Mpendulo Jele: Farewell To One Of South Africa’s Noble Sons and Freedom Fighter

South Africa lost one of her top diplomats and a distinguished member of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), Mpendulo “Squires” Jele. A friend of the media and in particular, The African Times/USA with its offices in Los Angeles where Ambassador Jele served in the South African consular mission for a while. 

In sending its deepest condolences to the family of one of its founding Vice Presidents, who passed away at his home in Mamelodi, Tshwane last week, SADTU said “Jele was a committed cadre of our movement and a revolutionary professional, Comrade Jele actively participated in the struggle against apartheid as a civic, union and an underground activist.”

A teacher by training, Jele was the leader of the Mamelodi Teachers Union –  which is one of progressive teachers’ unions that emerged during the educational and political upheavals between 1985 and 1990. These organizations and recognized teachers’ associations from South Africa met in Harare in 1988, at the height of apartheid, to deliberate on how teachers could unite and form a single non-racial and democratic teachers’ organization in South Africa.