Gert Sibande

{{About|the anti-apartheid politician|the South African district municipality|Gert Sibande District Municipality}}

{{Short description|South African political activist (1901-1987)}}

Gert Shedrack Sibande (1901 near Ermelo, Mpumalanga – 1987; also known as Lion of the East{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STDwsy-Hrz8C&dq=lion+of+the+east+gert+sibande+nickname&pg=PA126 |title=FET Colleges: Institutions of First Choice : National Certificate Vocational |date=2007 |publisher=RainbowSA |isbn=978-0-620-37878-9 |language=en}}) was a South African farm worker and anti-apartheid political activist. He was one of the ANC co-accused to stand trial in the treason trial of 1956-61 alongside Nelson Mandela and 154 others.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/sibande,g.htm |title=Gert Sibande |access-date=2011-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108042303/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/sibande,g.htm |archive-date=2009-01-08 |url-status=dead }}

{{Infobox politician

| name = Gert Sibande

| image =

| birth_name= Gert Shedrack Sibande

| office =

| term_start =

| nickname = Lion of the East

| term_end =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| known_for = {{unbulleted list| South African Treason trial (1956-61)| South African potato boycott (1959)}}

| birth_date = 1901

| birth_place = Ermelo, Eastern Transvaal, South Africa

| death_date = 1987

| death_place = Manzini, Swaziland

| nationality = South African

| party = African National Congress

| spouse =

| children =

| awards = The Order of Luthuli in Gold

| alma_mater =

| occupation = anti-apartheid activist

| website =

}}

Sibande played a critical role in the Potato Boycott of 1959.{{Cite web|url=https://www.polity.org.za/article/anc-zuma-address-delivered-at-the-gert-sibande-memorial-lecture-23092008-2008-09-23|title=ANC: Zuma: Address delivered at the Gert Sibande Memorial Lecture (23/09/2008)|website=www.polity.org.za}}

The Gert Sibande district in Mpumalanga province of South Africa is named after him. He was born in the district and spent a large part of his life there.

He was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in Gold for his exceptional contributions to the improvement of farm workers’ working conditions and his efforts towards a non-racial, just, and democratic South Africa.

Early life and work

Born in 1901 in the Ermelo district of the then Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), Sibande was the son of a tenant farmer. He began working on farms at the age of eight, where he faced harsh conditions. Initially known as Shadrack Sibande, he was given the name "Gert" by a Boer who forbade the use of English names on his farm. For over 20 years, Sibande worked on various farms across the Eastern Transvaal. His reluctance to accept poor working conditions earned him a reputation as a troublemaker among his employers, as he frequently challenged them on issues of exploitation.

Advocacy for farm workers

In the 1930s, Sibande moved to the Bethal Location, where he began organizing farm workers and addressing their grievances. During this time, many farm workers faced brutal working conditions, working from sunrise to sunset for little pay, and often eating minimal meals like phuthu and gravy on sacks. Sibande helped establish the first known organization for farm workers’ rights in South Africa, the Farm Workers’ Association. This group worked to help farm workers recover stolen crops and secure better working conditions.

In 1939, Sibande met members of the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg. He soon became an active member, returning to Bethal to form a strong ANC branch. His efforts led to increased awareness of the dire conditions farm workers faced, and he helped expose these injustices to a broader audience, including prominent figures such as priest Michael Scott and journalist Ruth First.

Sibande collaborated with the renowned Henry Nxumalo of Drum magazine, assisting in the publication of articles that revealed the exploitative conditions of farm workers to the world.The findings were published in the New Age. The Guardian released a second article related to Gert Sibande's findings on 25 December 1947.Christopher Webb (2015) Fighting talk: Ruth First's early journalism 1947–1950, Review of African Political Economy, 42:143, 7-21, DOI:10.1080/03056244.2014.988697 Accessed 19 July 2017 Drum Magazine released a similar article in 1952, the journalist Henry Nxumalo and photographer Jurgen Schoodeberg played an active role in documenting the conditions of potato farm labourers in Bethal. This article received national and international attention however, the reports were dismissed by the Minister of Native affairs, Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd in Parliament. He was deported from Bethal by authorities in 1953 due to his political activism. He later moved to Swaziland where he assisted the ANC military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe.{{cite web |url=http://www.mpumalanga.com/discover/regions/cosmos-country/bethel |title= Bethelsdorp - Mpumalanga|website=www.mpumalanga.com |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104013721/http://www.mpumalanga.com/discover/regions/cosmos-country/bethel |url-status=dead }}{{title missing|date=May 2022}} In 1959, twelve years after Gert Sibande revealed the labourers conditions, the ANC reported similar conditions in maize and other potato farms.http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/gert-sibande {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901062545/http://sahistory.org.za/people/gert-sibande |date=2013-09-01 }} Accessed 20 July 2017{{cite web |url=http://www.satyagraha.org.za/word/50th-anniversary-of-the-potato-boycott/ |title=50th Anniversary of the Potato Boycott – Satyagraha in Pursuit of Truth |website=www.satyagraha.org.za |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-date=21 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321202758/http://www.satyagraha.org.za/word/50th-anniversary-of-the-potato-boycott/ |url-status=dead }} He was an active participant of the defiance campaign, the campaign against Bantu education and also helped draft the Freedom Charter. He worked closely with Chief Albert Luthuli, Moses Kotane and Moses Mabhida.Address By ANC President Jacob Zuma at the Gert Sibande Memorial Lecture. 23 September 2008, Johannes Stegnan Theatre Secunda, Mpumalanga http://www.anc.org.za/content/address-anc-president-jacob-zuma-gert-sibande-memorial-lecture {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907035108/http://www.anc.org.za/content/address-anc-president-jacob-zuma-gert-sibande-memorial-lecture |date=7 September 2017 }} Accessed 18 July 2017 He was a member of the National Executive Council of the ANC and during his term of leadership, was accused in the Treason Trial of 1956-1961. He was one of the few accused that took the witness stand during the trial. He was elected to be the provincial president of the Transvaal ANC in 1958 and again re-elected in 1959. He died in Swaziland in 1987. He was buried in Manzini in central Swaziland.http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/gert-sibande {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901062545/http://sahistory.org.za/people/gert-sibande |date=2013-09-01 }} Accessed 19 July 2017

Persecution and death

Sibande’s activism led to increasing persecution by the apartheid government. In 1953, he was deported from Bethal, and in 1956, he was charged with treason as part of the notorious Treason Trial. Despite these challenges, he continued his work within the ANC, being elected provincial president of the Transvaal ANC in 1958.

After the Treason Trial, Sibande was forced to stay in Komatipoort near the border with Swaziland and Mozambique. In 1962, he crossed into Swaziland and later purchased a tractor and used it to provide plowing services in Swaziland, where he spent many years living in exile. He died in 1987, in Manzini, Swaziland.

Honours

The district municipality changed its name from the "Eastvaal" (Afrikaans: Oosvaal) to "Gert Sibande" District Municipality in October 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.gsibande.gov.za/History.aspx |title= Gert Sibande District Municipality|website=www.gsibande.gov.za |access-date=20 July 2017}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}} There is a Gert Sibande TVET College with various campus sites.{{cite web |url=http://www.gscollege.co.za/ |title= |website=www.gscollege.co.za |access-date=19 July 2017}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}} There is a bronze statue of Gert Sibande that looks at another statue of Nokuthula Simelane in Bethal. The statues are just outside the Nomoya Masilela Museum which is dedicated to freedom fighters including Gert Sibande, Nokuthula Simelane, Ruth First and Henry Nxumalo.Prof. Thabo Israel Pudi. Stories of the Liberation Struggles in South Africa: Mpumalanga Province. Xlibris Corporation, 12 Dec 2014.{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.fawu.org.za/show.php?ID=73 |title= Food and Allied Workers Union|website=www.fawu.org.za |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104013801/http://www.fawu.org.za/show.php?ID=73 |url-status=dead }}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/mpumalanga/nomoya-masilela-museum/ |title=Nomoya Masilela Museum in Bethal, Mpumalanga |website=www.sa-venues.com |access-date=19 July 2017}} Mbongeni Ngema wrote and directed the R22 million budget stage production 'Lion of the East' which was centralised around the potato boycott and Gert Sibande's contributions. The production also had bookings in Trinidad, Jamaica and Suriname. Sibande's family issued an interdict against the musical production as they claimed that they had not been consulted. The interdict was set aside soon before the release of the production.{{cite web |url=http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sowetan/archive/2009/03/16/potato-boycott-show-in-demand |title=Potato boycott show in demand |website=www.sowetanlive.co.za |access-date=19 July 2017}}{{Cite web |last=Wyk |first=Lisa Van |date=2012-01-18 |title=Mbongeni Ngema: Lion of the stage |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-01-18-mbongeni-ngema-lion-of-the-stage/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}