Archibald 'Archie' Mncedisi Sibeko

Early life

Born in Kwezana in the Eastern Cape, Archie grew up in a traditional Xhosa environment. His father was prosperous but died when he was 4 or 5. His mother was his father's second wife and they had 4 children together. He attended the village school. He later attended Lovedale Practising School. Before he went to High School, for which fees had to be paid, he went to work for a year to raise money. He worked for a greengrocer in Maitland, near Kensington, Cape Town. He was paid £2 a week and given food and sleeping accommodation. He insisted on his employer arranging a permit for him to live and work in the city. He was a boarder at Lovedale High School for three years. He then obtained a diploma in Agriculture from Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry and soon after graduation he went to Cape Town to find employment, so that he could provide an income for his young family. While in Cape Town, he crossed paths with political activist and trade unionist Oscar Mpetha, who mentored and guided him into his first steps as a Trade Union activist. He became an active member of both the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party, recruited by Ben Turok, in 1953. He became the Secretary of the South African Railways and Harbours Union after meeting Oscar Mpetha who taught him about trade unionism and introduced him to Ray Alexander.

She taught him about politics.

Political career

His political activities started in the 1950s and continued right through the subsequent years until the demise of the apartheid regime. He worked alongside political leaders such as Ray Alexander, Elizabeth 'Nanna' Abrahams, Elizabeth Mafekeng and the late Chris Hani. In 1961, Archie was arrested with Chris Hani, due to their involvement in Umkontho we Sizwe (MK) which was established as the armed wing of the ANC.

Archie was sent out of the country by the ANC to neighbouring Tanzania, leaving his wife and five children, where he became a Commander at MK's first camp. Later on Archie was deployed to London, where he helped mobilise the international trade union movement in support of the struggle against apartheid. In 1990, after more than two decades in exile, Archie was able to return to South Africa where he worked as Deputy Chairman of the ANC in the Western Cape and Honorary President of his union, the South African Railways and Harbours Union. Because of pressure of work, he suffered a stroke in 1992 and was advised to retire from active politics.

Retirement

Reluctantly he agreed and relocated to the United Kingdom (UK), where he still resides with his second wife Dr. Joyce Leeson. He continues to take a close interest in South Africa. He returned to be a monitor in the 1994 elections and has continued involvement in some of the trade unions he worked with in exile. He was Founding President and is still a committee member of the Tyume Valley Schools organisation, a charity that resources education in his home region. Newcastle City Council donated £1000 to the charity in 2014. He has written 4 books documenting his life and aspects of the struggle against apartheid.

Archie Sibeko also used the names Zola Zembe and Zola Ntambo.

He was awarded The Order of Luthuli in Silver.