Massabalala Yengwa was born in 1923 near Mapumulo, in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
17 Facts About Massabalala Yengwa
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Massabalala Yengwa's father was a Zulu labourer, who had participated in the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906 and had been jailed during the African National Congress anti-pass campaign of 1919.
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Massabalala Yengwa attended secondary school in Richmond and from 1945 he studied part time at the University of Natal.
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Massabalala Yengwa married Edith Minah Sibisi on 21 September 1957 in Maqumbi.
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Massabalala Yengwa became active in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the ANC, becoming provincial secretary of the ANCYL.
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Massabalala Yengwa was a close ally of Albert John Luthuli and was part of a group, including Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo and Jordan Ngubane, who were instrumental in Luthuli's election as ANC president.
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Massabalala Yengwa later became Luthuli's secretary, later travelling with him and his wife to Oslo, Norway, when Luthuli received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.
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In 1952, Massabalala Yengwa was appointed as Volunteer-in-Chief and as joint secretary, alongside Marimuthu Pragalathan Naicker, of the Joint Action Council in Natal for the Defiance Campaign of the South African Indian Congress.
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Massabalala Yengwa was imprisoned for two weeks due his activities as a passive resister.
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Massabalala Yengwa next attended the Queenstown Conference of the ANC, where he met and began an association with fellow activists Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela.
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Massabalala Yengwa was banned by the government in May 1953, prohibiting him from attending any political or public gatherings or from leaving Durban.
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Massabalala Yengwa was charged alongside 155 other activists at the 1956 Treason Trials, but was acquitted and discharged a year later.
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Massabalala Yengwa was called to Pretoria to appear as one of the defence witnesses for treason defendants in September 1960, where he reiterated in response to several questions that the ANC followed a policy of non-violence to achieve their political aims.
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Massabalala Yengwa was arrested again in 1963 and was imprisoned in solitary confinement.
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Massabalala Yengwa served 18 months in jail, and when released was placed under 24-hour house arrest in Maqombi in Mapumulo, unable to leave or work.
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In 1966, Massabalala Yengwa fled to Swaziland, followed by his wife Edith and their children, where he practiced as a solicitor.
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Massabalala Yengwa was a religious man and represented the ANC at the World Council of Churches meeting in Geneva.