Tokyo Sexwale

Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale ; (born March 5,1953) is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, alongside figures such as Nelson Mandela. After the 1994 general election—the first fully democratic election in South Africa—Sexwale became the Premier of Gauteng Province. He served in the government of South Africa as Minister of Human Settlements from 2009 to 2013. Early life and education Sexwale was born in the township of Orlando West, in Soweto. His father was a clerk at Johannesburg General Hospital and had fought against the Germans in World War II. Sexwale grew up amid the turmoil of the black township's upheaval. In 1973, he graduated from Orlando West High School. In the late 1960s, Sexwale became a member of the Steve Biko's Black Consciousness Movement and became a local leader of the radical South African Students' Movement. In the early 1970s, he joined the African National Congress's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe ("spear of the nation"). While in Swaziland, he completed a Certificate in Business Studies at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1975, Sexwale went into exile, undergoing military officers' training in the Soviet Union, where he specialized in military engineering. Imprisonment Upon his return to South Africa in 1976, Sexwale, along with 11 others, was captured after a skirmish with the South African security forces. After an almost two-year trial in the Supreme Court of South Africa in Pretoria, he was charged and later convicted of terrorism and conspiracy to overthrow the government. In 1977, Sexwale was sent to the Robben Island maximum-security prison to serve an 18-year sentence. While imprisoned at Robben Island, he studied for a BCom degree at the University of South Africa. Sexwale was released in June 1990 under the terms of the Groote Schuur Agreement between the National Party government and the African National Congress. He had spent 13 years in prison.