A shopkeeper in East London, Alcott Skei Gwentshe took a leading part in the formation of the East London branch of the African National Congress Youth League in 1949. He played a key role in organizing East London for the stay-at-home of June 26, 1950, and the 1952 Defiance Campaign. He was arrested and tried with other Defiance Campaign leaders in the Cape and received a suspended sentence. Later, he was chairman of the East London African National Congress (ANC), and president of the Cape Youth League. One of the first African leaders to suffer banishment, he was sent to a remote area of the Transvaal in 1954 and later confined to Frenchdale in the northern Cape. After about six years, he was permitted to move to the Transkei. He died in the late 1960s.

References

• Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977)
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