Joe Nzingo Gqabi (6 April 1929 – 31 July 1981) was a South African

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 ...

activist, who was the ANC's chief representative in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

at the time of his assassination by

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

Ashdown Park Ashdown Park is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Ashbury in Oxfordshire. The SSSI is part of the park of Ashdown House. The park has been designated an SSSI because of the lichens on its many sarsen boulders. ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

(then Salisbury) in 1981.

Early life

Gqabi was born in 1929 in

Aliwal North Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. History Sir Harry Smith, then ...

in what is now known as

Joe Gqabi District Municipality Joe Gqabi District Municipality is one of the seven districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Joe Gqabi is Barkly East. The majority of its 349,768 people speak IsiXhosa ( 2011 census). Before 1 February 2010 it was known a ...

. His first language was

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

Political activity

In the 1950s Gqabi was a journalist for ''

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

'', during which time he was in frequent contact with

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...

. As a member of the

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 ...

and UMkhonto we Sizwe he was sent for guerilla training in China in the early 1960s. 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 Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

, after which he was jailed at

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 ...

. He rejoined the ANC after being released from jail in 1975. In 1976 he became co-chairman, with Martin Ramokgadi, of the clandestine ANC organisation in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, known as the Main Machinery. 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. He was arrested again after the Soweto uprising but the police, with little evidence, were unable to make a case against him. He was released in 1977, left for

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

and then went to Zimbabwe after its independence.

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.

Honours

He was posthumously awarded the

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003, and is granted by the President (government title), president of South Africa, for contributions to South Africa in the following fields: (i) the struggle for ...

in silver by the South African government. The

was named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gqabi, Joe 1929 births 1981 deaths Xhosa people Anti-apartheid activists Members of the Order of Luthuli People from Joe Gqabi District Municipality UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel