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This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

Mkhatshwa, Smangaliso

Mkhatshwa was born in Barberton, Mpumalanga, and received his schooling in Barberton, Lydenburg and Pietersburg. He entered St Peter's Seminary in 1960 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in June 1965. He worked as a pastor in Witbank until, in 1970, he was seconded to the church's general secretariat in Pretoria.

The following year he enrolled at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he received an MA in philosophy and theology in 1973. On his return to South Africa, he continued working at the secretariat of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) in Pretoria.

Following the 1976 Soweto uprising, Mkhatshwa was detained for four months under the Internal Security Act. In June 1977 he was restricted in terms of a five-year banning order to the Pretoria magisterial district. Since he could not return to his home diocese, Mkhatshwa was appointed parish priest of St Charles Lwanga in Soshanguve.

In May 1981, Mkhatshwa was appointed Secretary General of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference. His banning order lapsed in July 1983 allowing him to function more freely. He was however detained in the Ciskei in October 1983 and charged with subversion, incitement to public violence and addressing an unlawful meeting. He was found not guilty and released in March 1984.

Mkhatshwa, who was elected as a patron of the United Democratic Front, made the opening address at the establishment of the National Education Crisis Committee. In 1986 he was detained in terms of emergency regulations. After his release he successfully sued the state for torture and assault.

In 1988 Mkhatshwa became Secretary General of the Institute for Contextual Theology.

He was elected as an ANC candidate to the National Assembly in 1994 and again in 1999, and was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1997. He was the Deputy Minister of Education.

He held the position of Mayor of the metropolitan district of Tshwane from December 2000 until March 2006.

Source: sahistory.org.za

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