Dingake fought for our freedom

Last Sunday, the man who for 96 years (1928-2024) had stood as Botswana’s most distinguished living freedom fighter, Cde Michael Kitso Dingake, took his last mortal breath. Although he never was State President, he was a true tautona.

Mourning his passing the ANC this week thus observed:

“Comrade Dingake’s commitment to the cause of liberation was unwavering, despite enduring arrest, torture, and a lengthy imprisonment of 15 years at Robben Island. His resilience in the face of adversity inspired generations of activists and freedom fighters. Even after his deportation to Botswana, comrade Dingake continued to contribute to the struggle, playing a pivotal role in establishing a base for Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and African National Congress (ANC) underground operatives. His dedication to the fight for social justice remained unyielding and unrelenting throughout his life.”

Who was this extraordinary son of the soil? Dingake was born in Bobonong on February 11, 1928. He attended the Bobonong Primary School between 1936 and 1941. He then went to South Africa where he did his secondary schooling at St Ansgars Institution, Roodepoort, from 1942-1943, and Pax College, in Polokwane, in 1946. He obtained his senior certificate through private studies from Damelin College in Johannesburg. Subsequently, while incarcerated on Robbin Island, he earned three degrees: a BA in Political Science and Economics, a BA in Public Administration and Local Government Accounting, and a BCom in Business Economics and Accounting.

Dingake became a political activist by joining the ANC in 1952 during the Defiance Campaign. Thereafter, he served in the ANC Volunteer Corps, playing a prominent role in organising the movement’s mass mobilisation campaigns of the period, notably including the anti-Bantu Education Schools Boycott, opposition to the Sophiatown Removals campaigns and organisation of the Congress of the People in 1955, the “We Stand by Our Leaders” protests during the Treason Trial from 1956, the Alexandra Bus Boycott and “One Pound-a-Day” strikes of 1957, Potato Boycott and Women Anti-Pass Campaign of 1959, the Pass Burning campaign that culminated in Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and the Anti-White Republic Protests of the same year.

In the context of this unwavering commitment, Dingake served in various capacities and structures of the movement. In

1957, he was elected secretary of Alexandra Branch; in 1959, he was elected chairperson of Johannesburg Northern Region; and in 1960, he was appointed member of the State of Emergency Committee, Johannesburg Region. At the end of 1960, he was co-opted into the underground ANC Transvaal Regional Committee; in 1962, he served on the ANC National Secretariat as publicity secretary and was responsible for the production of propaganda material for the liberation movement; and later he assumed the chair, after the Rivonia arrests when the National Secretariat virtually served as the underground ANC National Executive.

Having also been recruited into the South African Communist Party (SACP) during the State of Emergency, in 1961 he was co-opted into the SACP District Committee. He served on the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Johannesburg Regional Structure, handling the recruitment of trainees abroad. After the arrests of Mandela and Wilton Mkwayi, Dingake assumed responsibility for MK operations, including the infiltration of trained MK cadres. He was thus part of the senior ANC/MK executive that met in Lobatse on October 27-28, 1962. To reach the meeting he disguised himself as a priest, with other members of his delegation feigning to be a Gospel Singers’ group.

During his underground period in South Africa, Dingake also assisted FRELIMO freedom fighters, including Samora Machel, to reach Botswana. He narrowly escaped arrest on several occasions. His ability to operate clandestinely was reflected in his success on one occasion in reaching Dar-es-Salaam to secretly confer with MK/ANC external structures. When he came back to Johannesburg, however, he found that many of the people who were working with him had been arrested.

In February 1965, with the Apartheid Police closing in, Dingake moved back to Botswana from where he was the external contact with the ANC underground machinery in Johannesburg while he organised infiltration routes for

MK guerrillas from Zambia through Botswana. He also became a founder member of the Botswana National Front (BNF).

Dingake’s luck ran out in December 1960 when Tennyson Makiwane of the ANC office in Zambia instructed him to join Oliver Tambo and others for an important meeting in Lusaka. The communication proved to be a trap. As a result of Makiwane’s betrayal on December 8, 1965, while he was covertly travelling through the then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Dingake was detained and illegally deported to South Africa via Beitbridge, notwithstanding his passport status as a “British Protected Person.”

In Pretoria, Dingake was subjected to prolonged tortures, including being handcuffed and hung upside down and deprived of sleep for sixty hours. This occurred before his trial where he was indicted for membership and activities of banned organisations and as a member of the MK for statutory sabotage. As a result, he was on May 6, 1966, sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment on Robben Island.

Once on the prison island, Dingake worked with Mac Maharaj on the Communications Committee, which was responsible for communicating with the communal cell section and also for devising ways of communicating with the outside.

In May 1981

‘Bra Mike’ was finally released and deported to Botswana. During the next decade, he worked at the University of

Botswana while actively participating in community development projects. In 1992 he became an active politician, was elected vice-president of the BNF in 1993, and won the Gaborone Central seat in the National Assembly in 1994. In 1998 he and other disgruntled BNF MPs formed the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), with Dingake serving as president. In retirement, Cde Mike continued to be active as an author, commentator, and elder statesman.

A long-time columnist for Mmegi, Dingake is also internationally recognised for his writings. His publications include four books: My Fight Against Apartheid (1987), Apartheid, Questions and Answers (1989) and Politics of Confusion – The BNF Saga 1984-1998 (2004) and Better to Die on One’s Feet (2015) an autobiography that considerably expands on the content found in his previous 1987 account.

In April 2007, the South African government conferred Dingake with the Grand Companion of The Order of the Companions of OR Tambo in Gold in recognition of his services to South Africa.

At the launch of the late Dingake’s 2015 autobiography, Ahmed Kathrada observed: “Comrade Mike was involved in some of the most important struggles of the 1950s as well as being one of the first to be sentenced for the activities of Umkhonto we Sizwe. His story needs to be known. It is a beautifully written work, which ought to be in the hands of every South African, young and old. It is important in this time of shameful xenophobia, to note that Mike is a citizen of Botswana. But he fought in our struggle, understanding that freedom is indivisible and belongs to all.”

True words indeed. As a nation and region mourn you, rest in peace great lion, son of Bobirwa.