Ashby Solomzi Peter Mda (6 April 1916 – 7 August 1993), also known as A. P. Mda was a South African teacher, lawyer, political activist and co-founder of the

African National Congress Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (N ...

(ANCYL). He was also one of the founders of the

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, often shortened to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is a South African pan-Africanist national liberation movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert S ...

Personal life

Peter Mda was born the 6 April 1916 in the Herschel District of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. He was given the name “Ashby” as he was born on

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

. He took the name “Peter” after joining the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church.S. Dubow, A. Jeeves. South Africa’s 1940’s: World’s of Possibilities. Juta and Company, 2005 His mother, Mildred Mei, worked as a school teacher and his father, Gxumekelani Charles Mda, was a peasant farmer, headman and local shoemaker.

Education

Mda's parents were members of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, however, A.P. Mda and his siblings attended the local

school. Mda later attended other Catholic schools, namely St Francis School in

Aliwal North Maletswai (previously Aliwal North) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was b ...

and Mariazell School north of

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape, Eastern Cape Province of Provinces of South Africa, South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 h ...

. Mda pursued a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

(UNISA). Mda also studied law through correspondence courses and eventually graduated with a law degree.

Career

After qualifying as a teacher, Mda was unable to secure employment in the Eastern Cape. He then found work as a gardener and cook in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. He moved to

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

in an attempt to secure a teaching job teaching but remained unsuccessful. He continued to work in

as a gardener, cook and then a steel foundry. He eventually found a teaching post at Germiston Catholic Primary. He also worked at St John Berchman, a primary school in Orlando,

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

from 1938. He continued to study through correspondence as to eventually become a lawyer.

Political career

A. P. Mda began his political career at the All African Convention (AAC) meeting in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

in 1936. He attended the meeting to cover the proceedings for Umlindi we Nyanga, an

newspaper. A. P. Mda defended the AAC leader, D. D. T. Jabavu, who was suspected of betraying their mandate and having dealings with J. B. M. Hertzog with regards to the Hertzog Bill of 1936. As support for the AAC dwindled, Mda began advocating for

African Nationalism African nationalism is an umbrella term which refers to a group of political ideologies in sub-Saharan Africa, which are based on the idea of national self-determination and the creation of nation states.African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC). Mda participated in the African Teachers Campaign advocating for higher wages in 1940 which was led by the Transvaal African Teachers' Association (TATA). Mda was the chair of the Pimville branch of the Salary Campaign Committee at the next TATA gathering at the Wilberforce institute. Other members of the committee included David Bopane, Edward Manyosi, M. Maubela, M. Kekana, Sydney Maseko and E.S. Molepo. He was also part of the Catholic African Teachers Union (CATU) which was against the wage campaign. Mda later played a pivotal role in the formation of the

(ANCYL). Mda formed a strong intellectual and political relationship with Anton Lembede soon after Lembede arrived in Johannesburg. Mda, Lembede and Jordan Ngubane, assistant editor of the ''Bantu World'', were mandated to draw up the

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

of the ANCYL. Lembede died suddenly on 29 July 1947. Shortly thereafter, Mda was named the acting president of the ANCYL and was formally elected into the position in 1948. Mda set up a working committee consisting of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

and

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

to manage the activities of the ANCYL. Mda selected Fort Hare to expand their influence as the institution had a strong Black student community. The ANCYL also established branches in Natal and the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

. The Fort Hare branch was officially launched in November 1948. The ANCYL, under Mda's leadership, started the Programme of Action (PA) at the ANC's Cape provincial office in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

in June 1949. The ANCYL adopted the PA. Xuma's term at the helm of the ANC was coming to an end and Mda and other members of the ANCYL started seeking a replacement who would endorse the PA at the following national ANC conference in 1949. Oliver Tambo went to James Moroka's home in Bantu location to encourage him to stand as a presidential candidate. Moroka was elected as president and the PA was adopted in 1949 as the ANC's guiding document. Mda then stepped down from the ANCYL after Moroka's appointment. He continued to work behind the scenes to ensure that the ANC remained committed to its nationalist ideals. Mda later grew weary of Moroka's leadership and wrote public letters of disapproval condemning the ANC leadership in the publication “Bantu World”. Mda noticed a “watering down” of African Nationalism by

and

as the new leadership started forming multi-racial alliances including Coloured, Indian and White anti-Apartheid organisations.

Political philosophy

Mda was often quoted as supporting a form of African Nationalism which should not be used to justify segregation and separate development. Mda was against the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) which was possibly due to his Catholic upbringing. He believed that the CPSA planned to infiltrate and take over the ANC. Mda is also described as the “founding spirit" of the

(PAC) which broke away from the ANC in 1959. This group included John Nyathi Pokela,

Potlako Leballo Potlako Kitchener Leballo (19 December 1924 – January 1986) was an Lesotho Africanist who led the Pan Africanist Congress until 1979. Leballo was co-founder of the Basutoland African Congress in 1952, a World War II veteran and primary school ...

and

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, ...

. Mda also developed the motto “Serve, Sacrifice and Suffering.” In the early 1990s, Mda, along with the rest of the PAC, was reluctant to join the Convention for the Establishment of Democracy in South Africa, known as CODESA.

Family

His son Zakes Mda was born in the Eastern Cape in 1948. A.P. migrated with his entire family to

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

when he was sent into exile. Mda charged his clients very little for his services throughout his career. His family suffered due to this. They later lived in a township in a house with a rusty corrugated roof, no ceiling and no electricity. Mda died on the 7 August 1993 due to

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mda, A. P. 1916 births 1993 deaths South African activists South African Roman Catholics Roman Catholic anti-apartheid activists African National Congress politicians Pan Africanist Congress of Azania politicians 20th-century South African lawyers University of South Africa alumni