Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Moses Kotane was a South African communist and nationalist credited with uniting the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) at a time when it was disjointed and overtly racist. Under his leadership, the chasm between the CPSA and the African National Congress (ANC) was bridged, making him a national hero in both South Africa and the Soviet Union. Kotane was born in rural Rustenburg in 1905, the second of 11 children. His parents were Tswana-speaking African farmers and influential members of the community. Kotane started working in Johannesburg and Krugersdorp at the age of 17. There he was employed variously, working as a photographer's assistant, domestic servant, mineworker, and baker. Despite a limited formal education Kotane read widely, and attended a CPSA night school in Johannesburg in the 1920s. He was initially skeptical of communist doctrines, but also found the main nationalist party, the ANC, something of a disappointment when he joined in 1928. That year, Kotane also enrolled in the African Bakers' Union, which was affiliated with the new Federation of Non-European Trade Unions (FNETU), a body that was closely linked to the CPSA and headed by T. W. Thibedi. Kotane joined the CPSA, a commitment that would shape his life. He ascended the ranks quickly in FNETU as well as the CPSA, becoming a full-time party official in 1931, and then studying for a year at the Lenin ... log in or subscribe to read full text