Slovo, Joe (1926-1995), was a South African politician. He played an important part in the struggle that led to democracy in South Africa. He was chairman of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and a member of the executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC). When Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, he appointed Slovo minister of housing.
Slovo studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1942, he joined the SACP. Because of his activities in support of the ANC’s fight against apartheid (enforced racial segregation), Slovo was imprisoned from 1956 to 1958 and again in 1960.
Slovo had to leave South Africa in 1963, and he lived in exile in England, Angola, Mozambique, and Zambia. In 1985, he became chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. He also became the first white member of the executive committee of the ANC. In 1990, he returned to South Africa after President F. W. de Klerk granted him an amnesty.
Yossel Mashel “Joe” Slovo was born on May 23, 1926, in Obelai, Lithuania. He went to South Africa in 1935. His family had left Lithuania to escape the persecution of Jews. Slovo died on Jan. 5, 1995.
