This Day in History: December 24, 1923
Additional Date: December 24, 1923
Wilton Z. Mkwayi, trade unionist, treason trialist and acting leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was born in Middledrift in the Transkei. He was the eldest child in a family of thirteen. He was arrested and served life imprisonment on Robben Island for his involvement in MK. Mkwayi had to fight Robben Island prison authorities for twenty years for the right to marry the love of his life, Irene Khumalo. In 1985, the two were given permission to wed but she died of cancer six months later.