Moses Mabhida

Moses Mabhida
Born	Moses Mncane Mbheki Mabhida (1923-10-11)11 October 1923 Thornville, Natal, South Africa
Died	8 March 1986(1986-03-08) (aged 62) Maputo, Mozambique
Known for	Anti-apartheid activist Trade unionist

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Moses Mncane Mbheki Mabhida (11 October 1923 – 8 March 1986) was a South African politician. Mabhida was leader of the South African Communist Party from 1978 until his death in 1986.^[1]

Biography

Mabhida was born in Thornville, Natal to a peasant family as the fourth of five children.

Mabhida was drawn to trade unionism by the late Harry Gwala, then an ardent unionist and member of the South African Communist Party. Mabhida, too, joined the Communist Party in 1942. After many unionists were banned in 1952, his colleagues in the newly revived underground party urged Mabhida to undertake full-time union work. In the next decade, he organised scores of workers in Natal. He worked for the South African Railways and Harbours Union and was paid £25 a month – collected from political sympathisers, as the union had little money.^[2] He was a central participant in the development of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) and was elected a vice-president at its first congress in 1955. He also served as secretary of the African National Congress (ANC) Pietermaritzburg branch in the mid-1950s, and had a close working relationship with Albert Luthuli. Mabhida became a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee in 1956, and in 1958–1959 was acting chair of the Natal ANC.

A week after the

(MK). Mabhida then underwent military training; as MK commissar he became the chief political instructor of new military recruits, and later served as the commander of MK. Mabhida's repeated re-election to the NEC, his appointment to the Revolutionary Council on its creation in 1969, and later to the Politico-Military Council which replaced it, reflected his popularity among ANC members.

After

and was buried there in March 1986.

Legacy

The Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban is named in his honour.

See also

• Siphiwe Mvuyane – Siphiwe Mvuyane was a South African policeman who was renowned for killing underground MK operatives and ANC people.

References

Party political offices
Preceded by Moses Kotane	General Secretary of the South African Communist Party 1978–1984	Succeeded by Joe Slovo