Tom Lebekoe was one of the six persons, alongside Jeremiah Mabe, accused of various offences arising from conflict in Mabieskraal (Pilansberg), Rustenburg District, Transvaal (now North West Province).
An order dated 9 September 1949 banished Lebekoe, this order was revoked on 14 May 1952.
Another order of 19 December 1955, which banished him from Rustenburg to Vryburg, Western Transvaal (now North West Province), was rejected by the Supreme Court on the basis that ‘the Natives concerned were not afforded the opportunity of showing cause why they should not be removed.’
Following an amendment to the 1927 Native Administration Actwhich allowed the government to banish people without giving prior notice, Lebekoe was then banished to Driefontein Native Trust Farm, Vryburg District on 6 June 1956.
There is no evidence of his order of 6 June 1956 being revoked.
• Contribution by Professor S. Badat on Banishment, Rhodes University, 2012. From the book, Forgotten People - Political Banishment under Apartheid by Professor S. Badat.