J. B. Marks (21 March 1903 – 1 August 1972) joined the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

(SACP) in 1928, at the age of 25.Roth, 2015, p. 200 He was sent to the Soviet Union for the first time in 1930, as a student at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East (KUTV), as a result of funding from the Soviet Union in 1929. When he returned in 1933, he became the Communist party secretary. In 1934 rumours arose that he was a police informer and this may have been the reason he lost his position as party secretary in 1934-35.Roth, 2015, p. 201 As supporter of party secretary Lazar Bach, who was recalled to the Soviet Union and killed there in 1936, Marks was also summoned to Moscow, but managed to bungle his exit and never arrived there. Moscow was in no doubt that he did this on purpose and he was then expelled from the SACP in 1937. Expulsions from the party were generally suspensions rather than actual expulsions and by 1945 he managed not only to rejoin the party but to become the head of the African Mine Workers' Union, in spite of the fact that he had no previous experience of union work. Thus the miners strike of 1946 was poorly supported last for only three days and Marks was arrested. Marks was elected as president of the Transvaal African National Congress in 1951, but later lost this position to

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 ...

. In 1962 he became chairman of the SACP and in 1968 treasurer of the ANC. He had a stroke in 1971.

Yusuf Dadoo Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo OMSG (5 September 1909 – 19 September 1983) was a South African Communist and an anti-apartheid activist. During his life, he was chair of both the South African Indian Congress and the South African Communist ...

took over as SACP chairman after following his death in 1972. On 1 March 2015, the remains of Marks were returned to South Africa together with Moses Kotane's remains and he was reburied on 14 March at

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

, North West.

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* 1903 births 1972 deaths South African Communist Party politicians African National Congress politicians South African expatriates in the Soviet Union International Lenin School alumni Communist University of the Toilers of the East alumni {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub

See also

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