Programme Director
The family members and friends of cdes Sthembiso Gambu and Msongeleni Mthethwa
The Premier of Kwazulu-Natal, the Hon Senzo Mchunu
Speaker of the Ethekwini Municipality, Mr Logie Naidoo
Representatives of MKMVA
Comrades, ladies and gentlemen.
We are humbled to be gathered here this morning to pay tribute to two MK cadres, cdes Sthembiso Gambu and Msongeleni Mthethwa and to hand over their remains to their families for reburial.
At this time we are a nation in mourning. We have to say goodbye to our Tata Mandela, an icon of our struggle, a fighter for peace and justice, a revolutionary and also a reconciler. When we think of Madiba’s legacy we also think back to his role as co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe. In September 1993 he said the following about MK:
“MK from its inception has played a significant role both politically and militarily in the process of liberating our people from apartheid oppression and economic exploitation. MK was and is the embodiment of the fighting spirit of our people and came to represent the highest aspirations and ideals of our struggle.”
Programme Director,
It is fitting that on this day of payer and reflection for Comrade President Madiba that we also remember the lives of these two comrades.
Cde Msongeleni Mthethwa, also known as MK Otto, was summarily executed the SA Police shortly after entering South Africa from Swaziland on 21 April 1984. The National Prosecuting Authority’s Missing Persons Task Team established Mr Mthethwa had been buried as an unidentified pauper in Piet Retief, Mkhondo. He was exhumed and identified by the MPTT in August 2012.
Cde Sthembiso Herbert Gambu was a member of Umlazi’s M section and went into exile in the 1980s. He was last seen allegedly being bundled into a police vehicle on 25 February 1993 after returning from exile in Angola to his home in KwaZulu Natal and becoming the target of security police attention. The Missing Persons Task Team established that his body was found on a highway and buried as an unidentified pauper, and exhumed his remains from Red Hill cemetery in Durban in April 2013.
In reflecting on the life of President Mandela and the part he played in the struggle to achieve a democratic, non-racial South Africa let us also reflect on the lives and deaths of these two comrades because their story is also the story of how we achieved democracy in South Africa. This is part of our past – a past we cannot wish away because it informs how we came to be where we are today.
We are here today, as comrades and friends, to give cdes Sthembiso and Msongeleni a proper and dignified farewell, as they so rightly deserve. Their sacrifice helped to bring about a free and democratic South Africa.
In June this year, the National Chairperson of MKMVA, Cde Kebby Maphatsoe, said the following words at the burial of two other MK heroes, cdes Abram Moroe and Kunyamane Ranyaoa. And I want to repeat his words, as they also apply to Cdes Gambu and Mthethwa: “They have made history and therefore the future of humanity. They have defeated the valley of death. They have defeated the most brutal and racist apartheid state in the history of the human generations. They fought and died for the noble cause of the freedom and dignity of our people. Their heroic footprints in advancing the cause of our revolution will forever decorate the glorious chapters of our history books.”
The most fitting way we can honour the memories of cdes Sthembiso and Msongeleni and other freedom fighters who gave their lives to the struggle is to continuously strive to nurture this culture of human rights in our country. We need to continue to strengthen democracy, build social cohesion between all our people, help people to access their rights by making access to justice a reality and we need to address the poverty and inequality to prevalent in our country. We must honour the legacy of Madiba by taking this opportunity to re-unite as South Africans and follow his example of building a better life for all.
To the families of Sthembiso Gambu and Msogeleni Mthethewa, we share in your grief and sorrow. I hope you will find comfort in the fact that he fought for and contributed greatly to the freedom that we now enjoy. May this knowledge carry you through the difficult times and help you find healing and closure. The Bible says in the book of Jeremiah, in chapter 31, where Rachel weeps for her children:
“This is what the Lord says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the Lord.
"They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future," declares the Lord. "Your children will return to their own land.”
To their families we say, as we hand over their remains to you today for them to be buried, your children have returned, they no longer live in the land that was the land of the enemy, but to their own land, a land which as the Constitution says, now belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
To their family and friends, please know that although they may no longer be with us here on earth, they are not far away. Someone once write that - I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, not even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories.
I want to acknowledge those without whose efforts we would not have come this far. To the members of the Missing Persons Task Team, I thank you on behalf of Government, the department and the families for your dedication and commitment.
The Missing Persons Task Team was set up in the National Prosecuting Authority to implement one of the TRC’s recommendations, namely that government should continue tracing the fate and whereabouts of those who disappeared in political circumstances between 1960 and 1994. To date, 94 human remains have been located and exhumed, 69 remains have been handed over to their families for reburial, 9 identities have been confirmed and they are ready to be handed over to their families shortly, 14 are still undergoing forensic examination and 2 remains are excluded through forensic examination.
These have been primarily the remains of MK cadres who died inside the country and were buried as unidentified paupers or were secretly buried. The MPTT has also recovered the remains of cadres of other political organizations such as AZANLA and Poqo (PAC), as well as civilian activists such as the Pebco 3 and Mamelodi 10.
I also wish to thank the TRC Unit in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, which, in their coordinating capacity, rendered support throughout this process.
Programme Director, in conclusion,
Famous poet and also a former cadre of MK, Mongane Wally Serote, once wrote a poem for Don Mattera. Don Mattera is a famous poet who lived in Sophiatown before his family was forcibly removed to Westbury. He was banned from 1973 to 1982 because of his political involvement in the struggle. If one was banned by the apartheid regime it meant that none of one’s works could be published or quoted. For all purposes, it meant being silenced. And surely there could be nothing worse for a poet than to be silenced. The poem reads:
For Don M. – Banned
it is a dry white season
dark leaves don’t last, their brief lives dry out
and with a broken heart they dive down, gently headed for the earth,
not even bleeding.
it is a dry white season, brother,
only the trees know the pain as they still stand erect
dry like steel, their branches dry like wire
indeed it is a dry white season
but seasons come to pass.
The season of oppression has indeed passed, the season of apartheid has passed, the season of an unjust and inhumane system has passed.
Our people were banned, but they could never be silenced. Even those whom we have lost, like cdes Sthembiso and Msongeleni, although they are no more with us, they cannot be silenced, their stories and their memories will live on.
May their souls rest in peace.
Hambani kahle, maqabane.
We salute you.
