During the 1955-1956 Evaton bus boycott Kumalo was banished in terms of the 1927 Native Administration Act to Duiwelskloof. From there he was brought to stand trial. He was chairman of the African National Congress (ANC) Evaton branch in 1953 and 1956.
Joseph ‘Anti-Pass’ Khumalo, resident in Evaton Township, Vereeniging District, Transvaal [now Gauteng], was the chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in the area. He was described in documentation related to his banishment as a ‘ringleader’ who was a ‘known agitator against the Government.’ This was supposedly ‘borne out by the fact that he was responsible for the procession’ of Evaton women to the Native Commissioner’s (NC’s) office ‘to protest against the issuing of reference books to Native women.’ He was credited with playing ‘a leading role in a similar procession to the Union Buildings on the 9 August 1956.’
He was banished from Evaton Township to‘Bendstore in the Duiwelskloof area,’ which was in the Letaba district of the Northern Transvaal [now Limpopo Province] on 1November 1956.He was brought back by police from banishment for the treason trial. Charges, against him, were withdrawn at the end of 1957. He was again banished to Bendstore.
‘In October 1958 he applied for and was granted permission to travel for treatment in Johannesburg at Baragwanth Hospital.’ He was arrested on 19 May 1959 while still under treatment for being in Evaton without permission. He was released on bail, appeared in court and was ordered by the NC to ‘be removedto Duiwelskloof under escort.’ He escaped into exile in Lesotho.
His banishment order was withdrawn on 16 August 1967.
Contribution by Professor S. Badat on Banishment, Rhodes University, 2012. From the book, Forgotten People - Political Banishment under Apartheid by Professor S. Badat