The fact that Edwin Thabo Mofutsanyana was for many decades a member of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1923 and also a member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) from the early 1930s is a clear indication that a historical study needs to be written about the dialectic between Marxism and African Nationalism within the New African Movement. The Marxist heritage and orientation would have to include Albert Nzula, I. B. Tabata, A. C. Jordan, James La Guma, Yusuf Dadoo and others. The Nationalist tradition would have to encompass among others, Anton Lembede, R. V. Selope Thema, Jordan Ngubane, H. I. E. Dhlomo, Silas Modiri Molema, Charlotte Manye Maxeke, etc. In many ways Mofutsanyana struggled with both of these historical tendencies within the New African Movement. But he eventually came to the conclusion that Marxism was the historical system that would do the most in the construction of African political modernities. He espoused this historical perspective in the Communist party newspaper, Inkululeko (Freedom), whose editorialship he assumed as of June 1945 to 1950. Like other New African Communists, Jimmy La Guma, Johannes Nkosi, Johnny Gomas, Moses Kotane, J. B. Marks and Albert Nzula, Mofutsanyana received his political education, and in fact part of his general education, through the Communist Party African night schools in the early 1930s. He spent three years in Moscow from 1933 to 1936 studying at the University of the East, an institution built specifically for party cadres from Asia and Africa. On his return to South Africa, he had a formidable grounding in internationalism, politically, culturally and philosophically. The fundamental grounding of this internationalism was in the approximately seven languages he spoke, including Russian and German. Before assuming the editorialship of Inkululeko, Mofutsanyana had worked in another Communist party newspaper South African Worker/Umsebenzi in the late 1920s. Among his New African colleagues in Umsebenzi at this time were J. W. Nkosi, Moses Kotane and Albert Nzula. It may have been in this context that what seems to have been a deep influence of Albert Nzula on Mofutsanyana emerged. It may have been strengthened by Albert Nzula’s assumption of editorialship of Umsebenzi in the early 1930s. What solidified it was their presence at the same time in the 1930s in the Soviet Union. It may be possible that Mofutsanyana was the only New African at the funeral of Albert Nzula in Moscow in 1933 at the age of 27. On his return to South Africa, Mofutsanyana, like other New African Communists or Marxists within the New African Movement, pursued a policy which was ‘nationalist in form, socialist in content.’ The fundamental intention of Mofutsanyana in his editorial responsibility was to make Inkululeko ‘the organ not only of the CP but also the mouthpiece of the African people and all democratic South Africans.’ To achieve this aim, Mofutsanyana organized a formidable list of New African Marxists as contributors to the newspaper: Michael Diphuko, Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo, Daniel Tloome, John kebopetsoe, David W. Bopape, Maphutseng Fefela, Armstong Msiyshana, L. P. Nqotolo, Abner Kunene, J. B. Marks, C. S. Ramohanoe, A. Kgomo, Alpheus Maliba, J. Muthibe and Gaur Radebe. Mofutsanyana’s contribution in shaping Marxist culture in South Africa was incalculable. It perhaps needs emphasizing that the ANC and the CPSA were not the only organizations in which Edwin Thabo Mofutsanyana played a prominent and critical role. From the moment of the founding of the All African Convention (AAC) in 1935, for several years thereafter, Mofutsanyana was elected on its executive committee. In the 1940s, he worked very closely with Alfred B. Xuma, then the president of the organization, in modernizing the ANC. In this same decade, he was a member of the ANC national executive committee. Besides these political activities, Mofutsanyana was also profoundly engaged with social movements such as the squatter’s movement in the 1940s. With the banning of democratic organizations in 1960, including the ANC, Mofutsanyana left South Africa for Lesotho. It was there he died in 1995. Edwin Thabo Mofutsantana’s contribution to political modernity in South Africa, especially weithin the New African Movement, has been inestimable and deep.