Moses Jongizizwe Mayekiso (born 21 October 1948) From ''Who's who in South African Politics'', Vol. 4, pp. 175–176 was a South African trade union leader and a leading activist in the struggles against the

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 ...

regime during the 1980s. He became general secretary of the

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is the biggest single trade union in South Africa with more than 338,000 members, and prior to its expulsion on 8 November 2014, the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Tr ...

and an elected member of the

South African Parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

Early life

Moses Mayekiso was born in Askeaton, Transkei,

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. He attended high school until 1972 in Pondoland East. Mayekiso worked as a miner in Free State. In 1973 he obtained work at

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Marketing in

Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...

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 ...

Political activist

By 1979 Mayekiso had been elected as

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

of the

Metal and Allied Workers' Union The Metal and Allied Workers' Union (MAWU) was a trade union representing workers in metalworking, engineering and related industries in South Africa. The union was founded in April 1974 in Pietermaritzburg, with the assistance of the General Fa ...

(MAWU). He organised strike action for trade union recognition and was sacked from Toyota, along with other MAWU members. Mayekiso instead became a full-time organiser for MAWU in

East Rand The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes ...

1980s

In November 1984 he participated with the Transvaal Regional Stayaway Committee in a two-day strike. Mayekiso and four other committee members were arrested and charged under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...

. The subversion charges against him were dropped in April 1985, marked by jubilant demonstrations and an hour-long rally in downtown Johanenesburg. Mayekiso was elected chairman of the Alexandra Action Committee (AAC) in 1985. He saw himself as a 'workerist' and socialist, whose role was to prevent the 'populism' of the ANC from subduing the struggle.Belinda Bozzoli, ''Theatres of Struggle and the End of Apartheid'' (2004), page 118. He is described as unusual for a trade union activist because he also took on the broader politics of township activism. He was the central figure in the

Alexandra township Alexandra, informally abbreviated to Alex, is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is located next to the wealthy suburb of Sandton. It is commonly known as ...

uprising of 1986,Belinda Bozzoli, ''Theatres of Struggle and the End of Apartheid'' (2004), page 117. which resulted from an attack by the security forces on a funeral in the township. Mayekiso and the AAC leadership were arrested and subjected to severe beatings. Metal workers went on strike in protest on 5 March 1986 and Mayekiso was released. Mayekiso was appointed Secretary General of MAWU in May 1986. In June 1986 he was again arrested and put on trial for

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 ...

, subversion and sedition. He was elected as the general secretary of the new 130,000 member

(NUMSA) in May 1987 while still in prison. It was not until April 1989 that he was acquitted of the treason charges, alongside four other activists. The success was the result of a campaign in South Africa and internationally. Mayekiso's arrest had been recognised as a direct attack on the trade union movement and non-violent protest, with a guilty verdict resulting in all non-violent protest being seen as treasonable.Glenn Adler and Doris Suarez, ''Union Voices: Labor's Responses to Crisis'' (1993), page 245.

1990s

Mayekiso 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 1990 and became a central committee 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 ...

(SACP). He was part of the welcoming committee for

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 ...

's 1990 release from Victor Verster prison. He was elected to the

in 1994 and served for two years before resigning in frustration at the lack of grass-roots connection.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayekiso, Moses Living people South African democracy activists South African trade union leaders Members of the National Assembly of South Africa People from the Eastern Cape 1948 births