Mahwidi John "Mokgomana" Phala (24 February 1924 – 30 July 2009) was a South African politician and former

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

from

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost 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 the provincial legislature is ...

. He represented 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 the

Limpopo Provincial Legislature The Limpopo Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Limpopo. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet, the Limpopo Executive Council, from among the ...

from 1994 to 1999 and in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1999 to 2009. Phala joined the ANC during

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in 1953 and rose to prominence during the 1958

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 afte ...

revolt. An early recruit to Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, he was convicted of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in 1977 and sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in an MK sabotage operation. He served his sentence 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 ...

until he was released during the negotiations to end apartheid.

Early life and activism

Born on 24 February 1924, Phala was

Bapedi The Pedi or (also known as the Northern Sotho or and the Marota or ) – are a southern African ethnic group that speak Pedi or ''Sepedi'', a dialect belonging to the Sotho-Tswana enthnolinguistic group. Northern Sotho is a term used to ...

from

. After

was formally introduced in 1948, he joined the 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 ...

; soon after joining the ANC in 1953, he became a fieldworker during

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

campaign, and in 1955 he attended the Congress of the People, which adopted the charter. During the same period, in 1954, Phala was a founding member of Sebatakgomo, a political organisation that was formed 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 ...

by migrant workers from Sekhukhuneland and that went on to play a central role in the 1958 Sekhukhuneland revolt. In the early 1960s, Phala succeeded Lucas Kghapola as chairman of Fetakgomo, the successor organisation to Sebatkgomo. Phala was an early recruit to MK in 1961 and later led his own underground MK unit in the Johannesburg area, operating in areas such as Moletsane and Naledi. He was arrested for his role in an MK sabotage operation – the attempted derailment of a train on the railway between Johannesburg and

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly si ...

– and in November 1977, a court in Springs sentenced him to thirty years in prison for terrorism and unlawful possession of weapons. He was imprisoned on Robben Island, where he shared a cell with future deputy president

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who was South Africa's third president of South Africa, president between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following Thabo Mbeki's resignation. Thereafter, he was depu ...

. Motlanthe admired him as a mentor and later recalled that Phala was "our clock on the island": in the absence of alarm clocks, Phala roused younger prisoners in the morning if they wanted to wake up early for reading or study. Phala did not serve his full sentence but was released during the negotiations to end apartheid.

Legislative career: 1994–2009

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Phala was elected to an ANC seat in the Limpopo Provincial Legislature. In the next general election in 1999, he was elected to the National Assembly, representing the Limpopo constituency; he served two terms in his seat, gaining re-election in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

James Selfe James Selfe (born 23 August 1955) is a South African politician, a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and the party's former Federal Council Chairperson. He is also the party's Shadow Minister of Correctional Serv ...

of the opposition Democratic Alliance, who served with Phala in the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, later recalled that, though he was by then in his 80s, Phala insisted on participating in all of the committee's oversight tours and attending all of its meetings, even when he was unwell. He retired after the April 2009 general election and died on 30 July 2009.

References

African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians South African Communist Party politicians 20th-century South African politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature Anti-apartheid activists Inmates of Robben Island Northern Sotho people UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel 1924 births 2009 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Phala, John People from Sekhukhune District Municipality