Tim Jenkin

Who is Tim Jenkin?

Timothy Peter Jenkin is a South African writer, former political prisoner and prison escapee, and a monetary activist.

Jenkin, a Cape Town resident and University of Cape Town alumnus, was charged with "producing and distributing 18 different pamphlets on behalf of banned organisations" including the South African Communist Party, African National Congress and the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. He did so from 1975–78 and posted a sign on the seventh floor of a Cape Town building which said "The ANC lives". He was arrested, plead guilty to all charges and received a 12 year sentence. However, a year later in 1979, Jenkin and fellow inmates Alex Moumbaris and Stephen Lee broke out of Pretoria Central Prison. He subsequently moved to London and worked as a Research Officer for the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa. He also wrote Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison.

After moving back to South Africa, he co-founded the Community Exchange System in 2003, and was elected an Ashoka fellow in 2007.