DC40/NAMM/0019

MR JB MARKS was a political activist and trade unionist, Chairperson of the South African Communist Party (1962 – 1972) and Member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC. A founding member of the South African Congress of Trade Union, JB Marks was instrumental in the organization of African mineworkers and the formation of the African Mineworkers Union (AMWU). In 1946 under his leadership AMWU organized what was to be the largest mineworkers strike at the time in South Africa. The strike highlighted the poor working conditions and means by which the cheap African Mine labour system was maintain, increased labour consciousness and shifts in political thinking. As the Chairperson of the SACP and member of the ANC National Executive Council, his courageous leadership saw him guide the liberation movement through some its most difficult times. In 1962 he was sent to Tanzania to join Moses Kotane at the External Mission Headquarters, where he continued at the heart of the struggle. In 1969 he chaired the Morogoro Conference in Tanzania which took the critical decision to open the ANC membership to all races and established the Revolutionary Council which was to guide the armed struggle.