Govan Mbeki
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2018) |
Govan Mbeki | |
---|---|
MK | |
In office 1961–1963 | |
Preceded by | position established |
Succeeded by | position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki 9 July 1910 Republic of South Africa |
Political party | African National Congress South African Communist Party |
Spouse |
apartheid activist |
Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki (9 July 1910 – 30 August 2001) was a South African
Early years
Govan Mbeki was born in the
Teacher, trader and communist
For a time Mbeki worked as a teacher, but lost his job because of his political activities.
Mbeki left journalism in 1944 and became a government-nominated member of the Transkei Territorial Authorities General Council until 1950. His role in the CPSA/ SACP was clandestine at the time, which helps explain why he received the nomination. Mbeki disparagingly referred to the council as a 'toy telephone': "You can say what you like, but your words have no effect because the wires are not connected to an exchange".[2] In 1948 Mbeki stood as a candidate for the Natives Representative Council but lost the election.[5]
When the CPSA/ SACP was banned in 1950 by the apartheid government, Mbeki remained in the African National Congress (ANC). In 1952 Mbeki was imprisoned together with Raymond Mhlaba and Vuyisile Mini for three months in Rooi Hel ('Red Hell' or North End Prison, Port Elizabeth) for disobeying apartheid laws by participating in the 'Campaign of Defiance against Injustice Laws' (Defiance Campaign). In 1954, a tornado destroyed his store, and Mbeki was dismissed from teaching again (he would lose his job three times, and be blacklisted from others, from the 1930s onwards).[6] Mbeki moved to Port Elizabeth and joined the editorial board of New Age, a prominent leftist newspaper linked to underground CPSA/ SACP networks.[2] Mbeki played a crucial role in ensuring that the pages and columns reflected the conditions, demands, and aspirations of black working-class people, particularly in the countryside.[3]
He also worked on the Guardian, New Age, Fighting Talk and Liberation,
Armed struggle and Robben Island
In 1960, the ANC was banned, and along with the underground SACP, formed
...this was our job – devices and explosives. So I said, for God’s sake, why me? And they said, no well, you were a bomber pilot in the war, you see, so you must know how to make bombs. I said, but for Christ’s sake, Govan, (Mbeki) we didn’t make our own bombs. And they said, but you know about those things and I said, no, bombs were made in bloody factories, I don’t know. So he said, anyway, you’re appointed. We did a good job, actually.
— Strachan, quoted by Zoe Mulder.[12]
Meanwhile, in November 1962, the then-Minister of Justice, John Vorster, banned New Age. When the editorial board came out with its successor publication Spark, Vorster went one step further by banning not the newspaper but its editors and writers.[3] This effectively ended Mbeki's role as editor and journalist in the country. On 11 July 1963, he was arrested with other MK high commanders. In 1964, he was an accused in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to Robben Island.
Books
In 1939, Mbeki published his first book, Transkei in the Making.[13] A supporter of the 1950-1961 Pondoland peasant revolt, he wrote the pioneering study of the movement, South Africa: The Peasants' Revolt from 1958, which was published in 1964.[14] Much of the book is an analysis of the political economy of the Transkei, rather than the revolt itself.[15]
Following the
In 1992, he published The Struggle For Liberation in South Africa: A Short History and in 1996, Sunset at Midday: Latshonilangemini!
Release and post-apartheid role
Mbeki was released from custody after serving 24 years in the Robben Island prison on 5 November 1987. He served in South Africa's post-apartheid Senate from 1994 to 1997 as Deputy President of the Senate, and then the Senate's successor, the National Council of Provinces, from 1997 to 1999.
Mbeki died in
Awards and honours
Mbeki received an honorary doctorate in the Social Sciences from the University of Amsterdam in 1978.[19] His son Moeletsi attended the ceremony, as Mbeki was imprisoned at Robben Island.[19]
On 26 June 1980, the Secretary General of the then-illegal
Mbeki received international recognition for his political achievements including the renaming (at Mandela's suggestion) of the recently opened health building at Glasgow Caledonian University.[20][21] The Govan Mbeki Health Building was inaugurated in 2001 at a ceremony featuring his son Thabo.[21]
The Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in Mpumulanga is named in his honour.
Order for Meritorious Service in gold (2003).
In 2004 he was voted 97th in the SABC 3's Great South Africans.
In 2013 a large section of road between Swartklip and Baden Powell Road, running between the neighborhoods of Browns Farm, Gugulethu, Nyanga and Crossroads in Cape Town was renamed Govan Mbeki Road.[22]
Part of a series on |
Apartheid |
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The Health Building at Glasgow Caledonian University, in Glasgow Scotland, is named after him. https://www.gcu.ac.uk/aboutgcu/supportservices/conferences/mediagallery/govanmbekibuilding
See also
- Prisons in South Africa
- Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ "Govan Archibald Mbeki". The O'Malley Archives. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ^ a b c James Barron (6 November 1987). "A Chronicler of Revolt, Defiant Behind Bars". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- ^ a b c "Biography of Govan Mbeki". SACP website. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ a b Colin Bundy, 2012, Govan Mbeki, Johannesburg: Jacana, p. 147
- ISBN 978-1-4828-0964-0.
- ^ Colin Bundy, 2012, Govan Mbeki, Johannesburg: Jacana, p. 149
- Sunday Times. 10 May 1998. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ISBN 9780821444597.
- ISBN 9781868729067.
- ISBN 9780821444597.
- ISBN 9780821444436.
- ^ Molver, Zoe (5 March 2007). "Harold Strachan: Bram's Bow-maker". literarytourism.co.za. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ Colin Bundy, 2012, Govan Mbeki, Johannesburg: Jacana, p. 161
- ^ Govan Mbeki, 1964, South Africa: The Peasants' Revolt, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books).
- ^ Colin Bundy, 2012, Govan Mbeki, Johannesburg: Jacana, p. 93
- ^ Govan Mbeki, 2015, Learning from Robben Island: The Prison Writings of Govan Mbeki, Cape Town: Kwela Books
- ^ "Govan Mbeki | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ Helga van Staaden (23 January 2006). "Govan Mbeki reburial called off". News24.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^ a b Folia civitatis, v. 31, no. 18 (24 December 1977)
- ^ "Have You Heard From Johannesburg". www.clarityfilms.org. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4700-4175-5.
- ^ "Six streets in Cape Town renamed". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
External links
- Govan Mbeki Archive at marxists.org