Commander, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Member, National Executive Committee
Member, National Working Committee

Probably Joe Modise's greatest ambition is to see an independent, democratic South Africa. Among his highest priorities is the creation of a powerful and legitimate future defence force.

Johannes Modise was born in Doornfontein on May 23 1929 of working- class parents.

He did his JC at the Fred Clark Memorial School, Nancefield.

The destruction of Sophiatown in 1953 sparked Modise's militancy.

In the lengthy Treason Trial which started in 1956, Modise was one of the 156 activists charged. The charges were later dropped.

The Anti-Pass Campaign of the '50s, the Sharpeville killings and the subsequent banning of the ANC and other organisations also left a deep impression on Modise. Like hundreds of other young militants, he believed all avenues for peaceful struggle were closed and that the only alternative left was to take up arms against the apartheid regime.

He saw the establishment of Umkhonto we Sizwe, of which he has served on the high command since its inception in 1961, as a logical and almost irreversible development.

Modise participated in the very first operations ever undertaken by MK.

Modise was charged by the High Command with the establishment of MK infrastructure in the regions (particularly Natal and the Eastern and Western Cape). He spent two years working underground, setting up MK cells and sending recruits out the country for military training. Modise was instructed by the high command to go into exile early in 1963. His task: to get training himself, to oversee training of recruits sent out of the country and their safe return, and to arrange ordnance supplies from the socialist bloc to the liberation movement. He was based in Tanzania.

Modise underwent training in the then Czechoslovakia in mid-1963 and later in the Soviet Union. He was a key figure in the winning over of acceptance for MK of several African governments.

By 1965 the seven top MK commanders inside South Africa had been arrested at Rivonia. Wilton Mkwayi took over the leadership of MK. After his arrest, Modise was appointed army commander. By then, 1965, he was already serving on the NEC.

In the following years Modise established bases in Tanzania, Angola and Uganda. He oversaw training programmes in the Eastern Bloc, Cuba, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, China and the former GDR.

The year 1967 saw him engaged in the Wankie-Sipolilo campaign, when MK joined forces briefly with ZAPU's armed wing ZIPRA to engage Ian Smith's troops in the war for the liberation of Zimbabwe and simultaneously open up the eastern front. Modise was with the first group to reconnoitre the area.

When the June 16 detachment flooded out of South Africa in 1976, Modise's structures were ready to receive them.

Modise was re-elected to the NEC at Kabwe (1985) and Durban (1991).

He was in the first group of ANC negotiators to hold talks with the Pretoria government at Groote Schuur in March 1990. He has been part of the negotiating team ever since.

Modise sees the quest for a future democratic defence force as a moral and politically legitimate mission. He would like all MK ex-combatants to be part of that defence force. He would also like to ensure that all demobilised and disabled soldiers get equal treatment in relation to demobilisation and retrenchment packages. Another priority of Modise is to see soldiers accorded the dignity due to all citizens.

With acknowledgement to the ANC Website.