Robert Resha (1920-1974) was a South African journalist and political dissident. He served in 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 ...

as a member of the Youth League and the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

Early life

Robert Resha was born in Bolotwe in 1920. He completed eight years of school and then went to work as a miner.

Journalism

After acquiring a reputation for being a troublemaker, he took up freelance journalism, writing for various progressive newspapers. He moved to

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 ...

in 1940.

African National Congress

Resha joined the African National Congress in 1939, as an active member of the Youth League. He was jailed for participating in the 1952

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, ...

, along with his wife

Maggie Resha Matebello Magdeline Resha, also known as Maggie Resha (May 5, 1923 - September 2003) was a nurse as well as a member of the African National Congress and the African National Congress Women's League. She organized meetings for the adoption of th ...

. For these contributions, he was accepted into the

in December 1952, serving as acting President in 1954-55 after a ban was placed on the former President Joe Matthews. Resha was involved in many ANC-directed protests and strikes, including the Sophiatown Anti-Removal Campaign and the Colonial Youth Day Rally.

1956 Treason Trial

Resha was one of the accused in the 1956 Treason Trial, charged for high treason. His case was the most serious, since he had called for the "murder" of whites in a speech to the ANC National Executive. He was acquitted in March 1961. During the trial, he launched a boycott in 1959. Afterwards, he was banned from attending any ANC events and restricted to

In exile

After the Treason Trial, Resha left

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 ...

in order to serve as an ANC ambassador, serving mainly in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. He spoke as a representative of the ANC before the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

several times. In 1974, Resha died in exile in London.

Quotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resha, Robert Members of the African National Congress Apartheid in South Africa 1920 births 1973 deaths South African journalists Anti-apartheid activists South African prisoners and detainees Members of the Order of Luthuli 20th-century journalists South African expatriates in Algeria South African expatriates in the United Kingdom