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English Heritage blue plaque photo of Joe Slovo and Ruth First by Barrie Phelan-

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Joe Slovo

Joe Slovo was born Yossel Mashel Slovo on 23 May 1926 . Joe died on 6 January 1995. He was a South African politician and an opponent of the apartheid system. Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania, to a Jewish family that emigrated to the Union of South Africa when he was eight.

His father worked as a truck driver in Johannesburg. Joe joined the National Union of Distributive Workers and, as a shop steward, was involved in organising a strike. In the article are the top ten intriguing facts about Joe Slovo.

1. He worked closely with the Marxist-Leninist ideology

Marxism–Leninism is an authoritarian communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century.

In the establishment of the Soviet Union in the former Russian Empire, Bolshevism was the ideological basis. As the only legal vanguard party, it decided almost all policies, which the communist party represented as correct.

Joe was Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP), a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a commander of the ANC’s military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

2. He was a member of the Congress of the People of June 1955

The Congress of the People was a gathering organised by the National Action Council, a multi-racial organisation which later became known as the Congress Alliance, and held in Kliptown on 26 June 1955 to lay out the vision of the South African people.

A South African citizen from a Jewish-Lithuanian family, Slovo was a delegate to the multiracial Congress of the People of June 1955 which drew up the Freedom Charter.

The Freedom Charter was drawn up at the gathering, which was the statement of core principles of the Alliance and a symbol of internal resistance against apartheid.

3. He returned from exile and took part in the negotiations that ended apartheid

He was imprisoned for six months in 1960 and emerged as a leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe the following year. He lived in exile from 1963 to 1990, conducting operations against the apartheid régime from the United Kingdom, Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia.

In 1990 he returned to South Africa and took part in the negotiations that ended apartheid. He became known for proposing the “sunset clauses” covering the 5 years following a democratic election, including guarantees and concessions to all sides, and his fierce non-racialist stance.

4. Joe Slovo was an atheist

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Therefore, a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. Although his family were religious, he became an atheist who retained respect for the positive aspects of Jewish culture.

5. Slovo was educated at King Edward VII School, Johannesburg

King Edward VII School photo by AbstractLakx –

King Edward VII School (KES) is a public English medium high school for boys situated within the city of Johannesburg in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, one of the historically significant Milner Schools.

The school is a public school, with an enrollment of over 1,100 boys from grades 8 to 12 of ages 13 to 18. Slovo was educated at King Edward VII School and left school in 1941 and found work as a dispatch clerk.

6. Slovo was a member of the National Union of Distributive Workers

The National Union of Distributive Workers (NUDW) was a trade union representing workers involved in retail and goods transport in South Africa. The union was founded in 1936 by supporters of the South African Communist Party, to represent white and “coloured” workers in the industry.

As a member of the National Union of Distributive Workers Slovo worked as a shop steward. Unlike other union representatives, stewards worked on the shop floor, connecting workers with union officials at regional or national levels.

7. Slovo fought on the Eastern Front during World War II

Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Inspired by the Red Army’s battles against the Nazis on the Eastern Front of World War II, Slovo volunteered to fight in the war.

8. Oh his return to South Africa after WW2 he joined the Springbok Legion

In the war, Slovo served as a Signaler in combat operations for the South African forces in North Africa and Italy. on his return to South Africa, he joined the Springbok Legion. The Springbok Legion led to the emergence of the Torch Commando.

The Torch Commando was a South African organisation, born out of the work of the Springbok Legion, a South African organisation of World War II veterans, founded in 1941 during the Second World War, and the War Veterans Action Committee established with the involvement of Springbok Legionnaires to appeal to a broader base of ex-servicemen.

9. Slovo was arrested during the Treason Trial of 1956

Nelson Mandela photo by South Africa The Good News –

The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956.

The main trial lasted until 1961 when all of the defendants were found not guilty.
He was arrested and detained for two months during the Treason Trial of 1956. Charges against him were dropped in 1958.

10. In 2004 Slovo was voted 47th in the Top 100 Great South Africans

A photo of the Grave of Joe Slovoby Andrew Hall –

Shack settlements built on land occupations in both Durban and Cape Town were named after Joe Slovo by their founders. Harrow Road in Johannesburg and Field Street in Durban Central were renamed Joe Slovo Drive and Joe Slovo Street respectively.

A newly constructed Residence building at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, has been named “Joe Slovo” in honour of the man. Joe Slovo died of cancer in 1995. His grave is located in Avalon Cemetery, Soweto.