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), he was Accused No.2 in the Rivonia Trial and was incarcerated on Robben Island where he served more than 25 years' imprisonment for his anti-Apartheid revolutionary activism. He had a close partnership with Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, with whom he played a key role in organising the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the establishment of the ANC Youth League and Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was also on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.

Family

Walter Sisulu was born in 1912 in the town of Ngcobo in the Union of South Africa, part of what is now the Eastern Cape province (then the Transkei). As was not unusual for his generation in South Africa, he was uncertain of his birthday, but celebrated it on 18 May. His mother, Alice Mase Sisulu, was a Xhosa domestic worker and his father, Albert Victor Dickinson, was a white civil servant and magistrate. Dickinson did not play a part in his son's upbringing: Sisulu reportedly met him only once, in the 1940s, before he died in the 1970s. Sisulu and his sister, Rosabella, were raised by his mother's family, who were descended from the Thembu clan. He was close with his uncle, Dyantyi Hlakula, who was passionate about Xhosa culture and who oversaw his initiation. Although he was technically of mixed race, Sisulu identified strongly as black and as Xhosa.]] Sisulu was one of the first ANC leaders to push for a non-racial alliance, leading to cooperation with white and Indian activists like Joe Slovo and Ahmed Kathrada. His work laid the groundwork for the “Rainbow Nation” ideal.

In 1940, Sisulu joined the African National Congress (ANC), which had been founded in the year of his birth. The following year, Nelson Mandela moved to Johannesburg and was introduced to Sisulu, who by then was well connected among the city<nowiki>'s activist class. Sisulu later said, </nowiki>I had no hesitation, the moment I met him, that this is the man I need" – the man, that is, "for leading the African people". The League also tabled a broad Programme of Action, which was notable for its explicit emphasis on African nationalism and mass mobilisation techniques. In December, he and other organisers, including ANC President James Moroka, were found guilty of "statutory communism" under the remarkably broad Suppression of Communism Act, but had their sentences – nine months' imprisonment with hard labour – suspended for two years.

Sisulu, along with several others, formed part of an ANC delegation to the 1953 World Democratic Youth meeting in Bucharest, Romania; before returning to South Africa, the group also travelled to Warsaw, Poland, to London, to Israel, and to the People's Republic of China, where Sisulu was part of a meeting with the Chinese Communist Party leadership. In 1955, Sisulu, Mandela, and Ahmed Kathrada watched the Congress of the People gathering – which adopted the Freedom Charter – from a nearby rooftop, unable to attend the meeting because of the banning orders against them.

After 1952, he was jailed seven times in the next ten years, including five months in 1960, and was held under house arrest in 1962. At the Treason Trial (1956–1961), he was eventually sentenced to six years, but was released on bail pending his appeal.

1963–1964: Rivonia Trial

He went underground in 1963, resulting in his wife, Albertina Sisulu, becoming the first woman to be arrested under the so-called 90 Day Act, the General Laws Amendment Act of 1963, which allowed the state to detain suspects for up to 90 days without charging them.

He was caught at Rivonia on 11 July, along with Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada and 14 others. At the conclusion of the Rivonia Trial, Sisulu was sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964. Part of his testimony during the trial included the commitment:<blockquote>I wish to make this solemn vow in full appreciation of the consequences it entails. As long as I enjoy the confidence of my people, and as long as there is a spark of life and energy in me, I shall fight with courage and determination for the abolition of discriminatory laws and for the freedom of all South Africans irrespective of colour or creed. His return to Soweto was greeted with celebrations in the street, In July 1991, at the ANC's first national conference since its unbanning the year before, Sisulu was elected ANC Deputy President. It was believed that he had been convinced to accept the job in order to prevent a disruptive power struggle between a younger generation of activists – such as Cyril Ramaphosa, Thabo Mbeki, and Chris Hani – vying for the deputy presidency. After 1994, Walter Sisulu chose not to take a formal position in Mandela’s government, preferring to stay behind the scenes. He believed his role was to support, not seek personal power.

Retirement and death

In 1994, the ANC won a majority in South Africa's first democratic elections and formed a government headed by Mandela, but Sisulu, weakened by age and his long imprisonment, declined to serve in public office. At the ANC's 49th National Conference in December that year, he also declined to run for re-election to the party's leadership. in the presence of his wife. Among the tributes he received after his death, Mandela – joking that both he and Sisulu "had long passed the age when either of us would protest against the brevity of life" – said:<blockquote>Our paths first intersected in 1941. During the past 62 years our lives have been intertwined. We shared the joy of living, and the pain. Together we shared ideas, forged common commitments. We walked side by side through the valley of death, nursing each other's bruises, holding each other up when our steps faltered. Together we savoured the taste of freedom. From the moment when we first met he has been my friend, my brother, my keeper, my comrade.</blockquote>After Mandela's death in 2013, Mac Maharaj – who had been on Robben Island with both men and later became a cabinet minister – told the media that he had had Sisulu and Mandela write obituaries for each other before 2003, and had kept both.

Personality and public image

His admirers, including Mandela, frequently noted his humility. Those imprisoned with him on Robben Island remarked upon his unflappable calm and patience Mandela was his best man at their wedding. Sisulu later recalled, "Even when I married my wife, I told her it was useless buying new furniture. I was going to be in jail."

Together, the couple had five children: Max (born 1945), an ANC politician; Mlungisi, a businessman (born 1948, died 2015); Zwelakhe, a journalist (born 1950, died 2012); Lindiwe (born 1954), also an ANC politician; and Nonkululeko (born 1958). They also adopted three children: two – Beryl, a diplomat, and Gerald Lockman – are biologically the children of Walter's deceased sister; while the third, Jongumzi, is the son of Sisulu's cousin.

In 2002, Max's wife, Elinor, published a biography of her parents-in-law, entitled Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime.

Awards and legacy

In 1992, Sisulu was awarded Isitwalandwe Medal, the highest honour granted by the ANC, for his contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa. The government of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan in 1998.

In 2004, Sisulu was ranked 33rd on SABC 3's list of Great South Africans. The Walter Sisulu National Botanic Garden, Walter Sisulu University and Walter Sisulu Local Municipality are named after him.

References

External links

Video footage of Sisulu's release (1989)
Mandela's tribute to Sisulu (2003)
The African Activist Archive Project website includes the audio of a January 1987 Interview with Walter Sisulu conducted in 1954 by George M. Houser of the American Committee on Africa. The website also includes photographs of Sisulu and demonstrations in the U.S. in support of the defendants in the Rivonia Trial.
Interview with Walter Sisulu by Tor Sellström within the project Nordic Documentation on the Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa – dated 15 September 1995