John Nkadimeng, Chair of the ANC Main Machinery, Leaves for Exile
On 24 July 1976, the Chairperson of the Johannesburg-based African National Congress’s (ANC) Main Machinery, John Kgaona Nkadimeng, left the country for Swaziland, with the assistance of his comrade in the Machinery, Martin Ramokgadi. The Main Machinery consisted of ANC veterans who had been released from prison after serving sentences for their involvement in underground political activities in the early 1960s. Ramokgadi requested the help of his friend Joe Tseto to buy a Kombi to take Nkadimeng out of the country, since he had the money to make a deposit, but not the driver’s licence, to be able to buy a car through a hire-purchase contract.
The Main Machinery or the “General Structure”, was established in 1962 as an underground cell by Albertina Sisulu and John Nkadimeng, both resident in Soweto at the time. The cell, consisting of five members, including John Mavuso, a member of the National Secretariat established in 1962 to understudy the ANC’s National Executive Committee, was initiated to facilitate the passage of ANC members who wanted to leave the country for education or military training. It maintained contact with the ANC leadership in Botswana through a courier, Nathaniel Nkosibomvu, and also established links with people in other provinces.
Later on, the Main Machinery became chaired by John Nkadimeng, who had been freed from incarceration in 1966, and was joined in following y
