A man from Manganeng: the life of John Kgoana Nkadimeng, 1927-2020

Abstract

Nkadimeng, while formidably intelligent, well read, and steeped in the oral history of the region, was initially a migrant worker from Sekhuhuneland with limited formal education. As we shall see he continued to take advantage of educational opportunities as an adult and became more than proficient in speaking and writing in English. But his preferred mode of communication was oral history and argument. He was a master of storytelling, political messaging and illustration by means of spoken narratives. His capacity in this regard (and that of others with similar profiles) played a more fundamental part in enabling the ANC to develop into a mass-based movement than is sometimes acknowledged. As his comrade and friend Elias Motsoaledi pointed out, many in the leadership of the Party and the Congress in the 1940s and 1950s enjoyed displaying their theoretical and linguistic virtuosity which was often a far cry from the mode of expression and comprehension of the grass roots of these movements.The emphasis on theoretical formulations has also influenced some historians, to the exclusion of figures like Nkadimeng whose enduring political contribution was as an organiser and an organic intellectual.