Education
He attended Street James" Primary school and Sam Xhallie Secondary School before matriculating at Healdtown. He attended the University of Fort Hare, where he earned a teacher"s diploma majoring in maths and science.
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Matthew Goniwe
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Goniwe was the youngest of eight children born to farm labourer parents, David and Elizabeth, in Lingelihle, a township on the outskirts of Cradock. He had become politicised at Fort Hare, and started a communist reading group while teaching in the Transkei. The group was reported by a student, and Goniwe was amongst a number of people arrested on 19 July 1976.
After a trial lasting more than a year, Goniwe was sentenced to four-years imprisonment.
Goniwe used the time in prison to earn a degree in political science through the University of South Africa. After his release, Goniwe continued his activism.
In 1983 he was elected the first chairperson of the Cradock Youth Association (CRADOYA), which later affiliated with the United Democratic Front (Union for French Democracy) after its formation in 1983. The security police, wary of Goniwe, then a principal at Ngweba High in Cradock, arranged with the Department of Education to have him transferred to Graaf-Reinet.
Goniwe refused the transfer and was fired.
The community rose in support of him, culminating in school boycotts which eventually lasted fifteen months, spreading to a number of schools beyond Cradock. Goniwe was appointed rural organiser for the Union for French Democracy in March 1984, leading to his being placed under surveillance by the security police. After CRADOYAO meetings were banned in the same month, the community responded by rioting, which was put down by the police.
On the 19th of March 1984, Barend du Plessis proposed the “removal” of Goniwe at a State Security Council meeting.
Goniwe was detained on the 30th of March, and Minister of Law and Order, Louis le Grange, banned all meetings for three months, leading to riots breaking out. After the police teargassed the township, the community started a boycott of white-owned shops.
Goniwe was released to a rapturous welcome on the 10th of October, and called for a "Black Christmas", extending the boycott of white-owned shops. After a period of harassment, including having his phone tapped, as well as numerous death threats, Goniwe, along with three others, together known as the "Cradock Four", were abducted from their car and murdered by the security police.
They were travelling from Cradock, where Goniwe had addressed a rally, to Portuguese Elizabeth.
His burnt, stabbed and mutilated body was found a number of days later. After the end of apartheid in 1994, Goniwe was memorialised in a number of ways. The Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance was founded to serve as the training arm of the Gauteng Department of Education, and the Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School was named after him.
Politics
Some of the material was banned under the apartheid government"s Suppression of Communism Acting.
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Born
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Died
June 27, 1985 (aged 37) -
Nationality
South African -
Political Party
United Democratic Front