Minister of Welfare and Population Development
Former Minister of Public Service and AdministrationMember
ANC National Executive Committee,
ANC National Working Committee
Born in Simonstown on April 14 1942, Zola Skweyiya lived his childhood amid the poverty of depressed communities. After the family moved to Port Elizabeth he attended primary school in New Brighton and then in Retreat, Cape Town. Here the Catholic Church organised activities such as tours of the Peninsula to keep ghetto children out of mischief. These tours provided their only view of a world beyond poverty, but Skweyiya also expanded his world-view through reading. After the family moved back to Alice in the Eastern Cape he went to Lovedale. Skweyiya participated in school boycotts against the introduction of Bantu Education in 1953. The experience convinced him of the need to foster unity among Africans and he joined the ANC in 1956. The multi-racial make- up of the ANC leadership and their united stand after their arrest for treason deeply impressed him. He matriculated from Lovedale in 1960. Around this time he met and worked with Govan Mbeki. Mbeki'scommitment to action and sound knowledge of rural politics strengthened Skweyiya's feeling that the ANC was on the right track. At Fort Hare he was an active member. When Mandela went abroad to seek military training facilities for the ANC, Skweyiya was one of those who mobilised support among the people for Umkhonto we Sizwe. By 1963 he was in danger of being arrested. Travelling to Tanzania, he worked for the ANC until a move to the Lusaka office in 1965. The liberation of African countries from colonialism in the '60s kindled and sustained his belief that one day South Africa would be free. Skweyiya's intellectual abilities were soon recognised and in 1968 the movement arranged for him to study law as a guest of the German Democratic Republic. In 1978 he received an LLD at the University of Leipzig. He then worked for the ANC in various offices and capacities, travelling extensively throughout the world and publishing articles in many journals. Skweyiya returned from exile in June 1990, and was shocked at the deprivation and homelessness of Africans. He believes unity among all blacks and especially among Africans should be strongly promoted. But unity can only be achieved once the violence is stopped and blacks are given a feeling of belonging in a democratic system. This in turn demands that the society be more conscious of its historical injustices, and ensure affirmative action. Special attention must be paid to the economic and cultural advancement of the rural areas. Women must be ensured of equality and empowerment and the rights and needs of children must be cared for. Since his return he has directed the Department of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He was elected to the NEC and is also a member of the NWC. He has helped to set up the Centre for Development Studies and the South African Legal Defence Fund, both at the University of the Western Cape. Skweyiya also serves on the board of trustees of the National Commission for the Rights of Children. Ends (510 words)