John Kgwana Nkadimeng (12 June 1927 – 6 August 2020) was a South African politician, anti-apartheid activist and South African ambassador in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Nkadimeng was 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 2003 by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
and
Isitwalandwe in 2019 by President
Cyril Ramaphosa
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
.
Background and career
John Kgwana Nkadimeng was born on 12 June 1927
Sekhukhuneland
Sekhukhuneland or Sekukuniland ( af, Sekoekoeniland) is a natural region in north-east South Africa, located in the historical Transvaal zone, former Transvaal Province, also known as Bopedi (meaning “land of Bapedi”). The region is named aft ...
in the rural eastern
Transvaal Province
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...
(now called
Limpopo Province
Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...
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 ...
). After completing primary school he worked as a domestic worker in
Germiston
Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as ...
(
Gauteng Province
Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1. ...
) where he remained for about a year. He returned home in 1945 and in 1946 was employed in a hat factory 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 ...
. He again returned to Sekhukhuniland and early in 1947 went back to Johannesburg to work in a tobacco factory.
Whilst employed in the tobacco factory, Nkadimeng joined the African Tobacco Workers' Union, becoming a shop steward in 1949. Following a strike in 1950, he lost his job. During the
1952 Defiance Campaign he was arrested and detained for a month. He was charged with conspiracy and attempting to overthrow the state by violence, but the charges were dropped and he was released.
Political life
Nkadimeng subsequently became a full-time organiser for the
Transvaal Council of Non-European Trade Unions. Whilst he was working for the council, it joined 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 ...
(SACTU), which was formed in March 1955. Nkadimeng served on SACTU's 19-person executive committee and in October was requested to work full-time for the Transvaal Iron, Steel and Metal Workers' Union, which SACTU regarded as covering a strategic industry.
Nkadimeng joined 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) in 1950 through the influence of his close friend,
Flag Boshielo
Flag Marutle Boshielo (born 1920; disappeared 20 August 1970) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, trade unionist, and communist. He went into exile with the African National Congress (ANC) after the party was banned in 1960 and served as ...
. He was appointed to the ANC national executive committee in December 1955 at its congress in
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...
, and in 1956 he was one of 156 Congress activists accused of
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
. He remained a defendant throughout the lengthy trial until his acquittal in 1961. During the trial, Nkadimeng moved from the
Jeppe men's hostel to live in Alexandra Township where he remained until 1961. During this time he and his wife struggled to maintain their family and lived in very difficult circumstances.
On 4 May 1961, Nkadimeng, who had retained strong connections with his people in Sekhukhuneland and had been refused permission to visit his mother there, was arrested for entering the proclaimed area without a permit. He was detained until 1 July, convicted and fined £25.
Nkadimeng assisted the
Human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
Welfare Committee, established to make contact with banished people throughout South Africa and to find those banished after the Sekhukhune trial in the late 1950s.
On 24 June 1963 Nkadimeng was detained as a suspected saboteur and held at Fordsburg police station under 90-day legislation. He was charged with others who had attempted to leave the country and it was Nkadimeng's belief that this was an attempt to obtain information from him regarding the whereabouts of
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 ...
. He was later detained at
Erasmia
Erasmia is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Centurion in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Originally a whites-only area under apartheid, increasing numbers of Indians from neighbouring Laudium moved in, following the aboliti ...
where, despite the fact that it was winter, he was held in freezing conditions and denied a coat or blankets. Nkadimeng refused to speak to a visiting magistrate, maintaining that he had an insulting manner, so the chief magistrate of
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
came to see him in detention. Nkadimeng remembers that when he was put in the sun to warm up, his frozen skin began to crack. He was then moved to prison in Pretoria.
Sabotage charges against Nkadimeng were dropped but he was charged with furthering the aims of an unlawful organisation. He was convicted in May 1964, served his sentence at a prison in the
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
and was released in 1966.
Whilst in detention in
Fordsburg
Fordsburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 8. Fordsburg is a residential suburb, although housing numerous shops and factories.
Today, Fordsburg is a major centre of Indian and Pakistani culture, with a larg ...
in 1963, Nkadimeng was issued with a banning order, which remained in effect when he came out of prison. He was restricted to the area of Orlando West, Johannesburg. He remained under banning orders until he fled the country on 24 July 1976; a month after the
Soweto uprising began.
Nkadimeng went to
Swaziland
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
where he worked for the ANC for two years. He moved to
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
where he was chairman of the senior structure of the ANC in the country. He rejoined the ANC national executive committee and served as chairman of its political committee until he became general secretary of SACTU on 17 August 1983. He continued to serve on the ANC's political and military council.
As SACTU's general secretary, Nkadimeng propagated the formation of one central federation of trade unions in South Africa, and called on unions to unite in the
Congress of South African Trade Unions
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions ...
(COSATU).
When 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 ...
was relaunched as a legal body on 29 July 1990, it was announced that Nkadimeng was a member of its central committee, and he was also named as part of the party's 22-person interim leadership group.
He was appointed South African Ambassador to the People's Republic of Cuba in August 1995 by
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 ...
.
In 2019 the ANC bestowed an Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe award upon Nkadimeng for his role in fighting apartheid. Prior to this, in 2013, the Government of South Africa conferred the Order of Luthuli in Gold on Nkadimeng for dedicating his adult life to the struggle for liberation, workers’ rights and for the formation of a united federation of trade unions.
Death
He died on 6 August 2020 and he was given a
special state funeral on 14 August 2020 and he was buried at
Westpark Cemetery
Westpark Cemetery is a large cemetery in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the resting place of some of the country's well-known citizens. It is a non-denomination designated burial ground, and thus has Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Chinese b ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkadimeng, John
1927 births
2020 deaths
South African politicians
Anti-apartheid activists
Burials at Westpark Cemetery