Alex Moumbaris

Alexandre Moumbaris is a political activist and former political prisoner. He was born in Egypt to Greek parents, grew up in Australia, lived and worked in the UK, was imprisoned in South Africa and now lives in France. He is known for his political activism against the apartheid régime in South Africa in the 1970s, and his subsequent incarceration in, and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison (within the Pretoria Central Prison complex) with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. He returned to France after his escape. Moumbaris's family migrated to Australia when he was young and he became a naturalised Australian citizen, but he left for France when he was 16 years old. There he met and married a French woman, Marie-José. They moved to London in 1961, where Moumbaris worked for the IT department of Reuters-Comtel. He worked for about nine years before becoming involved with the ANC as one of the "London Recruits". He had not grown up in a political family, but when in Britain associated with Communists there and he was inspired by the communist resistance to the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. He was also influenced by the Vietnam War and the Greek coup of the colonels in 1967. He started associating with African National Congress (ANC) exiles and beginning in 1967, he travelled in and out of South Africa transporting literature for the movement. He also once unfurled an ANC banner from a building in Durban, and was subsequently entrusted with more risky assignments. Moumbaris became involved with the ANC at a time when the organisation had suffered many setbacks. The arrests at Liliesleaf and convictions which followed at the Rivonia Trial in 1963-4 were followed by widespread roundups of activists and leaders, including Bram Fischer and Wilton Mkwayi. Members' spirits were low and this combination of factors made it difficult for the ANC to re-infiltrate the combatants who had been trained abroad.