Joe Nzingo Gqabi
Statement by the African National Congress, August 1981
Speech by Oliver Tambo, President of ANC, at funeral in Harare, August 9, 1981
Obituary in ICSA Bulletin, London, August 1981
Obituary in Sechaba, September 1981
On the night of Friday the 31 July, 1981, enemy hirelings of the white racist regime of South Africa carried out another of their dastardly attacks on the leadership of the African National Congress of South Africa. This time it was in the capital city of independent Zimbabwe and on the life of Comrade Joe Nzingo Gqabi, the ANC representative in that country. The hirelings opened fire at close range into the head and body of Joe who died immediately. The first attempt on Joe`s life was early this year when enemy agents planted 7 kilograms of dynamite under his car which was discovered in time.
Born in Aliwal North in the Cape, 52 years ago, Joe joined the movement in the middle of the 1950s. He was a veteran of several ANC campaigns. At about the same time he joined the staff of New Age, the militant newspaper in Johannesburg. He was both photographer and reporter. This job gave him considerable experience in investigative journalism in exposing the hidden crimes of apartheid. Following the Sharpeville massacre and the declaration of the State of Emergency in 1960, Joe was amongst the two thousand political detainees. It was during this period that he showed his courage and dedication.
In 1961 Joe was amongst the first to answer the call of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). He left the country and went for military training. He was captured and sentenced to two years` imprisonment for having left the country illegally. At the end of the two-year term he was re-arrested in the Fort and charged under the Sabotage Act and sentenced to ten years` imprisonment on Robben Island where he served his sentence together with some of the top leaders of our movement - Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki, Kathrada and others. Released in 1975, severe restrictions were placed on him. But this did not deter him from reorganising the ANC apparatus. Joe Gqabi was definitely involved - in one way or another - in guiding and advising the students and youth during the Soweto uprising in 1976.
It was immediately after or during these uprisings that he again shot into prominence as the principal defendant in the lengthy trial of "the Pretoria 12" which caught the attention of the country and the world. He was the No. 1 accused in "the Pretoria 12" trial. He was one of the six acquitted - the others got from 6 to 18 years` imprisonment. He escaped shortly after acquittal in 1978 and found his way in the ranks of his comrades in the external mission of the ANC.
Soon after Zimbabwe`s independence, Joe was appointed to represent the ANC there. This appointment which he honoured with distinction enabled him to build an impressive rapport with the leadership and people of Zimbabwe as evidenced by the speech of the Prime Minister Robert Mugabe at his funeral.
Joe Gqabi dedicated himself so courageously and selflessly to our struggle that he was elected Member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC. He showed leadership qualities but was never above the rank and file who admired and loved him. An honest man and a friend of the youth he was always ready to impart his knowledge and prepared to learn from the younger generation who had their own experience in the struggle. As a fearless journalist, freedom fighter, leader and man of the masses, he will be remembered by thousands of all oppressed who are proud of having produced such a gallant son.
If the racist regime thought that by cowardly murdering Joe Gqabi, it was going to intimidate the Frontline States and demoralise the ANC, it has blundered. These acts of international terrorism can only steel our resolve to advance the struggle for which Comrade Joe lived and sacrificed his life, to new and higher levels.
To his wife Aurelia and his children Jomo and Nonkulueko, the ANC sends its condolences. We dip our revolutionary banner in honour of this hero who symbolises the indomitable forces of resistance to racism, oppression and exploitation. We hold up our clenched fists and say:
