biography
pronunciation:
[slohvoh]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1926–95)
|
| biography:
| South African political leader, born in Lithuania. He moved to South Africa as a child, and became one of the most influential white South Africans associated with the national liberation movement. He qualified as a lawyer, and became an active member of the Communist Party in the 1940s. He left the country in June 1963, and continued to work for the Communist Party and the African National Congress (ANC). He held high office in both organizations, and also served as chief-of-staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC (1985–7). He returned to South Africa in 1990, and played a major role in the negotiations for a new dispensation. In 1994 he was appointed minister for housing in Mandela's first cabinet. |
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