by Alistair Boddy-Evans

Joe Slovo, the anti-Apartheid activist, was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC, and was general secretary of the South African Communist Party during the 1980s.

Early Life

Joe Slovo was born in a small Lithuanian village, Obelai, on May 23, 1926, to parents Woolf and Ann. When Slovo was nine years old the family moved to Johannesburg in South Africa, primarily to escape the increasing threat of anti-Semitism which gripped the Baltic states. He attended various schools until 1940, including the Jewish Government School, when he achieved Standard 6 (equivalent to American grade 8).

Slovo first encountered socialism in South Africa through his school-leaving job as a clerk for a pharmaceutical wholesaler. He joined the National Union of Distributive Workers and had soon worked his way up to the position of shop steward, where he was responsible for organizing at least one mass action. He joined the Communist Party of South Africa in 1942 and served on its central committee from 1953 (the same year its name was changed to the South African Communist Party, SACP). Avidly watching the news of the Allied front (especially the way in which Britain was working with Russia) against Hitler, Slovo volunteered for active duty and served with South African forces in Egypt and Italy.

Full text here.