The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Zweli Mkhize, will attend the handover and reburial ceremony of the exhumed remains of former Umkhonto Wesizwe operatives Mandla Mjwara and Mfaniseni Mdlalose, on Saturday 18 August 2018 at the Durban City Hall.
The remains of the two former MK operatives who operated in KwaZulu-Natal have been positively identified 30 years after their disappearance without trace in 1987. Both were MK members who operated in a cell under the command of Minister Mkhize and others.
Minister Mkhize will pay tribute to the two fallen Umkhonto Wesizwe members that he worked with during one of the most difficult periods in the struggle for liberation. The Minister will join the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Michael Masutha whose Department is tasked with searching for missing persons and which has organised the handover of the remains and the reburial of the heroes of the struggle.
Mandla Charles Mjwara was born in 1967 in the Underberg area where his father worked. He was the 4th of seven children. He attended high school in the Edendale area where he became politically conscientised. His brother Sipho left the country to join MK for military training and Mandla followed in about 1984. Mandla left SA for Lesotho and later met up with his brother in Angola in 1985. He was seen in Pietermaritzburg in 1987 and the very last time anyone saw Mandla alive was in Umlazi in Durban the same year. He operated under the command of Dr Zweli Mkhize, Mr Muzi Thusi and Mr Kevin Qhobosheane. They were also together with MK members Dumisane Phungula from Pietermaritzburg and the Chesterville, Durban group including Sifiso Kunene and brothers Sabelo and Blessing Ngobese.
Mfaniseni “Baps” Mdlalose was born around 1954 and lived with his family in Road 13 Chesterville. He left the country with Chesterville activist Lucky Mthembu and others to join MK in about 1983. He left behind his partner Busisiwe Nkomo and young daughter Xolile, in Road 5 Chesterville. Little is known of his life in exile as most of those who operated with him have since died.
However it is known that he worked with the Ngobese brothers of Chesterville, who also fell under the command of Dr Zweli Mkhize, Muzi Thusi and Kevin Qhobosheane.
The official handover ceremony will also be attended by the leadership of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and Department of Defence and Military Veterans.
Date: 18 August 2018
Time: 09h00
Venue: City Hall, Durban
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