People's Democracy

THE South African Communist Party (SACP) has mourned the death of its stalwart, Govan Mbeki, on August 30 morning. Govan Mbeki, father of the South African president Thabo Mbeki, was 91 at the time of his death.

Comrade Govan joined the SACP in the 1950s and remained committed to the cause of socialism till his end. He was one of the veterans who forged the close links between the SACP, ANC and COSATU, and one of the founders of the people’s army, Umkhonto we Sizwe. The hated apartheid regime sentenced him to life imprisonment in Rivonia trial in 1964, together with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others.

Upon his release in 1989, Comrade Govan again plunged into the people’s struggle to overthrow the apartheid regime. To this end, he contributed a lot in rebuilding the legal structures of the ANC and SACP.

A distinguished scholar and teacher, Comrade Govan built a tradition of excellent political journalism and theoretical writings. His book The Peasants Revolt was a major study on peasant struggles in Sekhukhuneland and Pondoland. He had already a large number of books and articles to his credit when he came out of the dreaded Robben Island prison.