Peter Mokaba,
OLG (7 January 1959 – 9 June 2002) was a 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 ...
, deputy minister in the government of
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 ...
and president of the
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 ...
n governing party's youth wing, the
ANC Youth League
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...
. The
Peter Mokaba Stadium
The Peter Mokaba Stadium is a football and rugby union stadium in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), South Africa, that was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It has a capacity of 45,500 but for the purposes of the 2010 FIFA World Cup the seating cap ...
, a
stadium used for the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
, was named after him.
He was a friend of
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She ser ...
, the former wife of Mandela. At the time of his death, he had been appointed to head the ANC electoral campaign in 2004, and his funeral was attended by former President Nelson Mandela, President
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
Deputy President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
.
Julius Malema
Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African politician and activist who is a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a left-wing party which he founded in 2013. He was formerly the President of ...
has described Mokaba as a personal hero.
Life
Peter Ramoshoane Mokaba was born on 7 January 1959, in Mankweng near Polokwane (then Pietersburg), where he did both his primary and secondary education. His mother is
Priscilla Mokaba.
In 1982, he was convicted for a number of his underground activities as a member of paramilitary organization
Umkhonto we Sizwe and was sentenced to
prison on the Robben Island; yet, his sentence was suspended in 1984.
Subsequently, he renewed his anti-regime activities, especially among the youth. In 1987, he was elected as the first president of the
South African Youth Congress
The South African Youth Congress (SAYCO) was a pro-African National Congress youth organization, active in the struggle against Apartheid. The motto of SAYCO was "Victory is Certain - Freedom or Death". In 1990 SAYCO merged with the ANC Youth L ...
(SAYCO). One year later, he was again charged with commanding Umkhonto we Sizwe in the northern Transvaal province but acquitted when his co-accused comrades refused to testify against him. When the liberation movement was unbanned in February 1990, Mokaba led the SAYCO movement, together with other youth formations (Congress of South African Students, South African National Students’ Congress, National Union of South African Students, Young Christian Students, etc.) to formal establishment of the
African National Congress Youth League
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...
(ANCYL) and became the first president of this united organisation.
Mokaba was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1991. After the end of apartheid era in 1994, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Tourism in the first democratically elected South African Parliament in the cabinet led by President Nelson Mandela. By the time of his death, Peter Mokaba had been appointed by the ANC to head the preparations for the 2004 national election campaign.
Apartheid spy accusation
In the book ''Askari'', by Jacob Dlamini, it is asserted that Mokaba was an apartheid spy at one point. He was turned from insurgent to counter-insurgent by the apartheid government. Seeing that the Youth League, greatly influenced by Mokaba, would be greatly demoralised, the Lusaka ANC leadership decided to spare his life. According to the book, that was only after serious deals were reached with him that are known only to the current ANC leadership. There are a number of other accounts that claim that he was an apartheid spy.
Personal views
AIDS denialism
It is unclear if Mokaba himself had
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
, but nevertheless he was an
AIDS denialist
HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while oth ...
. He died in 2002 of pneumonia. He claimed that drugs had no benefits "beyond profits for the pharmaceutical industry". The fight against the companies, he said, should be waged with the same intensity as the struggle against apartheid. Privately, he assured supporters that HIV and AIDS were part of an "international Western plot" to decimate blacks and "regain colonial control" in Africa.
"Kill the farmer, kill the Boer"
Mokaba became known in the early 1990s for his use of the slogan "Kill the farmer, kill the
Boer
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...
". The chant was ruled as
hate speech
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2003. Opponents of the song argue that it bears a literal interpretation, inciting racial violence against whites; defenders claim that its value is purely as a reminder of South Africa's history and that it does not incite violence.
References
External links
Hambe Kahle Peter Mokaba Mail & Guardian, 2002
Die Burger, 2002 (in Afrikaans)
Aids dissident Peter Mokaba diesin ''The Independent''
* – Mokaba's official obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokaba, Peter
1959 births
2002 deaths
People from Polokwane Local Municipality
Northern Sotho people
African National Congress politicians
Government ministers of South Africa
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
AIDS-related deaths in South Africa
Members of the Order of Luthuli