1938 - 2002

Commissar of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), National Organiser and National Executive Committee member of the African National Congress (ANC), Robben Island prisoner

Steve Tshwete became a member of the ANC in the late 1950s and joined MK after the organisation was banned in 1960. He was captured in 1963 and sentenced to 15 years on Robben Island. There he ran the rugby club and the athletics association and was the vice-chairman of the Dynaspurs United, one of 27 football teams on the island. He was released in 1979 and banished to the Eastern Cape for two years.

Tshwete became one of the regional leaders of the United Democratic Front, often speaking at the many rallies and mass funerals of the 1980s. In 1984 the Apartheid security police declared him a prohibited immigrant to South Africa and he was forced to leave the country. He found refuge in Lesotho, then in Zambia, where he resumed his MK training. In 1987 he was appointed the National Commissar of MK.

Tshwete returned to South Africa in 1990 and became Minister of Sport and Recreation in 1994 under President Nelson Mandela and Minister of Safety and Security under President Thabo Mbeki in 1999. Highly respected as an effective minister, he was viewed in ANC circles as incorruptible, committed and fiercely loyal to the movement.

Did You Know?

In May 1991 Tshwete travelled abroad with Ali Bacher of the SA Cricket Union to pave the way for the countrys re-entry into international competition. He played a major mediating role in bringing about unity in South African sport.