Vincent Joseph Gaobakwe Matthews (17 June 1929 – 19 August 2010) was a South African activist and politician. Matthews was the son of Z. K. Matthews, an early leader of the African National Congress (ANC). He was born on 17 June 1929 in the port city of Durban. Matthews completed his primary education at Lovedale Mission Station in the Eastern Cape while his father was a lecturer at the nearby University of Fort Hare. At the age of 15, he joined the African National Congress Youth League in 1944. Matthews matriculated in Johannesburg in 1947 and earned a BA from the University of Fort Hare in 1952 and an LL.B. from the University of London in the United Kingdom in 1956. Both he and his father were charged with treason in 1956 along with 154 other anti-apartheid activists, all of whom inclu