Understanding Harry Gwala’s radicalisation, armed struggle and trials, between 1960 and 1980

Abstract

Themba Harry Gwala, born on 30 July 1920, is remembered as a militant politician and hardliner, and is
often referred to as the ‘Lion of the Midlands’. This article contextualises his politics, and traces the shift
from radicalism to militancy. I argue that Gwala was forced to shift towards militancy by the political
conditions of state repression during the late 1950s and early 1960s. By examining the 1961, 1964 and
1976 state prosecutions of Gwala, this article demonstrates how the state used the trial processes of the
South African courts and the judiciary as a mechanism of repression. At the same time, Gwala, like many
liberation fighters, used the very same courts as a platform for the liberation struggle. Gwala died on 20
June 1995 at the age of 75.