Johannes "Joe" Modise (23 May 1929, Doornfontein - 26 November 2001) was a South African political figure. He helped to found Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress, and served as South Africa's first black Minister of Defence from 1994 to 1999.As a truck driver from Alexandra, Gauteng, he became interested in the struggle against apartheid at an early age.