Joe Modise

Joe Modise
Modise visiting the US state of Virginia in July 1997
South African Minister of Defence
In office 11 May 1994 – 17 June 1996
President	Nelson Mandela
Deputy	Ronnie Kasrils
Preceded by	Kobie Coetsee
Succeeded by	Mosiuoa Lekota
Commander-in-Chief of Umkhonto weSizwe
In office July 1963 – May 1994
Preceded by	Raymond Mhlaba
Succeeded by	Position Disbanded[a]
Personal details
Born	(1929-05-23)23 May 1929 Doornfontein, South Africa
Died	26 November 2001(2001-11-26) (aged 72) Centurion, South Africa
Resting place	Westpark Cemetery, Johannesburg
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse(s)	Eva Modise Jackie Sedibe
Residence	Centurion
Occupation	Co-founder and Commander in Chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Profession	Guerilla fighter, politician
Nickname(s)	"JM", "Joe"
Military service
Allegiance	uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)
Years of service	1961–1990
Rank	Commander in Chief
Awards

Johannes "Joe" Modise (23 May 1929 – 26 November 2001) was a South African political figure. He helped to found uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress, and was its longest serving Commander in Chief, deputised at different points in time by Joe Slovo and Chris Hani. Modise headed MK for a 25-year period, from 1965 to 1990. He served as South Africa's first black Minister of Defence from 1994 to 1999 and led the formation of the post-independence defence force.

As a PUTCO bus driver from Sophiatown, Gauteng, he became interested in the struggle against apartheid at an early age. He at first chose only non-violent means, being arrested with Nelson Mandela and 154 others and tried for treason. All were acquitted. In the 1960s, the South African government were using increasingly violent means to suppress anti-Apartheid activists, and Modise became a guerrilla fighter. He organized resistance groups and trained many other guerrilla fighters. Modise became Commander in Chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe ("MK") following the Rivonia Trial during which other MK high command members such as Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Dennis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni and Elias Motsoaledi's were sentenced to life imprisonment.

By 1990, Modise and other representatives of the African National Congress met with the white government. When Mandela was elected president in 1994, he chose Modise as his Defense Minister. Modise was charged with integrating the many sections of guerrilla fighters into the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
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