Liberation Struggle hero, Govan Mbeki, was born on 9 July 1910. In his birthday month, we bring you a brief tribute to this son of the Eastern Cape after whom Nelson Mandela Bay’s main street is named.
Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki, affectionately known as “Oom Gov”, the son of a prosperous and deeply religious Christian farmer and headman, was named in honour of Edward Govan, a Scottish missionary who founded Lovedale Gollege in the Eastern Cape, the school that Oom Gov attended.
In 1936, he completed his degree in Politics and Psychology together with a Teaching Diploma at Fort Hare University. His two university degrees made him one of the most educated black men of his generation. It was here, at Fort Hare, that a youthful Govan Mbeki met other Liberation Struggle leaders, including Nelson Mandela and OR Tambo.
In 1948, they and others founded the ANC Youth League, which heralded the Resistance Campaigns, most notably that of 1952.
In 1954, he joined the editorial board of New Age, the only South African newspaper serving the liberation movement at that time. He played an important role in ensuring that the editorial content reflected not only the oppressive conditions under which black people lived under Apartheid, but also their dreams and aspirations.
In the 1950s, almost every young activist from the Eastern Cape came of political age under his tutelage. Later, in prison, he was the principal designer of the political education curriculum and the major proponent of the need for young inmates to further their studies. His many books were written to educate and preserve history for younger generations.
Govan Mbeki was a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and of the South African Communist Party. After the Rivonia Trial, he was imprisoned for terrorism and treason
(1964 – 1987), together with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada and other eminent ANC leaders.
While in prison, he turned disadvantage into advantage, and produced a book entitled Learning from Robben Island, which is a collection of essays ranging from political economy, organisational development to an analysis of the Apartheid state.
During his lifetime, he set a sterling example of dedication to the rural poor and the working class of South Africa. A disciplined and hardworking member and leader of the ANC and SACP, Oom Gov devoted his life to the struggle for the liberation of his people.
Oom Gov was a born educator, and his love for imparting knowledge, for the sake of bringing about fundamental change, was unequaled. For him, knowledge was a spear to be used to fight oppression.
After his release from prison in 1987 he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare. His role as a revolutionary intellectual has been recognised throughout the world. For his contribution to the analysis of the South African economic and social formation, the University of Amsterdam awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997.
Following South Africa’s first democratic elections in April 1994, Govan Mbeki was elected as the Deputy Chairperson of the Senate (fore-runner to the present NCOP).
Oom Gov retired from politics in 1999 and passed away on 31 August 2001.