Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.

Free Moses Mayekiso poster c.1980s

Date: 29 Jun 1986
Updated: 29 Jun 2026

Moses Mayekiso was the General Secretary of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU) and became a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP). Mayekiso was first detained in February 1986 and was released on 7 March about the same year. This was after metal workers in the Transvaal and Natal (now kwaZulu Natal) protested his release. On 28 June whilst Mayekiso was on his returning from Sweden, he was detained again under section 29 of the Internal Security Act. He spent seven months in solitary confinement. He and four others including his brother Mzanele were subsequently charged with treason and accused of plotting to seize control of Alexandra, render it ungovernable by the state, forming people’s courts, and acting as the courts’ functionaries.

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How we know this

01Gastrow, S. (1992). Who's who in South African Politics, Vol. 4, Ravan: Johannesburg, pp.175-176.
02International Defense and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (1986), Southern Africa News Calendar: June and July 1986, from the International Defense and Aid Fund (I.A.D.F.) News, August, [online], Available at kora.matrix.msu.edu[Accessed: 25 June 2014]

Last updated · 29 Jun 2026

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2014, June 26). Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0097870

South African History Online (2014) 'Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.', South African History Online, 26 June. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0097870 (Accessed: 29 September 2026).

South African History Online, Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0097870, (accessed 29 September 2026).

"Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.." South African History Online, 26 June 2014, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0097870. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.

South African History Online. "Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.." South African History Online. June 26, 2014. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0097870.