Eric Mtshali

Eric "Stalin" Mtshali (20 November 1933 – 12 October 2018) was a South African politician, trade unionist, and anti-apartheid activist. He was a founding member both of the South African Congress of Trade Unions in 1955 and of Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961. He was also a stalwart of the South African Communist Party.

After three decades in exile with the African National Congress (ANC), Mtshali returned to South Africa in 1991. Once apartheid was abolished, he served in the South African Police Service and as a local councillor in eThekwini before joining the National Assembly, where he represented the ANC for two terms from 2004 to 2014.

Early life and career Mtshali was born on 20 November 1933 in Durban in the former Natal province, where he was educated and where he became involved in the anti-apartheid movement. He rose to prominence as a young trade union organiser among Natal's dockworkers and textile workers, He earned the nickname "Stalin" for his admiration for Joseph Stalin, the former leader of the Soviet Union. In 1961, after the African National Congress (ANC) founded Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Mtshali was among the first cohort of recruits to its underground command structure in Natal. At the same time, Mtshali was involved in developing MK's internal intelligence capabilities; Between 1995 and 2000, he worked in the post-apartheid South African Police Service as deputy provincial commissioner for criminal intelligence in KwaZulu-Natal. He was elected to represent the ANC as a local councillor in eThekwini in the 2000 local elections.

In the 2004 general election, Mtshali was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament. In 2011, he was one of several MPs who appeared to defy a three-line whip by skipping a parliamentary vote on the ANC's controversial Secrecy Bill, although it was not clear whether Mtshali's absence had been excused by the party.

Personal life and death Mtshali's first wife died while he was in exile;

Mtshali died on 12 October 2018 at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban after a long illness.

Honours A secondary school in Wyebank is named after Mtshali; it was unveiled by KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister Peggy Nkonyeni in 2014. for "his excellent contribution to the fight against the oppressive and racist apartheid regime". In July 2017, the SACP's 14th congress awarded him the party's Moses Kotane Award for outstanding service to the party, in terms of which he was granted lifetime membership in the Central Committee.