Walter Sisulu
Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC Deputy President (1991–1994), he was Accused No.2 in the Rivonia Trial and was incarcerated on Robben Island where he served more than 25 years' imprisonment for his anti-Apartheid revolutionary activism. He had a close partnership with Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, with whom he played a key role in organising the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the establishment of the ANC Youth League and Umkhonto we Sizwe. He was also on the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.[1][2]
Walter Sisulu
Nelson Mandela
5 May 2003 (aged 90)
Soweto, South Africa
- Isitwalandwe Medal (1992)
- Padma Vibushan (1998)
Family[edit]
Sisulu was born in 1912 in Ngcobo in the Union of South Africa, part of what is now the Eastern Cape province (then the Transkei). Not unusual for his generation in South Africa, he was not certain of his birthday, but celebrated it on 18 May.[3][4] His mother, Alice Mase Sisulu, was a Xhosa domestic worker and his father, Albert Victor Dickinson, was a white civil servant and magistrate. Dickinson did not play a part in his son's upbringing: Sisulu reportedly met him only once, in the 1940s, before he died in the 1970s.[5] Sisulu and his sister, Rosabella, were raised by his mother's family, who were descended from the Thembu clan. He was close with his uncle, Dyantyi Hlakula, who was passionate about Xhosa culture and who oversaw his initiation.[5][6] Although he was technically of mixed race, Sisulu identified strongly as black and as Xhosa.[3][6]
In his mid-teens, Sisulu left school – an Anglican mission school – to find work.[3] In Johannesburg, he worked a range of jobs, including as a bank teller, gold miner, domestic worker, and baker.[3][6] He was fired from the bakery for trying to organise his co-workers.[4][6]
He founded Sitha Investments in 1939. It was situated at Barclay Arcade between West Street and Commissioner Street in the business district of Johannesburg. Its objective was to help black and Indian people buy houses. During its operations, Sitha was the only black-owned real estate agency in South Africa.
Personal life[edit]
In 1944, Sisulu married Albertina, a nurse, whom he had met in 1942 in Johannesburg;[24] Mandela was his best man at their wedding.[6] At the ceremony, Lembede warned Albertina that, "You are marrying a man who is already married to the nation";[4][25] Sisulu later recalled, "Even when I married my wife, I told her it was useless buying new furniture. I was going to be in jail."[24] While he was in prison, Albertina became a very important anti-apartheid activist in her own right, with leadership roles in the United Democratic Front and Federation of South African Women. In 1982, Ruth First paid tribute to their marriage at an ANC celebration for Walter (in absentia) on his birthday, saying, "His capacity to lead and her political strength are... the product of a good marriage, a good political marriage, but a good marriage, one that is based on genuine equality and on shared commitment."[24] Both were born into Christian families, but, asked in 1992 whether they practiced their religion, Albertina replied, "There’s no time, my dear".[26]
Together, the couple had five children: Max (born 1945), an ANC politician; Mlungisi, a businessman (born 1948, died 2015);[27] Zwelakhe, a journalist (born 1950, died 2012);[28][29] Lindiwe (born 1954), also an ANC politician; and Nonkululeko (born 1958).[24][30] They also adopted three children: two – Beryl, a diplomat, and Gerald Lockman[31] – are biologically the children of Walter's deceased sister; while the third, Jongumzi, is the son of Sisulu's cousin.[24] Jongi served a five-year sentence on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activism in the 1980s, and other family members were also periodically detained.[24][32]
In 2002, Max's wife, Elinor, published a biography of her parents-in-law, entitled Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime.[33][34]
Awards[edit]
In 1992, Sisulu was awarded Isitwalandwe Medal, the highest honour granted by the ANC, for his contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa. The government of India awarded him Padma Vibhushan in 1998. In 2004 he was ranked 33rd on SABC 3's list of Great South Africans. The Walter Sisulu National Botanic Garden, Walter Sisulu University and Walter Sisulu Local Municipality are named after him.