Former premier of Mpumalanga, Afrikaans poet and lawyer, Mathews Phosa is born

Nakedi Mathews Phosa, former premier of Mpumalanga (1994-1999), Afrikaans poet and lawyer was born in Mbombela Township in Nelspruit. Phosa was an African National Congress (ANC) political campaigner and lawyer. He left South Africa in 1985 for Mozambique after being tipped off by the ANC's Counter-Intelligence Unit that the Apartheid security forces were planning to kill him by means of a parcel or letter bomb. While in Mozambique he became involved in the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, directing its military activities in South Africa. He returned from exile to South Africa in 1990 as part of the ANC contingent that was to being the process of negotiations with National Party Government.