Curtis Nkondo (1 February 1928 – 3 December 2009) was a South African diplomat, school teacher and politician with 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 ...

. Born in Louis Trichardt, Nkondo was a lifelong activist with the ANC. He was a high school teacher at Lamula High School in Meadowlands, Gauteng and eventually became the chairman of the Soweto Teachers Action Committee before being suspended for educating against apartheid. A year after the formation of the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) in 1978, in September 1979, at its conference in Roodepoort the national executive was formed with Nkondo as its president. In 1980, Nkondo was suspended by AZAPO for Breach of principle. In 1983, he became the Vice President of the United Democratic Front coalition. Nkondo was the chairman of the National Education Union of South Africa and in 1984, he was one of the UDF's leaders that were tried for treason. In 1985, he served as the chairman of the Release Mandela campaign which advocated for ANC leader

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 ...

's release from prison. Following independence, Nkondo became South Africa's High Commissioner in neighboring

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

. He died on 3 December 2009.

Private life

He married a nurse, Rose Magros, with whom he had four children.

References

1928 births 2009 deaths People from Louis Trichardt African National Congress politicians South African diplomats High Commissioners of South Africa to Namibia {{SouthAfrica-diplomat-stub