ANC mourns Mbeki father

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Anti-apartheid stalwart and one of South Africa's most prominent political leaders Govan Mbeki has died at his home in Port Elizabeth.

His death on Thursday was announced by the ruling African National Congress (ANC). He was 91 and had been ill for some time.

The father of South African President Thabo Mbeki, his death comes days after that of former South African newspaper editor Donald Woods, another prominent anti-apartheid campaigner.

President Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, told public radio that Govan Mbeki was part of a generation of leaders who "sacrificed everything they had" and "dedicated themselves to the struggle against apartheid."

The South African Communist Party (SACP), of which he was a life-time member, described him as a "giant" of the anti-apartheid movement.

Party spokesman Mazibuko Jara said: "He remained firm in his belief in the superior morality of communism throughout his lifetime.

"He has contributed immensely to our understanding of South African society and capitalism."

Jailed with Mandela

Govan Mbeki was born in July 1910 in the Transkei in what is now the Eastern Cape Province.

He joined the ANC in 1935 and was instrumental in drafting the organisation's list of demands for the type of society envisaged for South Africa.

The document became a framework for the ANC Freedom charter adopted in 1955.

Affectionately known as Oom Gov, or Uncle Gov, Mbeki began his career as a teacher under the oppressive, racist government policies that preceded the creation of the apartheid state in 1948.

Mbeki became national chairman of the ANC in 1956 and later served as secretary of the high command of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Thabo Mbeki: The South African President described as father as a "titan"

In 1963 he was arrested, along with Nelson Mandela and others, and sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island where he remained until his release in November 1987 upon which he resumed his political activities.

While he was in prison his son Thabo went into exile abroad, studying in England and receiving military training in the former Soviet Union.

In 1994, Mbeki Snr was elected deputy president of the South African Senate.

Named after the Rev. William Govan, a Glasgow missionary who ran a school that both the elder Mbeki and Mandela attended, he was a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC) and a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP).

His link to Glasgow was recognised earlier this year when a new health building at Glasgow Caledonian University was named in his honour and opened by his son.

Once asked about his son's position as president, Mbeki said: "I feel fine -- not because he is my son, but because we have a man in that position to carry on with the work of the ANC and the people of South Africa."

During his presidential acceptance speech, Thabo Mbeki saluted the generation of Mandela, Walter Sisulu and his own father as "titans" who "pulled our country out of the abyss and placed it on the pedestal of hope, on which it rests today."

Govan Mbeki was the author of a number of books including "The Struggle for the Liberation of South Africa -- A Short History."