Joseph Hugo Saliwawas dismissed from the Native Affairs Department (NAD)in Lady Frere Eastern Province, [now Eastern Cape] ‘on account of unsatisfactory conduct’ in 1947. He thereafter ran a trading store. Saliwawas accused of being ‘prominent at meetings held for administrative purposes at which he assumed the role of protector of the so-called down-trodden Natives.’ It was stated that ‘although at first he had little influence over the Natives in the district, he gradually acquired a following and fostered opposition to measures introduced for the rehabilitation of the reserves.’
Saliwa was reportedly ‘instrumental in forming a body called the Glen Grey People’s Committee which was opposed to the duly constituted District Council; he was also accused of “inciting the Natives to dispense with Headmen, Location Boards and the District Council and to form local committees answerable only to him and his People’s Committee.’ The goal of the Glen Grey People’s Committee was said to be self-government, ‘to oppose all laws which the Natives find irksome and to administer the district as the People’s Committee thinks fit.
At the same time, money was ‘being collected with the object of creating a fund for the defence of Natives who may be prosecuted for offences committed in the furtherance of the campaign against duly constituted authority.’
Saliwa was banished from his residence at Ngcuka Location, Glen Grey District, Eastern Province, to Pietersburg District, Northern Transvaal [now Polokwane, Limpopo)] on 31 August 1953. His banishment wassaid to be a unanimous request of the District Council.