Matthew Goniwe (1947 - 1985) was born in Cradock, Eastern Cape, in 1947. He trained as a teacher, and in 1974 Goniwe left for a teaching post in Transkei where his political involvement led to his arrest in 1977. Convicted under the Suppression of Communism Act, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

After his release, he returned to teaching and completed a BA degree through Unisa. Transferring to Cradock, he was appointed headmaster of Sam Xhallie High.

In 1983, after calling a mass meeting to discuss how the community should respond to high rents, the Education & Training Department attempted to transfer him to Graaff-Reinet. This resulted in teachers and pupils from Cradock's schools embarking on a 15-month class boycott - the longest in the country's history. 

On 27 June 1985 Goniwe and three other activists - Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli - were killed and mutilated by apartheid security police. The truth about what had happened to them was not revealed until the perpetrators applied for amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Comission (TRC) over a decade later.

In 2003 the South African Government posthumously awarded Matthew Goniwe the Order of Luthuli in Silver for contributing and dedicating his life to a free, just and democratic South Africa.