Oscar Mpetha
Names: Mpetha , Oscar
Born: 1909, Mount Fletcher, Transkei, Eastern Province
In summary: Organiser and later General Secretary of the African Food and Canning Workers Union . President of the Cape ANC
Oscar Mpetha was born at Mount Fletcher in the Transkei in 1909 and in 1934 sought work in Cape Town, where he was employed as a dock worker, waiter, hospital orderly, road worker, and later as a factory worker. In the late 1940s he helped to organise the African Food and Canning Workers' Union and in 1951 became its general secretary. He joined the African National Congress ANC in 1951 and in 1958 was chosen president of the Cape ANC in a disputed election. He was subject to bans from 1954 into the 1960s and was detained during the 1960 state of emergency.
References
- Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977). From Protest to challenge: A documentary History of African Politics in South Africa: 1882-1964, Vol.4 Political Profiles 1882 – 1964. Hoover Institution Pres: Stanford University.
