mao Zedong used. The YCCC disbanded in late 1962 and was replaced by the National Liberation Front (NLF), which Alexander co-founded. In July 1963, he, along with most members of the NLF, was arrested. In 1964, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit sabotage. From 1964–1974 he was imprisoned on Robben Island.
Imprisonment on Robben Island
Between 1964 and 1974, Neville Alexander was imprisoned on Robben Island, where he shared his captivity with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Mac Maharaj, amongst others. Despite the conditions of their imprisonment, the prisoners organised a vibrant intellectual life, often referred to as the "Robben Island University". Neville Alexander taught history there, took part in informal seminars and encouraged the study of African languages as well as critical reflection on South African history. He later regarded this experience as a defining moment in his intellectual development, having taught him the principles of democratic dialogue and cooperation between activists from different political backgrounds.
Activities following his release
Released in 1974, Alexander was subject to a five-year ban on political activity and placed under house arrest. During this period, he engaged in an undercover dialogue with the Black Consciousness Movement. He wrote One Azania, One Nation, published in 1979 under the pseudonym "No Sizwe", as the book was banned in South Africa. In this work, he continued his reflections on anti-colonialism and socialism, whilst also attempting to propose a definition of the nation that ran counter to that put forward by the white supremacists of apartheid.
From the late 1970s onwards, he resumed his academic career at the University of Cape Town, where he taught sociology. He was involved in several organisations working to promote democratic education, notably the South African Committee for Higher Education. He also played an important role in the National Languages Project, which promotes African languages in education and public life.
Post-Apartheid
After being released Alexander did pioneering work in the field of language policy and planning in South Africa from the early 1980s via organisations such as The Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA), as well as the LANGTAG process. He was influential in respect to language policy development with various government departments, including Education.
His most recent work was focused on the tension between multilingualism and the hegemony of English in the public sphere. He founded and was director of PRAESA from 1992 until the end of 2011 and a member of the Interim Governing Board of the African Academy of Languages. In 1981, he was appointed Director of the South African Committee for Higher Education (SACHED). At the time of his death, he had retired from being director of PRAESA at the University of Cape Town. In 1994, his Trotskyist Workers Organisation for Socialist Action contested the elections.
Alexander received the Linguapax Prize for 2008. The prize is awarded annually (since 2000) in recognition of contributions to linguistic diversity and multilingual education. The citation noted that he had devoted more than twenty years of his professional life to defend and preserve multilingualism in the post-apartheid South Africa and had become one of the major advocates of linguistic diversity.
