Khoisan X
Encyclopedia
Khoisan X, formerly Benny Alexander (4 March 1955 – 13 October 2010), was a South African political activist born in Kimberley
, South Africa
.
(Nactu).
. He accompanied Mothopong to the United States and the United Kingdom, April to August 1989, taking in Kenya and Zimbabwe (where the Organisation of African Unity was meeting).
On his return later that year Alexander was a founding member and elected as first General Secretary of the Pan-Africanist Movement, a legal front for the PAC. He was elected to the same position at the PAC's first congress after its unbanning in 1990.
!X was, for a time, a member of the new formed Gauteng Provincial Legislature, and chaired a committee that decided on the name Gauteng
for the province at the time called the PWV Province (Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Vaal Triangle).
He stepped down as Secretary General in 1994.
and Griqua roots. He legally changed his name from Benny Alexander to Khoisan X, and acted as adviser to Adam Kok V, a Griqua leader in the Northern Cape
. He also pursued business interests related to tourism.
In 2008 he was part of an attempt to form a PAC splinter group - the Bloemfontein High Court however forbade the group from using the PAC's colours or name.
Khoisan X died of a stroke in Johannesburg
. He was buried in Kimberley on 23 October 2010.
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Early life
Bennett Alexander was the third child of Estelle and Johann Alexander, a labourer in Kimberley, the city where he grew up. He matriculated from the William Pescod High School, Kimberley, in 1975. Following initial employment with the South African government Department of Manpower, until 1981, Alexander served for a year on a Christian youth team which travelled around Zimbabwe and South Africa, before he moved to Johannesburg where he worked for a pharmaceutical company.Labour activist
At this time Alexander helped to form the Black Health and Allied Workers Union of South Africa, serving as a senior shop steward and vice-chairperson of the local shop stewards’ committee. He also chaired the union’s national advisory committee. From 1986 he took up full time employment with the South African Black Municipal and Allied Workers Union, an affiliate of the National Council of Trade UnionsNational Council of Trade Unions
The National Council of Trade Unions is a national trade union center in South Africa. It has a membership of 397,000 and was formed by the merger of the Council of Unions of South Africa and the Azanian Confederation of Trade Unions ....
(Nactu).
Political career
In 1989 Alexander became person aide to Zeph Mothopong, President of the Pan-Africanist Congress, following his release from Robben IslandRobben Island
Robben Island is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north-south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.07 km². It is flat and only a...
. He accompanied Mothopong to the United States and the United Kingdom, April to August 1989, taking in Kenya and Zimbabwe (where the Organisation of African Unity was meeting).
On his return later that year Alexander was a founding member and elected as first General Secretary of the Pan-Africanist Movement, a legal front for the PAC. He was elected to the same position at the PAC's first congress after its unbanning in 1990.
!X was, for a time, a member of the new formed Gauteng Provincial Legislature, and chaired a committee that decided on the name Gauteng
Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
for the province at the time called the PWV Province (Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Vaal Triangle).
He stepped down as Secretary General in 1994.
Indigenous rights and business interests
Alexander withdrew from politics in 1996/7, to focus on his studies, NGO and civic structures, and to build black empowerment structures, becoming a champion for indigenous interests, referring to his SanBushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
and Griqua roots. He legally changed his name from Benny Alexander to Khoisan X, and acted as adviser to Adam Kok V, a Griqua leader in the Northern Cape
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...
. He also pursued business interests related to tourism.
In 2008 he was part of an attempt to form a PAC splinter group - the Bloemfontein High Court however forbade the group from using the PAC's colours or name.
Khoisan X died of a stroke in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. He was buried in Kimberley on 23 October 2010.