11 Facts About Sisa Njikelana

Sisa James Njikelana was born on 10 August 1955 and is a South African politician, businessman, and former trade unionist.

Sisa Njikelana represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2014 and chaired the Portfolio Committee on Energy during the 25th Parliament.

Sisa Njikelana was later the general secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union.

Sisa Njikelana was detained for his political activism on several occasions and was a defendant in the Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial.

SAAWU was among the country's most militant trade unions, and Sisa Njikelana personally was a firm advocate for the involvement of unions in a popular front against apartheid, arguing that workers' economic repression was inseparable from their political repression.

At the 1981 conference of the Anti-SAIC Council, an early precursor to the formation of the United Democratic Front, Sisa Njikelana made a speech as one of two representatives of the black labour movement.

In May 1981, Sisa Njikelana was arrested at the house of Neil Aggett, his friend and colleague in the labour movement; he was detained at John Vorster Square for ten weeks before being released.

In 2020, Sisa Njikelana testified at an inquest into Aggett's death, describing the torture he had been subjected to and his last encounters with Aggett in detention.

Sisa Njikelana said that he did not believe that Aggett had committed suicide, a belief confirmed by the findings of the inquest.

Sisa Njikelana was a member of the executive of the ANC's branches in Hillbrow, Sunnyside, and Yeoville, and he was a member of the South African Communist Party.

Sisa Njikelana was re-elected in 2009 from the national party list, and during his second term, he chaired the Portfolio Committee on Energy.