Comrade Curtis Nkondo was born on 1 February 1928 in Louis Trichardt. After completing high school, he studied for a Higher Teacher Diploma which he completed in 1952. Subsequent to this, he began working as a teacher at Pimville High School and later moved to Lamula High School in Meadowlands, Soweto where he became the principal. Nkondo remained a passionate English and Geography teacher for two decades. When the student resistance against Bantu Education and the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction started in 1976, he was the Headmaster at Lulama High school.

While teaching he gained popularity and became the Chairman of the Soweto Action Teachers Committee. He was later suspended by the education department for educating learners about apartheid and politicizing them in the process. He was arrested and detained by apartheid police in 1977 and held in solitary confinement.

After his release from detention, he was elected as President of the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO) on 30 September 1979. Nkondo was instrumental in the formation of the Azanian Student Organization (AZASO) in November 1979. However, Nkondo did not last long as President of AZAPO due to his views which were sympathetic to the African National Congress (ANC). For instance, he worked closely with COSAS, AZASO and the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organization (PEBCO) which were closely aligned to the Charterist views of the ANC. Nkondo worked also closely with the ANC activists such as Samson Ndou, Rita Ndzanga and Sam Pholoto, and argued strongly with those from the Black Consciousness Movement ideology that working with the ANC would prevent the formation of a ‘third force’. As a result, he was deposed from the presidency of AZAPO in 1980.

Nkondo  continued his political activism through the trade union movement. He became the founding President of National Education Union of South Africa (NEUSA). He also played a role in the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and was subsequently elected as one three Vice President in 1983. During this time he actively campaigned locally and internationally against apartheid. Nkondo was arrested again in Johannesburg alongside 16 other leaders of the UDF and charged with treason. Together with others, he was tried in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court in what became known as the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial in 1984. After 16 months, the case collapsed and charges leveled by the state were withdrawn.

Nkondo became deeply involved within the ANC’s anti apartheid activities and in 1985 he was elected Chairperson of the Release Mandela Campaign. He was also elected as the first deputy President of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in 1990 after the amalgamation of NEUSA and other teacher unions.

After the first democratic elections in 1994, Nkondo became a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He served on the Association Against Women and Child Abuse and the Etwatwa Community Trust. He also served in the Soweto Education Coordinating Committee and the English Language Teaching Information Centre. In recognition of his role in the teaching, Nkondo was granted honorary life membership of South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU).

From 2000 Nkondo served as South African High Commissioner to Namibia until his retirement in 2004.  After his retirement he remained politically involved within the ANC serving as a member of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee.

Nkondo passed away on 3 December 2009. He is survived by his wife, four children and grand children.

References

• Maleka, M, SACP, (2011), South African Communist Party Spokesperson on the passing away of Curtis Nkond, 4 December 2009, [online], Available at www.polity.org.za [Accessed on 20 October 2011]
• Craven P,  COSATU today - COSATU press statements, 4 December 2009, [online], Available at www.cosatu.org.za [Accessed 20 October 2011]
• IOL, (2009), Struggle veteran Nkondo dies, from the Independent Online, 4 December, [online], Available at www.iol.co.za [Accessed 21 October 2011] South African Government Information, (2000),
• Media statement on the appointments of heads of diplomatic missions, from the South African Government Information 12 June, [online], Available at www.info.gov.za [Accessed 21 October 2011]
• South African Government Information, (2009), Premier and MECs to visit Nkondo's family to pay their respects, from the South African Government Information, 7 December, [online], Available at www.info.gov.za  [Accessed 21 October 2011]
• South African Government Information , (2009), Address by President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency, President JG Zuma, at the funeral of struggle veteran Mr Curtis Nkondo, St Charles Catholic Church, Victory Park, Johannesburg, from the South African Government Information 12 December, [online], Available at www.info.gov.za [Accessed 21 October 2011]
• Seekings, J (2000), The UDF: a history of the United Democratic Front in South Africa, 1983-1991, (David Phillip Publishers), p.36
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