Jacob Mpembe’s banishment order, dated 23 October 1962 stated that he was a listed communist who said that ‘there is nothing done by the Government except evils,’ and that ‘an African cannot walk on the pavement inJohannesburg. If the Government succeeds in oppressing us it will not succeed in oppressing our children.’
Allegedly, Kaizer Matanzima requested that Mpemba and Gilbert Hani, from Langa location in Cape Town, [Western Province, now Western Cape],be moved to Location No. 31, Qamata Basin, St. Marks, [Eastern Province, now Eastern Cape] wherehe could keep an eye on them.
TheNew Age reported that Hani and Mpemba did not turn up at the train station to proceed to Transkei; instead, they went into exile in Basutoland [Lesotho] where they sought asylum.
His order was withdrawn on 21 September 1967.
• Contribution by Professor S. Badat, Rhodes University, 2012. From the book, Forgotten People - Political Banishment under Apartheid by Professor S. Badat