1910 - 2001

Robben Island Prisoner (1964¬—1989), Teacher, Journalist, Member of the South African Communist Party, Co-founder of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK)

Govan Mbeki was a committed Marxist who after 1952 helped transform the African National Congress (ANC) in Port Elizabeth into the most militant ANC centre in the country. Affectionately known as Oom Gov (Uncle Gov), he skillfully translated the social, economic and political realities of Apartheid South Africa into the written word. He wrote extensively on the experiences of Black rural populations, most notably The Peasants Revolt. Despite being a qualified teacher he was dismissed from teaching posts throughout his life because of his ongoing political activity.

Mbeki co-authored Operation Mayibuye. The document was used as damning evidence in the Rivonia Trial where he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island together with Mandela and Sisulu in 1964. The prison became known as the University of Robben Island in part because of the extensive educational materials Mbeki and others developed for prisoners.

After the 1994 democratic election Mbeki was elected to the Senate, pre-cursor to the National Council of Provinces, one of two Houses of Parliament since 1997. He retired in 1999, the year in which his son Thabo followed Nelson Mandela as second president of a democratic South Africa.

Did You Know?

The sculpture of Govan Mbeki carries in his hand the opening lines of his book The Struggle for Liberation in South Africa: A Short History (1992), a reminder of his extensive writings in and out of prison on every aspect of the political history of South Africans.