Programme Director
The families of our heroes whose remains we are here hand over
Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
CEO of Freedom Park, Fana Jiyane and former Chairperson Dr Wally Serote
Leadership of Gauteng Province represented by MEC Ntombi Mekgwe, and the municipalities of Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Ekhuruleni.
Chairperson of MKMVA Cde Kebby Mapatsoe and members of MKMVA.
Officials of the Departments of Justice and Constitutional and Defence and Military Veterans, in particular of the TRC Unit and the Missing Persons Task Team in the NPA.
Comrades and friends.
It is with a profound sense of honour, humility and priviledge that we are here today, as part of our ongoing work to deal with the most wicked and sad chapters of our history, arising from the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We are gathered here to hand over the remains of our heroes in the struggle against apartheid to their families.
I wish to convey to the families and all gathered here today the greetings of Min Jeff Radebe, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, who has been called by the Presidency to attend to a matter of urgent national importance.
We do so cognisant of the fact that this event occurs during the month of June which has been declared as Youth Month as a tribute to the gallant young fighters against apartheid, starting with the death of young Hector Pieterson on June 16, 1976. Within a period of a year, more than 700 youths were killed and many more detained and tortured, while thousands fled the country into exile. Amongst those who fled was Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, who, together with George Mahlangu and Monty Motloung came back to continue this struggle. On the same day of his execution on 6 April 1979 by the apartheid State the ANC leadership in exile issued the following statement:
“The execution of Solomon Mahlangu poses a new and urgent challenge to the fighting people of South Africa and international public opinion as a whole. It is inconceivable that the Botha-Vorster regime can be permitted to continue to disregard the demands of the overwhelming majority of mankind with callous impunity.
This callous act, in defiance of appeals made by the international community, including leading statesmen and the Security Council of the United Nations, is further proof of the brutality and intransigence of the racist regime.
The African National Congress wishes it to be known that this act of murder will not go unpunished.
Nor will this murder, deep felt to our people and our movement, deter the ANC from intensifying the struggle.”
By making the supreme sacrifice Solomon Mahlangu has demonstrated the most noble qualities of a true patriot. This reflects the fighting spirit of our people.
While being led to the gallows, Solomon Mahlangu declared that "My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight."
Statement made by ANC President Oliver Tambo when he signed a declaration, on behalf of the ANC and Umkhonto We Sizwe, committing them to adhering to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocol 1 of 1977, in Geneva, on 28 November 1980:
"Apartheid, the policy of official discrimination enshrined in the law and constitution of South Africa, has now been legally denounced as a crime against humanity and has led to an International Convention for the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. [Geneva Convention] Protocol 1 of 1977 itself recognises that "practices of apartheid and other inhuman and degrading practices involving outrages upon personal dignity, based on racial discrimination" constitute grave breaches of the Conventions and must therefore join the list of crimes identified at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.
The international community has therefore recognised that the war waged by this nefarious system against the vast majority of its population is not merely a matter of domestic concern and that any conflict which arises in South Africa cannot be described as a civil war.
The state of war which exists in South Africa is a war of national liberation, for self-determination on the basis of the Freedom Charter, of whose adoption we are celebrating the 25th anniversary this year. It is, as Article 1 of Protocol 1 of 1977 recognises, an armed conflict in which peoples are fighting against "colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination".
In the past twelve years, since the Teheran Conference on Human Rights, the development of international law under the auspices of the United Nations has led to a recognition that the concept of international armed conflict extends to cover wars of national liberation. The International Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, held in Geneva from 1974 to 1977, gave concrete expression to such a development. We in the African National Congress of South Africa solemnly undertake to respect the Geneva Conventions and the additional Protocol 1 in so far as they are applicable to the struggle waged on behalf of the African National Congress by its combatants, Umkhonto we Sizwe. This Convention is one of the cornerstones of humanitarian international law.
In consequence, we demand that the South African regime stop treating our combatants as common criminals. The regime has no right to execute them as it did our noble patriot Solomon Mahlangu and as it would have in the case of James Mange if it had not been for the strength of international public opinion. It has no right to impose savage sentences of imprisonment, contrary to the rules and spirit of international law. There is, therefore, a heavy obligation and an imperative duty on States parties to the Geneva Conventions to ensure that the South African regime observes the basic tenets of civilisation in its treatment of ANC prisoners of war.
We in the African National Congress have taken the serious step of making a solemn Declaration at the headquarters of the ICRC this afternoon because we have for nearly 70 years respected humanitarian principles in our struggle. We have always defined the enemy in terms of a system of domination and not of a people or a race. In contrast, the South African regime has displayed a shameless and ruthless disregard for all the norms of humanity.
In signing this Declaration, the African National Congress of South Africa solemnly affirms its adherence to the Geneva Conventions and to Protocol 1 of 1977. As we have done in the past, so shall we continue, consistently and unreservedly, to support, fight for and abide by the principles of international law. We shall do so in the consciousness and justice, of progress and peace."
Comrades and friends;
The TRC was a product of protracted negotiations, and we insisted that it is important that we do not look away from the lessons of history but rather that we lay bare these facts for future generations to derive useful lessons from them. Even more importantly, this work we have embarked on is in line with the view we expressed by President Nelson during the negotiations that there could be no forgiveness or reconciliation without the truth being told.
As we gather here today, we are therefore telling the truth about a real struggle in which real patriots made the ultimate sacrifice.
Through this event, we are narrating and giving human faces to the brutality inflicted on our people over 350 years of colonialism and four decades of apartheid oppression.
It is by telling these stories and giving actual names and describing their heroic deeds that we also enable those who were born after long after to understand their past so that they can correctly understand their present, and thereby accurately map out their future and that or their nation.
We would also like to extend our appreciation to the Missing Persons Task Team that was set up in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) 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 91 human remains have been located and exhumed. 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.
During the last four years:
- 29 individuals were exhumed
- 13 individuals were returned to their families and reburied.
- 16 are ready for handover and return to families
- 17 are still undergoing forensic examination
- One spiritual repatriation was conducted together with the TRC Unit in DoJ&CD.
Comrades and friends;
Allow me as promised to give more detailed account and thereby give human face to the brutalities of apartheid as we honour these fallen fighters for freedom and democracy.
These activists who died under different circumstances, were reported missing to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and were exhumed by the Missing Persons Task Team (MPTT) and in line with the TRC recommendations. Twelve remains have been positively identified and are ready for handover to the families for subsequent reburial. A total of ten exhumed remains are ready for handover here at Freedom Park on this 14th day of June 2013.
The heroes who lost their lives and are here to be handed over to their families are the following:
Firstly, those who died at the “Battle of Mutale River” on the 25th of MARCH 1988 in the Northern Transvaal in what is today Limpopo and they are:
- Daniel Nkabinde (MK Vusi Mthembu) from Tembisa
- Oupa Willie Lukhele (MK Dan Mabaso) from Tembisa
- Abram Moroe (MK Happy Batho) from Tsakane
- Sipho Nkosi (MK Peter Molotsi) from Alexandra
These four MK members were killed on 28 March 1988 at Mutale River near Thohoyandou. In 1998 their families were given incorrect remains by the TRC. The MPTT has recovered their correct remains and they have been identified through DNA.
Three other compatriots who fought against apartheid were killed in MOFOLO between the 3rd and 27th JULY 1989 in SOWETO and they are:
- Nceba Snuma
- Caswell Khumalo
- Richard Ngwenya
These three Soweto activists were given zero timed limpet mines by askaris posing as MK members. The operation was run by the Soweto Security Police. Nceba Snuma was killed in the explosion on 27 July 1989 in Soweto, while the other two, Caswell Khumalo and Richard Ngwenya, survived but were shot and their bodies dumped and burnt near Rustenburg.
The MPTT has exhumed and identified the remains of Nceba Snuma.
However the remains of Khumalo and Ngwenya were previously exhumed by SAPS in 1996 and are now missing. SAPS Forensic Laboratory cannot account for the whereabouts of those two remains. Only certain body parts held by SAPS for identification purposes have been located for handover. However, given the elderly and sick condition of the mothers, it has been decided to proceed with the burial of these fragments.
Another MK member, Reuben Letsela (also known as MK Bernard Zondi), was killed near Madimbo, Limpopo, on 15 September 1987 along with a fellow MK member. The Letsela family was given incorrect remains by the TRC. The MPTT has recovered his correct remains and confirmed their identity through DNA tests. The identity of the second deceased has not yet been established.
Kunyamane Ranyaoa, another MK member was killed in combat on 25 March 1988 near Derdepoort, North West province. The other two MK members who died with him were identified and buried by their families at the time of the incident. A fourth MK member was arrested at the scene. Ranyaoa was buried as an unidentified pauper. However, the ANC was unaware Ranyaoa had been killed and believed he was the one who had been captured and had become an askari. It was also asserted that he participated in an SADF raid into Botswana on 28 March 1988 which killed MK commander Naledi. As a result, the Ranyaoa family suffered severe social and political rejection and had to flee their community of Tsakane. The Ranyaoa family was also subsequently given remains by the TRC that were alleged to be those of Ranyaoa. The MPTT established without doubt through photographs, dockets and DNA that Ranyaoa died heroically in combat and never became an askari. His correct remains were recovered by the MPTT and identified through DNA. Handing over his correct remains also involves clearing his name and the social rehabilitation and integration of his family.
Matthews Mmutlane, (MK Chillies or Nicolas Moyo), was one of three MK members killed in a two day skirmish on 11 and 12 September 1987 near Alldays, Limpopo. One of the three was identified and buried by his family while Mr Mmutlane and his fellow MK member Solomon Malatjie were buried as unidentified paupers. In 1998 the TRC mistakenly exhumed and gave the remains of Mr Mmutlane to the family of Mr Malatjie. The MPTT has retrieved those remains and identified them through DNA as those of Mr Mmutlane. The MPTT continues to search for the correct remains of Mr Malatjie.
Comrades and friends;
In his address to the MK Anniversary on 3 September 1993 on the eve of our democratic breakthrough, former President Nelson Mandela had this to say about the people’s army:
“It is with great honour that I stand here before you at this critical juncture in the history of our country. You, the combatants of our people’s army, Umkhonto We Sizwe, have left an indelible mark on the history of our struggle for freedom and democracy. We are gathered here today to look back on that history, to acknowledge both our strengths and weaknesses and more importantly to consolidate our gains in order to face the challenges ahead……
Together we have travelled a long and difficult road to freedom and even though we have come a long way we have in no way reached our destination, in fact if we are not vigilant the end point may be much further than we would like to think it actually is.”
We wish our hero and icon Nelson Mandela, the Commander in Chief of Umkhonto weSizwe a speedy recovery.
Comrades and friends, we will not be deterred in our endeavor to unravel the truth inspired by the knowledge that the blood of our martyrs was not just some statistic but part of our historical account of our struggle for freedom and democracy. Equally we will not be deterred from ensuring that the economic emancipation of all our people becoming a fitting tribute to their struggle for our democratic freedom. Similarly, the safety and security as well as a drug free society will underpin our endeavors for an inclusive prosperous society. This we will achieve by ensuring accessible education and sharing of knowledge on the challenges that face our youth and our country as a whole.
With these words, allow me once more to thank the families for your patience and cooperation as together we work hard to uncover the truth and to restore the dignity of your loved ones through proper and fitting burials.
We salute these fallen heroes of our struggle!
May their spirits live forever!
Amandla!
I thank you.
