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

secretary general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of 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 ...

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

Biography

Early life

Kotane was born in

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 ...

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 and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a ...

, 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 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 ...

but left it, considering it weak and ineffectual. Later that year he joined the African Bakers Union, an affiliate of the new Federation of Non-European Trade Unions 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 highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. 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 is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to study Marxism-Leninism at the International Lenin School. In Moscow, Kotane studied under Endre Sík, 1967 recipient of the

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

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 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 ...

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

, 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 is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. 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 g ...

alongside fellow South African leaders

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 ...

Joe Modise Johannes "Joe" Modise (23 May 192926 November 2001) was a South African political figure. He helped to found uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress, and was its longest serving Commander in Chief, deputised at diff ...

Albert Luthuli Albert John 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 was bor ...

Joe Slovo Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo (23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Com ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 J. B. Marks (21 March 1903 – 1 August 1972) joined the South African Communist Party (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 ...

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 (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 ...

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 and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of ...

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 ...

.Moses Kotane Local Municipality
/ref>

Order for Meritorious Service The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.Moses Kotane, South African Revolutionary, A Political Biography by Brian Bunting. Published by Inkululeko Publications, 39 Goodge Street, London W1. © Inkululeko Publications, 1975.

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 South African anti-apartheid activists South African activists People acquitted of treason South African expatriates in the Soviet Union Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery South African atheists South African communists International Lenin School alumni UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel