Moses Mayekiso

Moses Jongizizwe Mayekiso (born 21 October 1948) was a South African trade union leader and a leading activist in the struggles against the apartheid regime during the 1980s. He became general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and an elected member of the South African Parliament.

Early life Moses Mayekiso was born in Askeaton, Transkei, Eastern Cape. He attended high school until 1972 in Pondoland East. Mayekiso worked as a miner in Free State. In 1973 he obtained work at Toyota Marketing in Sandton, Johannesburg.

Mayekiso was elected chairman of the Alexandra Action Committee (AAC) in 1985. He is described as unusual for a trade union activist because he also took on the broader politics of township activism. He was the central figure in the Alexandra township uprising of 1986, which resulted from an attack by the security forces on a funeral in the township. Mayekiso and the AAC leadership were arrested and subjected to severe beatings. while still in prison. It was not until April 1989 that he was acquitted of the treason charges, alongside four other activists.

1990s Mayekiso joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1990 and became a central committee member of the South African Communist Party (SACP). He was part of the welcoming committee for Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from Victor Verster prison.

He was elected to the South African Parliament in 1994 and served for two years before resigning in frustration at the lack of grass-roots connection.