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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 It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

Phosa, Mathews

Dr N. Mathews Phosa, B. Proc. (University of the North), LLB (University of the North), Honorary PhD in Law (University of Boston).

A leading ANC freedom fighter, Phosa opened the first black owner law practice in Nelspruit in 1981, but following an assassination plot four years later was forced into exile. He underwent military training in the former East Germany and returned to southern Africa to become Regional Commander for MK in Mozambique.

Phosa was part of the ANC team who began negotiations with the former SA government in 1991 and was part of the ANC team which drafted the Groote Schuur Minute and the Pretoria Minute. He was responsible for the co-ordination of the return of exiles and the establishment of all ANC departments in Shell House (now Luthuli House) in Johannesburg.

In 1991 he acted as advisor to the ANC delegation at the first CODESA talks and became one of the negotiators and authors of the Record of Understanding at CODESA 2.

In 1993 he acted as advisor to the ANC delegation at the Negotiations Planning Conference and was a co-ordinator of the Patriotic Front. He subsequently became Chancellor of the Mgwenya Training College and in this capacity was nominated as the "International Man of the Year" by the Cambridge Biographical Studies Centre in the UK.

In 1994 Phosa was elected as the first Premier of Mpumalanga province.  While holding this office he was :

Ø. A member of the ANC's committee on  Truth and Reconciliation;

Ø. Co-Chairperson of the ANC's NEC sub-committee on governance and legislatures;

Ø. Deputy chairperson of the National Council of Provinces;

Ø. Chairperson of the ANC in Mpumalanga and ex-officio member of the NEC of the ANC;

Ø. Head of the Legal Department of the ANC;

Ø. A member of the ANC's Constitutional Committee

Ø. A member of the National Negotiations Commission.

In 1999 he became a Member of Parliament but resigned soon after to become active in the private business sector. However he has had an ongoing relationship with all levels of government both in South Africa and in Mozambique.  He was one of the primary instigators in the creation and development of the Maputo Corridor concept.

Source: www.sahistory.org.za

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. Return to theThis resource is hosted by the site.