Joe Modise

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joe Modise

Johannes "Joe" Modise (born May 23, 1929 in Doornfontein ; † November 26, 2001 near Pretoria ) was a South African resistance fighter and MK army commander and later defense minister of his country.

Life

Modise was the child of Miriam and Ezekiel Modise. He spent elementary school in Kliptown (Soweto) and completed his education with Standard VIII ( Junior Certificate ) at the Fred Clark Memorial School in Nancefield (Soweto). Although Modise had to contribute to the family's income through various jobs at an early stage, his parents encouraged him to continue his education. Therefore he acquired his Matric in a privately organized way. His first professional experience included working as a driver in the clothing and leather goods industry, as well as in the food wholesale business. As a young man, Modise became interested in politics through a commitment to counter the injustice of the apartheid government . Around 1947 he joined the ANC Youth League in the Newclare district of Johannesburg and was one of the organizers of the resistance actions against the violent resettlement of the residents of Sophiatown . In 1954 Modise was arrested when he tried to protect threatened residents from police attacks. In the early 1950s he was still in his spare time as an organizer for the ANC, which also included activities against the introduction of Bantu Education . In this way he followed the concept of nonviolent resistance.

Joe Modise, along with Nelson Mandela, was one of the 73 accused in the Treason Trial , the so-called treason trial . Under the impression of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and the subsequent ban of the ANC, the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military arm of the ANC, was founded. Modise became a member of its high command and organized the first sabotage actions with militarily inexperienced MK activists. In 1962 he gave up his civilian profession and joined the ANC.

The first MK members to receive military training abroad were brought abroad from Johannesburg via Bechuanaland (since 1966 Botswana ) through a network established by Joe Modise . His well-functioning cross-border network earned him great reputation within the ANC, which is why he has been its “army commander” since the mid-1960s. Most of it in the townships of the Transvaal Recruits were among the Sotho and especially Tswana . Despite increased educational activities by employees of the South African Special Branch among ANC sympathizers in Botswana, his network remained effective and served as a model for similar activities on the border between Mozambique and South Africa under the leadership of Moses Mabhida and Jacob Zuma since around 1975 .

When, towards the end of 1962, some MK actors were arrested in Northern Rhodesia and extradited to South Africa, at the beginning of 1963 there was increasing evidence that security forces in his country were on his track. The MK High Command decided to stay in exile from Modise for the purpose of extensive military and military economic training. He also stayed in the ČSSR in 1963 and in the Soviet Union in 1964 . In late 1964 Modise returned to Tanzania from his studies .

He himself founded Umkhonto we Sizwe's operational bases in Tanzania , Angola and Uganda , and also directed the training of fighters in Cuba , Algeria , Egypt , Ethiopia and the People's Republic of China .

In the meantime Nelson Mandela was arrested as leader of the MK, whose successor Raymond Mhlaba was also imprisoned. Wilton Mkwayi now ran the MK for a short time and was imprisoned in 1965. In light of these rapid changes in leadership, the ANC's National Executive Committee asked Joe Modise whether he would take over the role in 1965. Modise agreed, but stayed in Tanzania. Now he carried out a restructuring of the MK and operated from there active recruitment for the purpose of subsequent military training. At the same time, he began developing a route for MK members to return to South Africa via Botswana. To do this, Modise turned to Lusaka in Zambia in 1966 in order to better investigate the situation in Botswana. In the second half of the year he began planning joint operations with the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) under Joshua Nkomo . There were some ventures in western Rhodesia near Wankie . One result of this cooperation developed in 1968 as a joint venture in the eastern mountain regions of Rhodesia towards the northern nature reserves of the Transvaal . Fighters from both military organizations began to integrate into the local population in order to develop a transfer line over small stages. However, this operation failed that same year.

Between 1970 and 1976 Modise led the construction of underground structures within South Africa and since 1976 military operations began again with the aim of demonstrating the clout of the ANC domestically. The political rise of Modise was thereby strengthened. He received further political backing at the ANC's Kabwe conference in 1985. From then on, Modise was integrated into the ANC's military commission and its powerful political-military council.

After the ANC was legalized in 1990, Modise put together a group of confidants who met in the Groote-Schuur talks with the then De Klerk government . These were the first official negotiations to end apartheid with the relevant protocol called the Groote Schuur Minute .

From 1994 to 1999 he was the first black defense minister in South Africa in the Mandela cabinet after the end of apartheid. A particular problem during his tenure was the integration of around 27,000 members of the MK, the military branch of the ANC and the PAC into the South African armed forces . He entrusted the former MK commander Solly Shoke with this task .

Armaments deals were criticized during his tenure in which corruption was suspected.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ANC structures and personnel, 1960-1994. on www.anc.org.za ( Memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics Number 5 . Johannesburg 1995, pp. 190-192, ISBN 0869754580
  3. ^ A b c South African History Online: Johannes (Joe) Modise . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  4. ↑ Stephen Ellis : External Mission: The ANC in Exile 1960-1990 . Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg 2012, pp. 246–247
  5. ↑ Guardian, June 7, 2007 .
personal data
SURNAME Modise, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Modise, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African Minister of Defense
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Doornfontein
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 2001
Place of death at Pretoria