Archibald Jacob Gumede (1914–1998) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, lawyer and politician. Gumede was born in
Pietermaritzburg to
Josiah Tshangana Gumede, an early
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
leader. Archie Gumede led the Natal delegates at the
1955 Congress of the People in
Kliptown
Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which form ...
during which the
Freedom Charter was written. He was later an attorney and practiced in Pietermaritzburg. He was a leader in the
United Democratic Front, a broad based coalition of groups seeking to end apartheid. Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Gumede became a member of the
National Assembly of South Africa before dying in office in 1998.
DEDICATION TO BABA ARCHIE GUMEDE
Shadows of Justice
References
1914 births
1998 deaths
People from Pietermaritzburg
Zulu people
African National Congress politicians
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
Anti-apartheid activists
20th-century South African lawyers
Members of the Order of Luthuli
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