Mpho Nchabeleng has written a book that depicts the struggle of his late father Peter Nchabeleng who was an ANC member and Umkhonto WeSizwe military veteran.
The book was launched at the City of Tshwane Municipality offices(Mini Munitoria) in Mamelodi West on Friday this past week.
Mpho Nchabeleng told Tshwane Talks that his father Peter Nchabeleng was killed on 11 April 1986 while in police custody a few hours after his arrest.
“My father was a Robben Islander (prisoner)who had been sentenced to prison in 1963 and served his jail time until 1972,” explained Mpho.
“I only got to know my father in 1972 when he was released from Robben Island prison,” said Mpho.
“My late father had been in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa from apartheid since the 1950s and he was convicted during what was then known as the Pretoria 12 trial, which was similar to the infamous Rivonia Treason whereby Nelson Mandela and his comrades were sent to jail for life,” explained Mpho.
Mpho Nchabeleng told Tshwane Talks at the launch of his father’s book that what struck home was that there was very little information about his father’s political activities and the role he played in the liberation struggle.
He attributes this to the fact that his father was ” a doer” rather than a speech-monger who would brag about his political activities and achievements.
He said in some instances he actually stumbled upon more of his father’s political activities and achievements on the internet.
Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, who is also a member of the ANC National Executive Committee giving a lecture on the late Peter Nchabeleng photo by Dimakatso Modipa
“My father had taken an oath of silence in allegiance to the ANC and even in court during his trial he refused to testify,” said Mpho.
“He was like an unsung hero but the role that he played in the struggle has to be recorded, so by writing this book I am doing justice to South Africans by letting them know through this book as to who Peter Nchabeleng was,” enthused Mpho.
He said many books were written about people who worked with his father in the political struggle for the liberation of South Africa but nothing had so far written about his father.
I took it upon myself as the son of Peter Nchabeleng to record his political activities because I am an eyewitness to some of his political activities.
The book gives details of where his father Peter Nchabeleng was born, where he went to school, what kind of person he was and also what promoted him to be involved in politics.
Mpho revealed that his late father was a devout Christian of the Lutheran Church; that he was a Deacon who would administer the church’s Sunday service if the priest in charge happened to be absent.
“The desire for justice from a Biblical/ Scriptural point of view is what pushed my father to be involved in politics and his comrades included various priests and members of the ANC and SACP,” said Mpho.
He also revealed that his father was Joe Slovo’s interpreter when Slovo was involved in rescuing the persecuted black people of Sekhukhuneland from the brutality of the apartheid regime.
He expressed regret that his father Peter Nchabeleng was killed in 1986 just four years before the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990.
Titi Mthenjane told Tshwane Talks that he was also an ANC activist who worked closely with the late Peter Nchabeleng who helped them infiltrate South African via the Limpopo corridor from exile.
He said he was arrested together with people like Tokyo Sexwale in the early 70s.
He said Nchabeleng was a very patient and listening man who taught him and his fellow young comrades from the ANC a lot of discipline, and that Nchabeleng was a point of reference to them who gave them guidance.
Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Dr Namane Dickson Masemola, who is also a member of the ANC National Executive Committee, told Tshwane Talks that “Mampogwane Peter Nchabeleng was one of the great heroes of the revolution and a great soul of the ANC who spent most of his life in the struggle for freedom and democracy, was sent to Robben Island and later got banished to his hometown of Sekhukhune in the Limpopo Province and got killed in detention in 1986.”
He said Nchabeleng gave his life to the ANC, for which he was killed by the apartheid security forces.
He expressed satisfaction that Ward 38 in Mamelodi has been named after the late ANC stalwart Mpogwane Peter Nchabeleng.
Masemola emphasised that ANC members are in many instances disciplined and will carry on with the good work that they have been doing for the people of South Africa.