Moses Mauane Kotane (9 August 190519 May 1978) was a South African politician and activist. Kotane was secretary general of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing N ...

from 1939 until his death in 1978.Tribute to Moses Kotane
South African Communist Party

Biography

Early life

Kotane was born in

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

in Maphusumaneng Section, Transvaal (now North West) to a devout Christian family of Batswana origins. He received little formal schooling prior to entering the workforce. In 1922 at the age of 17, Kotane began his working in

Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (Afrikaans for ''Kruger's Town'') is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west ...

, where he worked in various jobs including as a photographer's assistant, domestic servant, miner, and bakery worker.Biography
at sahistory.org.za

Trade unionism and early party politics

In 1928, Kotane joined the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

but left it, considering it weak and ineffectual. Later that year he joined the

African Bakers Union African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

, an affiliate of the new

Federation of Non-European Trade Unions The Federation of Non-European Trade Unions was a trade union federation formed in South Africa in 1928. Black workers were effectively excluded from the South African Trades Union Council, and FNETU was built with support from the South African ...

then being built by the SACP. Kotane joined SACP a year later in 1929, soon becoming a member of the party's

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

. In 1931, he became a full-time functionary of SACP. Within the Communist Party, Kotane worked on '' Umsebenzi'', the party's newspaper. As a promising young party member, Kotane was sent to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to study Marxism-Leninism at the

International Lenin School The International Lenin School (ILS) was an official training school operated in Moscow, Soviet Union, by the Communist International from May 1926 to 1938. It was resumed after the Second World War and run by the Communist Party of the Soviet Uni ...

. In Moscow, Kotane studied under

Endre Sík Endre Sík (2 April 1891 – 10 April 1978) was a Hungarian historian, politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1958 and 1961. He was the younger brother of the priest Sándor Sík who was also a poet and piarist teacher. During the Fi ...

, 1967 recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and other Marxist theorists. Returning to South Africa in 1933, Kotane advanced through the Party until the point where he became the party's general secretary in 1939.

Political legacy

Kotane was a well-respected member of the struggle for majority rule in South Africa by even non-communist leaders.

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), h ...

credited him as a "giant of the struggle" because of his logical and non-dogmatic approach. Kotane was also a leading member of the

at the same time as the SACP. With the African National Congress, Kotane served as Treasurer General from 1963 to 1973 when he was replaced by Thomas Nkobi. Kotane, representing the Communist Party, attended the 1955 Asian-African Conference in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. From 1956 to 1961, Kotane was a defendant in the

Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...

alongside fellow South African leaders

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

, Joe Modise,

Albert Luthuli Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli ( – 21 July 1967) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his death in 1967. Luthuli wa ...

Joe Slovo Joe Slovo (born Yossel Mashel Slovo; 23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician, and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Pa ...

and 151 others. Despite years of prosecution, none of the defendants, including Kotane, were convicted.

Personal life and death

Kotane suffered a stroke in 1968. Following the stroke, he went for treatment in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, where he died on 19 May 1978. On the 1 March 2015, Moses Kotane's remains were returned to South Africa together with the remains of J. B. Marks and he was reburied on 14 March at Pella, North West. Kotane was survived by his wife, Rebecca. She died in

Soweto Soweto () is a 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 Townships''. Formerly a ...

in January 2021 at the age of 108.

Honours

Kotane was honoured with the Isitwalandwe Medal by the ANC in 1975. A local municipality is named after him in

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

.Moses Kotane Local Municipality
/ref>

References

External links

* ttp://novodevichye.com/kotane/ Moses Kotane's tomb {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotane, Moses 1905 births 1978 deaths People from North West (South African province) South African Tswana people Members of the South African Communist Party Members of the African National Congress Anti-apartheid activists South African activists People acquitted of treason South African expatriates in the Soviet Union Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery South African communists International Lenin School alumni UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel