Joe SlovoSlo·vo, Joe /ˈsləʊvəʊ, dʒəʊ/ (1926–95) a white South African lawyer, born in Lithuania, who had an important part in opposing the system of apartheid in South Africa. He was the leader of the South African Communist Party, and a leading member of the ANC. In the last two years of his life he was a minister in Nelson Mandela's government.