Nelson Diale
{{Short description|South African politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| party = African National Congress
| office1 = Member of the National Assembly
| termstart1 = June 1999
| termend1 = 6 May 2014
| citizenship = South Africa
| constituency1 = Limpopo
| birth_place = GaMasemola, Transvaal
Union of South Africa
| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|01|01|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|01|08|1936|01|01|df=yes}}
| death_place = Sekhukhune, Limpopo
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=ZAR|OLS}}
}}
Letsau Nelson Diale (1 January 1936 – 8 January 2015) was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist from Limpopo. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1956 and served eight years' imprisonment on Robben Island, from 1964 to 1972, for his work with Umkhonto we Sizwe. After the end of apartheid, he represented the ANC in the National Council of Provinces from 1994 to 1999 and in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2014.
Early life and career
He was born on 1 January 1936 at GaMasemola in Limpopo in the former Northern Transvaal.{{Cite web |title=Nelson Diale (1936– ) |url=https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/nelson-diale-1936 |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=The Presidency}} He did not complete his schooling{{Cite web |date=24 August 2011 |title=Author's plea: write about apartheid days |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011-08-24-authors-plea-write-about-apartheid-days/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=Sowetan |language=en-ZA}} but instead, in 1952, left the village to take up work as a waiter at a hotel in Pretoria. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1956 and the Domestic Workers' Union, an affiliate of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, in 1958. The ANC was banned in 1960 by the apartheid government, but Diale covertly joined the party's new armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and underwent military training. In January 1964, his unit was arrested; after being severely tortured, they were convicted of sabotage and imprisoned on Robben Island. Diale served eight years and was released in 1972.
After his release, Diale was subject to a banning order which, for the next four years, restricted his movements and political activities. He nonetheless continued to work underground for the ANC. In the mid-1970s, he was arrested again but on that occasion was acquitted and served with another banning order. In the 1980s, he helped Aaron Motsoaledi establish the Sekhukhune Advice Office, which provided logistical and financial advice to detained or injured activists and their families.
Legislative career: 1994–2014
In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Diale was elected to represent the ANC in the Senate (soon to become the National Council of Provinces), the upper house of the South African Parliament.{{Cite web |date=24 May 1994 |title=Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/history/MINUTES/CA24054.PDF |access-date=2 April 2023 |publisher=Department of Justice and Constitutional Development}} In the next general election in 1999, he was elected to represent the new Limpopo constituency in the National Assembly,{{cite magazine |date=11 June 1999 |title=General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures |url=https://gazettes.africa/archive/za/1999/za-government-gazette-dated-1999-06-11-no-20203.pdf |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |volume=408 |issue=20203 |pages= |access-date=26 March 2021}} and he was re-elected to his seat in 2004{{cite magazine |date=20 April 2004 |title=General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/262770.pdf |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |volume=466 |issue=2677 |pages=4–95 |access-date=26 March 2021}} and 2009{{Cite web |title=Letsau Nelson Diale |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/letsau-nelson-diale/ |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}} before retiring in 2014.
Honours and death
In April 2011, President Jacob Zuma awarded Diale the Order of Luthuli in Silver for "his excellent contribution to the struggle against apartheid and for his selfless sacrifices for the attainment of freedom for all in South Africa". He died on 8 January 2015 in Sekhukhune in Limpopo.{{Cite web |title=Letsau Nelson Diale |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/letsau-nelson-diale |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=South African History Online}} Zuma granted him a special official funeral.{{Cite news |date=14 January 2015 |title=Official funerals for Diale, MEC |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/official-funerals-for-diale-mec-1804785 |access-date=10 April 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{People's Assembly (South Africa)|letsau-nelson-diale|Mr Letsau Nelson Diale}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diale, Nelson}}
Category:African National Congress politicians
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2004–2009
Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014
Category:People from Sekhukhune District Municipality
Category:Inmates of Robben Island
Category:Members of the Senate of South Africa