Joe Gqabi

Joe Nzingo Gqabi (6 April 1929[1] – 31 July 1981)[2] was a South African African National Congress activist, who was the ANC's chief representative in Zimbabwe at the time of his assassination by South African Defence Force in Ashdown Park, Harare in 1981.[3][4]

Joe Gqabi
Born
Joe Nzingo Gqabi

(1929-04-06)6 April 1929
Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Died31 July 1982(1982-07-31) (aged 53)
Resting placeAliwal North
Political partyAfrican National Congress

Early life

Gqabi was born in 1929 in Aliwal North in what is now known as Joe Gqabi District Municipality.[5][6] His first language was Xhosa.

Political activity

In the 1950s Gqabi was a journalist for New Age,[7] during which time he was in frequent contact with Walter Sisulu.[8] As a member of the South African Communist Party and UMkhonto we Sizwe he was sent for guerilla training in China in the early 1960s.[9] He was captured with 28 fellow members who were undergoing military training in Rhodesia and deported back to South Africa, where he was sentenced to two years' jail for leaving the country illegally and then ten years for crimes under the Sabotage Act, after which he was jailed at Robben Island.[10]

He rejoined the ANC after being released from jail in 1975.[11] In 1976 he became co-chairman, with Martin Ramokgadi, of the clandestine ANC organisation in Johannesburg, known as the Main Machinery.[12] During this time, the South African security services attempted to assassinate him by placing a bomb in his car, but it was discovered before it could detonate.[10] He was arrested again after the Soweto uprising but the police, with little evidence, were unable to make a case against him.[10] He was released in 1977, left for Botswana and then went to Zimbabwe after its independence.[10]

Death

He was assassinated by South African Defence Force on 31 July 1981 in Ashdown Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. His body was repatriated to South Africa in 2004 and he was reburied in Aliwal North on 16 December 2004.[10]

Honours

He was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in silver by the South African government. The Joe Gqabi District Municipality was named in his honour.[10]

References
  1. "South African History Online".
  2. "The arms cache at Ascot Farm". The Standard. Zimbabwe. 25 July 2016.
  3. Badat, Saleem (2013). The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid. BRILL. p. 24. ISBN 9789004247710.
  4. Todd, Judith Garfield (2007). Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe. Zebra Press. p. 209. ISBN 9781770220027.
  5. "Name Change". Joe Gqabi District Municipality. The name of Ukhahlamba District Municipality changed on the 1st of February 2010 to Joe Gqabi District Municipality.
  6. T. L. Marawu (Executive Mayor) (25 February 2010). "State of the District Address — Joe Gqabi DM" (PDF). Joe Gqabi District Municipality. Retrieved 5 October 2012. Our people must be aware that we are changing the name of this municipality to Joe Gqabi District Municipality This takes place after the public consultation we have made in this regard. The public chose the name Joe Gqabi to honour the role played by this hero in fighting against apartheid.
  7. "Joe Nzingo Gqabi". South African History Online. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  8. Sisulu, Elinor (2011). Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime. New Africa Books. p. 398. ISBN 9780864866394.
  9. Barrell, Howard (1992). "The Turn to the Masses: The African National Congress' Strategic Review of 1978-79" (PDF). Journal of Southern African Studies. 18 (1): 64–92. doi:10.1080/03057079208708306. JSTOR 2637182.
  10. "Joe Nzingo Gqabi (1928 - 1981)". The Presidency. Republic of South Africa. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  11. Simpson, Thula (2011). "Military Combat Work: the Reconstitution of the ANC's Armed Underground, 1971–1976" (PDF). African Studies. 70 (1): 103–122. doi:10.1080/00020184.2011.557579.
  12. Simpson, Thula (2011). "Main Machinery: The ANC's Armed Underground in Johannesburg During the 1976 Soweto Uprising". African Studies. 70 (3): 415–436. doi:10.1080/00020184.2011.628801.
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