Moses Kotane

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Moses Mauane Kotane (born August 9, 1905 in Tamposstad , Transvaal , † May 19, 1978 in Moscow ) was a South African politician. He was a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC).

Life

Kotane was born to Batswana in what is now the Northwest Province . He only attended school for a few years, but acquired a great deal of knowledge by himself. He learned to read and write from Ray Ginsberg, the mother of Albie Sachs . She later became his secretary. After a few years as a union member, he joined the ANC in 1928 and in 1929 the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA, later SACP). He quickly rose to the CPSA Politburo and became a full-time official in 1931. He was composer of the party newspaper Umsebenzi ("The Worker"). He studied Marxism for a year at the Moscow International Lenin School and returned to South Africa in 1933. He advocated the Africanization of the party and was removed from the Politburo in 1935. From 1939 until his death he was General Secretary of the CPSA, which was banned in 1950 and then existed underground as the South African Communist Party . In 1946 he was elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC. In 1952 he took part in the Defiance Campaign and was arrested. In December of the same year he was sentenced to nine months suspended sentence along with Nelson Mandela and others. In 1955 he took part in the Bandung Conference as a representative of the SACP . 1956 to December 1958 he was one of 156 defendants in the Treason Trial , which ended with the acquittal of all defendants.

In 1963, Kotane went into exile in Tanzania , where he continued to work as general secretary. At the same time he was treasurer for the ANC from 1963 to 1973 , until he was replaced by Thomas Nkobi .

Kotane's grave in Moscow

In 1968 he suffered a stroke and was taken to Moscow, where he died in 1978. He was buried in Moscow. His successor as SACP General Secretary was Moses Mabhida .

Reburial

In 2015 his body was transferred to South Africa along with that of JB Marks , where they were received by President Jacob Zuma .

Honors

  • Kotane was awarded the Isitwalandwe in 1975 , the highest award given by the ANC.
  • In 1999 he was posthumously awarded the South African Order for Meritorious Service in gold.
  • A community in the Bojanala Platinum District is called Moses Kotane . The hospital there in Single near Sun City is called Moses Kotane District Hospital .
  • The hospital in Rustenburg is called the Moses Kotane Hospital.
  • The Moses Kotane Institute in Durban is subordinate to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism and aims to promote the STEM subjects .
  • The hospital Moses Kotane District Hospital in Single at Sun City named after him.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on April 7, 2013
  2. ^ Remains of struggle heroes Kotane and Marks back in SA. news24.com from March 1, 2015 (English), accessed on March 1, 2015
  3. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 1999 (English), accessed on August 25, 2018
  4. ^ Website of the Moses Kotane Institute (English), accessed April 7, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Kotane, Moses
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kotane, Moses Mauane
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Tamposstad, Transvaal
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1978
Place of death Moscow