Looksmart Khulile Ngudle (22 May 1922–5 September 1963) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n politician. He was a member of the

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) and

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), an

Umkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

(MK) Commander and

South African Congress of Trade Unions The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in March 1955, after right wing unions dissolved the South African Trades and Labour Council in 1954 t ...

(SACTU) leader in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

. Ngudle's death is controversial, as he was the first person to die in detention during

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

Era.

Life before political activity

Ngudle was born on 22 May 1922 in KwaZali village, near

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

in 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 attended Falconer High until Standard Six. He ended school early because he left to work on the mines in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. Ngudle worked at the Crown Mines goldmine for two years before returning to his home village to take part in the traditional circumcision ceremony. It was during this time that he met his future wife, Beauty. To raise enough money to marry her, Ngudle left Beauty and went to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in the Western Cape to look for work. After gathering enough money to pay

lobola Lobolo or lobola in Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Silozi, and northern and southern Ndebele (''mahadi'' in Sesotho, ''mahari'' in Swahili, ''magadi'' in Sepedi, ''bogadi'' Setswana, ''lovola'' in Xitsonga, ''mamalo'' in Tshivenda, and ''roora'' in C ...

, the couple married in the local

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

. Together they had six children. In order to support his family Ngudle returned to Cape Town.

Political history

During the 1940s and 1950s Ngudle saw bulldozers demolished black-owned homes in Kensington, Cape Town, to make way for a White-only neighbourhood. It was at this time, during the 1950s, that Ngudle joined the African National Congress (ANC). Ngudle's obligation was to raise funds. The funds were used for when ANC members were arrested and required a lawyer. He would often stage large jazz concerts with the local choir and musicians. During this time in order to still send support to his family, he partook in the making and selling of leftist newspapers such as ''Fighting Talk'' and ''New Age''. In 1961, Ngudle joined the ANC's military division known as Umkhonto we Sizwe, and became a commander for MK.

Denis Goldberg Denis Theodore Goldberg (11 April 1933 – 29 April 2020) was a South African social campaigner who was active in the struggle against apartheid. He was accused No. 3 of 11 defendants in the Rivonia Trial of 1964, alongside the better-known Ne ...

and Ngudle started a training camp in

Mamre Mamre (; ), full name "Oaks of Mamre", refers to an ancient religious site originally focused on a single holy tree growing "since time immemorial" at Hebron in Canaan.Niesiolowski-Spano (2016). At its first location, Khirbet Nimra, a pagan tre ...

, Western Cape, where they trained various MK recruits how to: march, read a compass, perform first aid and make electrical circuits for bombs. In May 1963, an order banning Ngudle from participating in political activities was issued and he was confined to the Wynberg Magisterial district in Cape Town.

Arrest and detention

One night Ngudle assisted in organizing the logistics, transport and safe-houses for 20 ANC comrades who were being sent out of the country. During transport the group were arrested. Under interrogation one of the 20 members gave them the last address at which Ngudle had been staying. Because he was in hiding Ngudle would have moved around a lot, barely staying at a fixed address for more than three days at a time. During the process of the 20 ANC members transportation Ngudle had fallen gravely ill and was at the address provided to the security police for an extended period of time. On Monday 19 August 1963, Ngudle was arrested. While he was at Caledon Square police station he was badly

tortured Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...

. Around 23–24 August 1963 he arrived at

Pretoria Central Prison Pretoria Central Prison, renamed Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area by former President Jacob Zuma on 13 April 2013 and sometimes referred to as Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services is a large prison in central Pretoria, within the City of Tshwane ...

Death

On 5 September 1963, Ngudle died; he was the first person to die in detention. The

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

stated that Ngudle committed suicide and he had hanged himself using his pyjamas. To prevent investigations into his treatment during arrest and life at the prison, four days after his death the state banned him. Ngudle was the first person to be banned post-mortem.Preez, M. d. (n.d.). TRC Final Report: Deaths in Detention. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from Truth Commission: Special Report: http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume3/chapter5/subsection9.htm?t=%2Bngudle+%2Blooksmart+%2Bkhulile&tab=report

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngudle, Looksmart Khulile 1922 births 1963 deaths UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel Members of the South African Communist Party Deaths in police custody in South Africa South African people who died in prison custody