PETER MAMPOGOANE NCHABELENG

Today marked the 40th anniversary of the death in detention of trade unionist and anti-apartheid activist, Peter Mampogoane Nchabeleng. 

Affectionately known as ‘The Lion of the North’, Nchabeleng was brought up in the village of Apel in Sekhukhuneland. He was the sixth child of Zebulon and Salome Nchabeleng. After attending high school in Pretoria, he found employment at the Government Printers (now called the Government Gazette). It would during this time that he would become politically active and became the African National Congress’s (ANC) Atteridgeville branch secretary. Not only that, but he also held South African Communist Party (SACP) members and was embroiled in the trade union movement by being the regional secretary of the Allied Workers’ Union and later on for the South African Congress of Trade Union (SACTU). 

He was also a member of Sebatakgomo, a peasant resistance movement opposed to the introduction of Bantu Authorities in Sekhuhuneland. It later changed its name to Fetakgomo, as the organisation was falsely accused of wanting to kill white people. This name was derived from a Sepedi proverb, "Fetakgomo o sware motho, mafetakgomo ke moriri o a hloga", which in essence means that people must value life and people, and forget about material possessions because they can be replaced.

As a Pedi speaker, he acted as interpreter for the late Joe Slovo, who regularly defended many individuals involved in the peasant revolt in Sekhukhuneland. Following the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, the apartheid regime outlawed political activity by introducing the Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960, effectively banning the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and other political organizations. In 1962, Nchabeleng fell foul of the law and was charged with furthering the aims of a banned organisation (ANC) and sabotage. He was sentenced to and eight-year prison term on Robben Island in 1964. After his release, Nchabeleng and his family were banished from Atteridgeville to Apel, his homeland. 

The banishment did little to quell his political activity and his home in the region became the bedrock for ANC activists. In 1974, he was arrested for contravening the terms of his banning order by being in communication with trade unionist Stephen Dlamini. The state had evidence of this and he received a three-year sentence suspended for three years. In 1977, he was charged with harbouring and recruiting people for military training along with Joe Gqabi. In the same year, he was part of the Pretoria 12 terrorism trial alongside his son Elleck, Joe Gqabi, Tokyo Sexwale, Bafana Mohlamonyane, Naledi Tsiki, Nelson Diale, and Martin Ramokgadi. He, Diale (he was on Robben Island during the same period as Nchabeleng) and Gqabi were acquitted, but his son and the other defendants were convicted; Elleck did six years on Robben Island; Sexwale did 13 years of an 18-year sentence; Tsiki received a 14-year sentence. In 1978, Nchabeleng’s banning order was renewed for another five years. 

The 1980s would represent a turning point in the struggle against apartheid. Political resistance increased, which coincided with a sharp rise in law enforcement violence. Gqabi would later go into exile but in 1981, he was assassinated by the former South African Defence Force in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he was the ANC Chief Representative in that country. In 1982, Nchabeleng escaped an assassination plot when a letter bomb placed inside his son’s school report was discovered. Sensing that his life was in danger, he appealed to the ANC leadership in exile he wanted to leave South Africa, but they declined his request, as they saw his role as important to the liberation struggle in the country. In 1983, PW Botha’s government introduced a new constitution which abolished the office of Prime Minister and combined its powers with the ceremonial post of State President to vest power in an Executive Presidency. It also introduced a new Tricameral Parliament - which represented White, Coloured, and Asian political interests but still left Africans disenfranchised. On 20 August 1983, the United Democratic Front (UDF) was formed in retaliation against apartheid reform ambitions. Nchabeleng was elected President of the UDF’s Northern Transvaal region in February 1986. 

He was instrumental in establishing community and youth structures in the Sekhukhune region. He worked with youth leaders such as Peter Mokwana, France Mohlala, Ephraim Mohale and his son, Elleck. According to Nchabeleng’s wife, Mrs Matsatsi Gertrude, the Lebowa North Riot Squad and Security Branch showed up at their home on 9 April 1986 and took her husband away to Schoonoord Police Station. They assaulted him in her presence and enquired if he had imprisoned before. He informed them that he had been on Robben Island before, to which the police replied and said that this time they were going to kill him. Two days later on 11 April, the police returned to tell them of Nchabeleng’s death in detention of a heart attack. He was only 58 when he died. The state gave his family the runaround concerning his remains, which they ultimately found in Groblersdal. An inquest into his death revealed the police severely wounded him with his injuries causing him to lose consciousness and then to suffocate. His funeral was attended by over 20,000 mourners and was under heavy police presence. Peter was the 63rd person to die in police detention. His passing sparked a consumer boycott of white towns in the Northern Transvaal. 

Nchabeleng left behind his wife and his eight children, some who were also politically active as him. In July 1997, his widow and one of his sons, Maurice, gave testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) about the events prior and after Nchabeleng’s detention and subsequent murder. A secondary school, hall, and complex bare his name, as well as a street in Mokopane. In 2009, former President Jacob Zumba posthumously awarded Nchabeleng the Order of Luthuli in Gold for his exceptional contribution to the fight against the apartheid system in South Africa. His son Mpho wrote a book titled 'The Lion of the North', which chronicles and honours his father's political legacy. 

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