Boy Adolphus Mvemve died a very violent death in exile in Zambia in 1974. He was 43 years of age at the time, operating under the nom de guerre John Dube (or simply JD), while serving as the African National Congress (ANC) deputy chief representative in Lusaka.

On that fateful day, Mvemve and his comrade Max Sisulu were sorting out the ANC office's mail during lunchtime. 'We normally sorted the post during lunchtime, when it was quiet, people were away from the office, and we ourselves could take some time off other things', Sisulu recalls.

A martyr for the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA and SACP after 1953), was the son of Jacobina Nkosi (no details of his father could be traced).  Nkosi spent his early years on the farm of Pixley  Seme near Standerton and attended the St John's Mission School at Blood River up to Standard 5. For a time he worked as farm labourer before moving to Johannesburg to become a domestic worker.

Jabulile Nyawose and her husband Petrus Nyawose worked long hours for Black Allied Workers Union (BAWU), focusing on delivery to members and paying attention to workers’ education. There was little time for their home life, so the youngest of their children, a little girl, grew up in the union offices. Her cot was two armchairs facing each other.

June 16 casualty

Lewis Baker was married to Villa Baker. He was a civil rights lawyer, and a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP). The couple continued their political activities after they were married.

Pepsi Mahlangu was the chairperson of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in KwaThema, Springs. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Pepsi Mahlangu, , was shot and killed by an unknown gunman in KwaThema, Springs on his return from exile in July 1991.

At a young age, around the early 1960s, William Khanyile began selling the New Age newspaper in Pietermaritzburg. By then he was already interested in Marxism and took part in study circles on the issue. Very soon after, he joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) and became particularly interested in discussions on Marxism. He tried to apply Marxist principles to situations faced by the SACP unit where he was actively involved.  

Member of the Pan African Congress

Robben Island prisoner