predecessor successor death_date birth_place nationality party office birth_date term_start spouse image article_title term_end name restingplace
kobie coetsee mosiuoa lekota 26 november 2001 doornfontein south african african national congress minister of defence 23 may 1929 11 may 1994 jackie sedibe joe modise.jpg joe modise
 17 june 1996 joe modise westpark cemetery , johannesburg
joe modise

johannes `` joe '' modise -lrb- 23 may 1929 , doornfontein - 26 november 2001 -rrb- was a south african political figure .
he helped to found umkhonto we sizwe , the military wing of the african national congress , and served as south africa 's first black minister of defence from 1994 to 1999 .
as a truck driver from alexandra , 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 the first commander in chief of umkhonto we sizwe -lrb- `` mk '' -rrb- while chris hani deputised him as chief of staff .
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 -lrb- sandf -rrb- .
