30 August 2001
The Congress of South African Trade Unions joins the nation in mourning the passing of Govan Mbeki and sends its condolences to President Thabo Mbeki and all members of the Mbeki and Moerane families.
Govan Mbeki was one of the great heroes of the struggle for national liberation. A teacher by profession, he joined the ANC in 1935, having experienced the oppression of the African majority in Transkei and Johannesburg. He edited various struggle newspapers in the Eastern Cape and did much to make that province a stronghold for the ANC. As both a teacher and a journalist he was involved in trade union struggles.
He joined the Communist Party of South Africa in the 1940s and played a major role in educating its members and establishing its structures.
He participated in the Congress of the People in 1955 and the heroic struggles of the early 1960s which led to his arrest and imprisonment on Robben Island.
He was an activist, an intellectual, an avid reader and writer. His book, The Peasants´ Revolt, was a class analysis of an important struggle in the Eastern Cape. He also played a major role in the writing of Ready to Govern in 1992.
Govan Mbeki was an inspiration to several generations of liberation struggle activists. Chris Hani was just one of the young activists he brought to the struggle. He educated thousands in the principles of communism and working class theory, giving a strong ideological backbone to the liberation movement. He has given us all a legacy which will continue to benefit future generations.
Hamba Kahle, Oom Gov!