Draft:The Mbeki family

The Mbeki family is a prominent South African political family, noted for its involvement in the anti-apartheid movement, as well as post-apartheid governance and intellectual thought. The family is of Fengu descent and traces its origins to the Bergville region of KwaZulu-Natal. During the early 19th century, they migrated to the Eastern Cape as refugees from the Mfecane, settling in Peddie under the protection of Hintsa kaKhawuta, king of the Xhosa people.

Mbeki family
Moeletsi Mbeki Thabo Mbeki
Current region	Mbewuleni, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Place of origin	Bergville, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Founder	Skelewu Mbeki
Members	Govan Mbeki Moeletsi Mbeki Thabo Mbeki Jama Mbeki Monwabisi Kwanda Mbeki

Origins and lineage

Skelewu Mbeki (1828 -1918)

The earliest known ancestor is Nonkasa, grandfather of Skelewu Mbeki. Nonkasa had two sons, Mfeti and Mbeki, the latter being father to Skelewu Mbeki (b. 1828), Skelewu Mbeki, born 1828 in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, moved during the 1860s to Mpukane in the Nqamakwe district as part of mass displacements. Educated at Healdtown Methodist mission, he became fluent in English and Xhosa, later serving as village head and translator of colonial regulations to the Xhosa-speaking community. In 1893, he married Johanna Mabula; together they had five children, with Skelewu fathering three more in a previous mariage. All right of Skelewu's children received secondary education, and six of them, including Govan Mbeki, became teachers.

In 1911, Skelewu was removed as chief after a colonial court found he illegally sold cattle,violating colonial rules controlling livestock diseases. He died in 1918 aged 90.

Sipho Mbeki

Sipho Mbeki, Skelewu’s eldest by an earlier marriage, studied agricultural engineering and worked in Mpukane. Upon his father's dismissal in 1911, local residents petitioned for Sipho’s appointment as chief, but this was refused by colonial authorities.

Prominent members

Govan Mbeki (1910–2001)

Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki, born 9 July 1910 in Mpukane, earned a BA in Politics and Psychology and a teaching diploma at Fort Hare in 1936. He later gained a diploma in Social Studies via the University of South Africa and became a respected teacher and journalist. In 1935 he joined both the ANC and SACP, becoming national chairman of the ANC in 1956.

He edited *New Age* in Port Elizabeth from 1954, contributing to Congress of the People's Freedom Charter. After the 1960 Sharpeville state of emergency, he endured house arrests and solitary confinement under the Explosives Act before going underground in 1962. As Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe he was arrested at Rivonia in 1963 and sentenced to life in 1964.

During 23 years on Robben Island, Mbeki completed an honours in Economics (1970), authored *South Africa: The Peasants’ Revolt* (1964, begun on toilet paper), and tutored fellow inmates.

Released 5 November 1987, he received the Isithwalandwe Medal (1980), an honorary doctorate from Amsterdam (1978), and joined post-apartheid government as Deputy President of the Senate (1994–1997) and Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (1997–1999). He was awarded the Order for Meritorious Service (Gold) in 1999.

Married to Epainette, he had four children. He died 30 August 2001 in Port Elizabeth.

Epainette “MaMbeki” Mbeki (1916–2014)

Nomaka Epainette Moerane Mbeki, born 16 February 1916 in Mount Fletcher, entered public life by joining the Communist Party in 1937. A tireless advocate for rural education and women's rights, she co-founded community projects in Ngcingwane. In 2014, days before her death, she controversially endorsed the EFF.

Linda Mbeki (1941–2003)

Linda Mbeki, born 1941, was Govan and Epainette’s only daughter. While documentation is limited, she supported her family’s communal and educational initiatives.

Thabo Mbeki (b. 1942)

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, born 18 June 1942, earned a degree from Sussex and rose through ANC ranks to become Deputy President (1994–1997), ANC President (1997–2007), and President of South Africa (1999–2008). He championed NEPAD and chaired the AU (1999–2003). He received the Sakharov Prize (2000) and a UNESCO Peace Prize nomination. Married Zanele Dlamini in 1974, he also fathered Monwabisi with Olive Mpahlwa.

Monwabisi Kwanda Mbeki (1959–1981?)

Monwabisi Kwanda Mbeki, born 1959 to Thabo and Olive Mpahlwa, disappeared in 1981 at age 22 while seeking exile. Investigated by the TRC, his fate remains unresolved.

Moeletsi Mbeki (b. 1945)

Moeletsi Goduka Mbeki, born 1945, is a political economist educated in Oxford and Cambridge. He served at the SA Institute of International Affairs and has written extensively on governance, including *Architects of Poverty* (2009). He is a critic of ANC economic policy and public spending levels.

Jama Mbeki (1948–1982?)

Jama Mbeki, the youngest child, born 1948, studied law in Lesotho and the UK. He also disappeared in exile (1982), with no verifiable records; his disappearance remains a subject of ongoing oral and TRC review.

Legacy

The Mbekis are commemorated through institutions like the Govan Mbeki Municipality, Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, university buildings, and scholarships. Their collective narrative reflects intellectual leadership, political courage, and personal sacrifice, symbolised by the unresolved disappearances of Monwabisi and Jama.