Nzula, Albert Thomas

(pseudonym, Tom Jackson). Born Nov. 16, 1905; died Jan. 17, 1934, in Moscow. Figure in the workers and communist movement of South Africa.

A Zulu by nationality, Nzula taught school in Evaton, Transvaal, and was active in the African National Congress. In 1928 he joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). Moving to Johannesburg, he taught at a Communist-organized evening school for Africans. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, Nzula served as a secretary of the CPSA Central Committee and as a secretary of the African Federation of Trade Unions. He fought for a united front of all democratic forces and against racism, and he was repeatedly persecuted by the authorities.

For the last two years of his life, Nzula worked in Moscow. There he was a member of the Central Council of the Red International of Trade Unions, representing the progressive trade unions of the Union of South Africa. He also served as a member of the editorial board of the magazine Negro Worker, the organ of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers.