LThe life of Dr Tlou Theophilus Cholo, affectionately known as Dr TT Cholo, is not only the story of one man’s journey through the currents of South Africa’s liberation struggle, but also a mirror through which we can examine the evolution, triumphs, and trials of the African National Congress and the broader democratic movement. His centenary invites both celebration and reflection to honour the past, but also to question whether we, as a democratic nation, have remained faithful to the ideals that guided his generation.
Born in the mid-1920s in Kgakana (Ga-Matlala) in Limpopo, Dr Cholo came of age at a time when the structural violence of segregation was deepening. His early life, shaped by poverty, labour exploitation, and racial injustice, instilled in him an enduring empathy for the working class and rural poor. Moving to Johannesburg as a young man in the late 1940s, he was drawn into the industrial workforce, an experience that exposed him to the dehumanising conditions of African labour under colonial capitalism. It was here that his political consciousness crystallised, leading to his early involvement in worker mobilisation and later in the liberation movement.
Between 1950 and 1960, during the era of mass mobilisation and the rise of multiracial alliances, Cholo emerged as a committed organiser and one of the founding members of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). This period marked a critical phase in the ANC’s evolution, from a moderate petitioning organisation to a mass-based liberation movement, guided by the democratic and inclusive vision of the Freedom Charter. Cholo’s work in the trade union movement was not separate from the national struggle; rather, it helped to anchor the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) in the lived realities of working people, fusing class consciousness with national liberation.
The 1960s brought the banning of the ANC and SACTU, the exile of leadership, and the transition to underground struggle and armed resistance. For Cholo, this was not a departure from the labour movement but a deepening of his revolutionary commitment. As one of the early volunteers of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), he underwent training in Tanzania, the Soviet Union, and China, embodying the global solidarity that sustained the movement. His subsequent arrest and imprisonment, including sixteen years on Robben Island, illustrate the harsh price paid by those who refused to submit to tyranny. Yet even behind bars, Dr Cholo’s activism persisted: he taught, organised, and mentored younger comrades, demonstrating that revolutionary consciousness is not extinguished by imprisonment.
The 1970s and 1980s saw the resurgence of youth activism, the rise of community-based resistance, and the fusion of labour and political struggles. Dr Cholo’s enduring extended underground labour networks such as SACTU, FOSATU, CUSA, NUM, NACTU, MAWU, CCAWUSA, BAWU, GAWU and others helped sustain underground structures and ideological clarity during these decades of repression. The formation of COSATU and the UDF echoed his long-held belief in the unity of workers, youth, and communities under a democratic vision of people’s power. This was also the period when traditional leaders, civic movements, and exiled networks were mobilised under ANC-aligned structures such as United Democratic Front (UDF) and CONTRALESA, processes that drew on lessons from earlier phases of mass organisation in which Cholo had played a foundational role.
By the time of the negotiated transition between 1990 and 1994, Dr Cholo was among those who bridged the world of the underground with that of formal politics. His participation in rebuilding ANC structures in Limpopo, integrating labour and civic formations, and preparing communities for democratic participation reflected his lifelong commitment to organisation, discipline, and service. The transition to democracy did not represent an endpoint to struggle, but rather a new phase – one that demanded moral vigilance and servant leadership.
In the post-1994 era, as South Africa navigated the complexities of governance, transformation, and nation-building, Dr Cholo continued to embody the values of ethical leadership and humility. As a member of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature from 1994 to 2014, he remained a voice of conscience, cautioning against corruption, complacency, and the erosion of revolutionary ethics. “Corruption makes us angry as honest citizens,” he warned, echoing a sentiment that continues to resonate deeply in a period marked by ideological fragmentation, factionalism, and moral drift within the movement.
The movement and the nation have correctly recognised his immense contribution to the struggle and to public service. Among the many honours bestowed upon him are the Order of Luthuli in Silver, an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from the Tshwane University of Technology, and the ANC’s highest accolade, the Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe Award, conferred upon those whose courage, sacrifice and leadership stand as a beacon to all. These honours affirm Dr Cholo’s place among the pantheon of great sons and daughters of our liberation movement – a comrade who gave everything so that others may live in freedom.
In reflecting on Dr Cholo’s life, we are compelled to confront the tensions between the ideals of the liberation struggle and the realities of post-liberation politics. His biography invites us to ask difficult questions: How did a movement once defined by collective discipline and selflessness become vulnerable to division and personal ambition? What does servant leadership mean in an era where the politics of power too often eclipse the politics of principle? Dr Cholo’s life challenges us to recover the moral centre of the ANC, to remember that leadership is not an entitlement but a duty, not a means of self-enrichment but an act of service to the people.
The centenary of Dr TT Cholo must therefore be more than a ceremonial tribute; it must serve as a moment of introspection. It should prompt the ANC, its Alliance partners, and broader society to recommit to the founding values of unity, honesty, and people-centred governance. His story underscores the need to preserve accurate and accessible archives of our liberation history, not to fossilise the past, but to use it as a living resource for renewal. The preservation of such records ensures that the story of the liberation struggle remains multi-dimensional, a story of triumphs and failures, of individuals and collectives, of ideas tested and lessons learned.
Dr TT Cholo’s century teaches us that integrity is not a relic of the past, but the foundation of sustainable freedom. His life reminds us that revolutions do not fail because of external enemies, but because their own moral compass falters. In celebrating him, we affirm that the struggle for justice, unity and ethical leadership is far from over. His journey, from the dusty streets of Ga-Matlala to the chambers of democratic governance is both a historical testimony and a moral directive: that freedom must always be defended by the courage of conviction, the discipline of organisation, and the humility of service. His life urges us to guard our democracy jealously, to renew our moral compass, and to continue the struggle for social and economic justice with the same clarity of purpose that drove him and his generation.
As we salute this venerable son of the soil, we do so with renewed resolve to honour not only his legacy, but the unfinished tasks of our democracy. In the enduring spirit of the African National Congress, we say: May the life and example of Dr TT Cholo continue to light the path towards the South Africa of his dreams – united, non-racial, non-sexist democratic, just and prosperous society.
Long live the spirit of Dr TT Cholo! Long live the legacy of our freedom fighters! Long live the African National Congress!