Themba Harry Gwala (30 July 1920 – 20 June 1995) was a revolutionary leader in the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) and

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

(SACP) in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Biography

Early career and activism

Harry Gwala trained as a teacher at

Adams College Adams College is a historic Christian mission school in South Africa, associated with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). It was founded in 1853 at Amanzimtoti a settlement just over south of Durban by an American missio ...

and taught at Slangspruit where his students included

Moses Mabhida 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. Biography Mabhida was born in Thornville, Natal to a pe ...

. In 1942, Gwala joined the

Communist Party of South Africa The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

, and in 1944 joined the ANC, and moved into trade union organisation in the chemical, construction, and rubber industries. He was among the organisers of a national

stay-away A stay away, also known as a ''stay-away'' or ''stayaway'', is a form of protest where people are told to "stay away" from work, similar to a general strike. In Zimbabwe Stay Away is a form of non-violent protest action occurring in Zimbabwe in ...

in 1950, and was subsequently banned under the Suppression of Communism Act.

Imprisonment

From 1960, Gwala was involved in the ANC underground. In 1964, he was imprisoned on

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

for sabotage and recruiting for Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was released in 1972, after eight years, but restricted to Pietermaritzburg by a

banning order __NOTOC__ This list of people subject to banning orders under apartheid lists a selection of people subject to a "banning order" by the apartheid-era South African government. Banning was a Political repression, repressive and Extrajudicial punis ...

. There, he established a laundry collection business as a cover for continued ANC activity, and attempts to revive the

South African Congress of Trade Unions The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in March 1955, after right wing unions dissolved the South African Trades and Labour Council in 1954 to ...

. In 1975, Gwala was arrested again, this time sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

under the Terrorism Act. While on Robben Island, Gwala taught classes to other inmates on political theory. In 1995,

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

recalled,

Mphephethwa was a great "political teacher" who taught generation after generation of struggle. Many of today's leaders drank from the deep well of Mphephethwa's political wisdom. But such was the nature of his teaching, that the products of his education, would themselves develop into political giants in their own right; using the tools he gave them to develop independent thought and analysis.

In 1984, his wife Elda died, and he was refused permission to attend her funeral. During his second prison term, Gwala developed a

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

that resulted in the paralysis of his arms, and eventually led to loss of control in his neck muscles. His declining health was a major factor in his release from prison in November 1988.

"Lion of the Midlands"

After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, Gwala was appointed interim ANC Chair for the Natal Midlands, and was officially elected to the position in December. In 1991, he was elected to the

National Executive Committee of the African National Congress The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) is the party's chief executive organ. It is elected every five years at the party national conference; the executive committee, in turn, elects a National Working Comm ...

. During the negotiations of the 1990s, Gwala rejected rapprochement with the

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded t ...

, putting him at odds with the national ANC leadership. He warned ANC negotiators that they "should not reconcile the oppressed to neo-apartheid dressed in the robes of a new constitution." His uncompromising stance and firebrand oratory made him popular with the movement's footsoldiers, among whom he was known as the "Lion of the Midlands". He was seen by his detractors as a

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

because of his incitement of violence in the conflict between the ANC and the

in the

KwaZulu-Natal Midlands The KwaZulu-Natal midlands is an inland area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that starts from Pietermaritzburg and ends before the Drakensberg mountain range. Area There are several small towns located in the midlands, including: Pietermaritzbu ...

. The

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

found that Gwala "functioned as a self-styled ANC warlord", and that, "in calling for the killing of persons opposed to the ANC, Gwala incited his supporters to commit gross violations of human rights". In the 1994 elections, Gwala was elected to the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members i ...

, where he served as the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

for the ANC. The same year, he was nominated to the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the South African Communist Party. However, in June, his party membership was suspended for six months for "breaching SACP internal party discipline" in his repeated criticisms of party colleagues, and for refusing to submit himself to an internal investigation into his alleged involvement in violence against fellow party members. Gwala died in June 1995 in hospital after suffering a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwala, Harry 1920 births 1995 deaths People from uMshwathi Local Municipality Zulu people South African Communist Party politicians African National Congress politicians Anti-apartheid activists UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel