Patrick Chamusso (born in 1949 in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

) is a member of the

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 ...

(ANC) party of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

who participated in the militant actions of the organization during 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 ...

era. One of three sons, Patrick came to live in South Africa when as a teenager he followed his

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

father to work in the mines of South Africa performing odd jobs. After his father's death, Chamusso's mother remarried and bore a daughter. He had various jobs on the mines and later worked as a house painter and street photographer.Patrick's Story
from Two Sisters When he was 28, he got a job at the

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

synthetic fuel Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by refo ...

plant at Secunda (

Secunda CTL Secunda CTL is a synthetic fuel plant owned by Sasol at Secunda, Mpumalanga in South Africa. It uses coal liquefaction to produce petroleum-like synthetic crude oil from coal. The process used by Sasol is based on the Fischer–Tropsch process. ...

), the largest

coal liquefaction Coal liquefaction is a process of converting coal into liquid hydrocarbons: liquid fuels and petrochemicals. This process is often known as "Coal to X" or "Carbon to X", where X can be many different hydrocarbon-based products. However, the most ...

plant in the world, located several hours east of

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 Dem ...

. Although not formally educated, he advanced quickly and ended up as a driver, a position that was well-paid. His main job was to fetch coal from a neighbouring mine and bring it into the refinery. A talented football player who had formerly played for local leagues, his abilities later made him popular among his co-workers and in the community. Chamusso was arrested in 1980 by South African Special Branch for conspiring with the

ANC 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 ...

to bomb the Secunda

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

, a crime he insisted he did not commit. He was later released without charges being laid. He reported that he had been tortured whilst a prisoner. He fled to Mozambique where he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe, the paramilitary wing of the

.Apartheid's Song
from LA Weekly After military training, he returned to South Africa where he single-handedly carried out a second, partly successful, bombing at Secunda, which, as was intended, resulted in no casualties. After a massive manhunt, he was arrested and sentenced to 24 years in prison 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 ...

. In 1994, as the apartheid system began to be dismantled, having served 10 years, Chamusso was released under the new government's

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

policy.Patrick Chamusso Biography
from

Working Title Films Working Title Films is a British film studio that produces motion pictures and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The company was founded by Tim Be ...

After his release, Chamusso married a woman named Conney, and the couple had three children, in addition to fostering 80 AIDS

orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

at their home in Mpumalanga. Chamusso rose to world prominence in October 2006, with the release of ''

Catch a Fire ''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had sta ...

'', a

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

film depicting his struggle against Apartheid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamusso, Patrick Anti-apartheid activists Living people 1949 births Inmates of Robben Island