Elias Motsoaledi

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Elias Mathope Motsoaledi (born July 26, 1924 in Phokwane , Northern Transvaal , † May 9, 1994 in Johannesburg ) was a South African anti- apartheid activist. As a member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was a companion of Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu .

Life

Motsoaledi arrived with 17 years to Johannesburg, where he active member of the Leather Workers union Leather Workers' Union was. He worked on the Trotskyist Committee of Non-European Trade Unions and helped found the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). In 1948 he joined the ANC, but was also a member of the Communist Party of South Africa , which was banned in 1950 . In 1952 he was involved in the Defiance Campaign and was banned for the first time that same year. In 1960 he was imprisoned for four months during the state of emergency and then worked for the underground movement Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). He was caught in 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment in the subsequent Rivonia Trial, like Mandela, Sisulu and others, for sabotage .

Motsoaledi spent 26 years in prison, most of them on Robben Island with the other convicts of the Rivonia Trial, and was released in 1989. In 1991 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the ANC. He died of throat cancer on the day Mandela was inaugurated as the new President of South Africa . He was buried in Avalon Cemetery in Soweto .

Motsoaledi was married to Caroline Motsoaledi († 2014) and had seven children.

Honors

  • In 1992 he received the Isitwalandwe Medal from the ANC.
  • In the early 2000s, the Elias Motsoaledi municipality in Limpopo Province was named after him.
  • In 2003 he was posthumously awarded the South African Order of Meritorious Service in gold.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in the Orlando Sentinel , accessed May 22, 2013
  2. ↑ a b c portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on May 22, 2013
  3. ^ Obituary in the New York Times , accessed May 22, 2013
  4. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 2003 (PDF), accessed on May 26, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Motsoaledi, Elias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Motsoaledi, Elias Mathope (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African anti-apartheid activist
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Phokwane , Northern Transvaal
DATE OF DEATH May 9, 1994
Place of death Johannesburg