Born in 1927, John Kgoana Nkadimeng grew up herding cattle and attending a mission school in the village of Manganeng in Sekhukhuneland. At 17 he went to work as a domestic worker in Germistorn. By the age of 30, he was a leader in the ANC, the trade union formation SACTU, and the Communist Party. He had been involved in many of the key moments of struggle in the 1950's, including the Defiance Campaign and the Congress of the People. At the same time, he maintained close links to rural politics through his invovlement in the Sebatakgomo movement which played a leading role in the Sekhukhuneland Revolt of 1958.
Through detailed use of archival and oral sources, this biography reconstructs Nkadimeng's journey from childhood in Sekhukhuneland to factory work, night schools and political conscientisation in Johannesburg, increasing union and political involvement and indictment in the Treason Trial. He played a pivotal role in building early MK organisation. In the wake of the banning of the ANC and the destruction of the nascent ANC/MK underground at Rivonia, Nkadimeng would come to the fore in reconstructing underground networks at a time when repression and fear were at their height. After leaving South Africa in 1976, Nkadimeng continued to play a crucial role in maintaining support for underground work within the country, from Swaziland and Mozambique. In the 1980's he was member of the key ANC decision making structures and a close confidant of Oliver Tambo.
The trajectory of his life illuminates key themes including the role of migrant workers in the rural revolts, Communist influence on the ANC, and the post-Rivonia underground. but Nkadimeng's political work also determined the course of much of his personal life, and held great consequences for his family. His story cannot be understood without that of his family, and their own lives through exile and homecoming.
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