Steve Tshwete

Who was Steve Tshwete?

Steve Vukhile Tshwete was a South African politician and activist with the African National Congress. Involved in the Umkhonto we Sizwe, Tshwete was imprisoned by the apartheid authorities on Robben Island from February 1964 to 1983 and later lived in exile. Upon his return to South Africa in 1990, Tshwete resumed activities with the ANC and become a regional coordinator for the new United Democratic Front.

As the head of the ANC's Sports Desk he had the task of uniting sports that had been riven by apartheid. He had the knack of "bringing sworn enemies to the negotiating table and sending them away as allies ... he went from one sporting code to the next and fixed the potholes on their roads to unity". Having united South Africa's cricket bodies he travelled with Ali Bacher to London in May 1991 and successfully applied for South Africa's admission to the International Cricket Council.

Tshwete was instrumental in de-racializing the national teams as Minister of Sport and Recreation. He served in Thabo Mbeki's first government as the Minister of Safety and Security from 1999 until his death in April 2002. Steve Tshwete Local Municipality in Mpumalanga Province is named after him.