Matola Raid, Maputo Mozambique
14 February 2009
Programme Director
Honourable Ministers of Government
Friends and relatives of our fallen Matola Raid heroes and heroines
Distinguished guests
Comrades, friends
Ladies and gentlemen
Most of the comrades who were massacred in Matola belonged to what was then
known as the Natal Undergound Machinery, a unit of our erstwhile People's Army
Umkhonto We Sizwe. They had come to Maputo for consultations with the
underground leadership of our movement, the African National Congress
(ANC).
Virtually the entire machinery had been wiped out. The pain we felt was too
difficult to describe. We came to Mozambique for the funeral as did family
members. It was as though grief was overwhelmingly mixed with anger. This anger
and grief turned into a resolve and determination to defeat the regime.
The then President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo said during the funeral of these
comrades. "It is something more that the Matola Raid which brings us together
in this occasion for people engaged day and night in a continuous struggle
against a brutal enemy, the great question is not that it has been attacked. An
invasion, an attack, a massacre and any other crime committed against the
people, the great question is the nature of our response to that crime."
The massacre itself was more than just 13 comrades killed, but it was an
attack on a sovereign state, a violation of a sister country and its people,
the impunity with which the regime acted in terrorising a neighbouring state.
There were further raids at Nomahashi and the jam factory where Mozambicans
also lost their lives.
For his part, the late President Samora Machel responded to the raid by
mobilising his people back to the war trenches they had known since September
25 1964, back into the battle for the defence of their motherland, their
sovereignty, territorial integrity, their national dignity and for the defence
of the gains of the revolution -the gains of the African Revolution.
The apartheid regime had viewed Mozambique led by President Samora Machel on
one hand and the ANC led by Oliver Tambo on the other as a threat to the very
survival of white domination in South Africa.
Consequently the apartheid regime found all means at its disposal to justify
the launch of cross-border raids in pursuit of the ANC comrades or using its
secret agents for the assassinations, bombing, etc not only in Mozambique but
in Lesotho, Zambia, Swaziland, Angola, Botswana, and Zimbabwe amongst
others.
As we commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Matola Raid, it is only proper
that we recall the ANC statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in
1996 which stated that "The ANC is immensely proud of the bravery, discipline
and selfless sacrifices of its MK combatants, many of whom laid down their
lives in pursuit of freedom for all in South Africa.
"They worked in one of the most dangerous and difficult arenas of the
struggle for a non-racial and democratic South Africa. They were prepared to
work under conditions in which if captured or abducted, they faced the
possibility of summary executions, whether they surrendered or not. They faced
being tortured to death or coming under intense pressure to choose between
death and collaboration. If brought to trial they faced the death penalty or
extremely lengthy prison sentences."
We are proud to remember these heroes of our people jointly as people of a
free democratic country. I am certain, that they will be pleased to know that
the South African Defence force which reigned with terror, murdering patriots
in most of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries has now
been transformed into the South African National Defence Force which protects
the integrity of our Republic but most importantly which now acts an agent of
peace in the continent and beyond.
It has become exemplary with its diversity, discipline and patriotism. It is
thanks to the contribution of Umkhonto wesizwe, the glorious people's army, the
mass struggle waged within our country, political underground and international
solidarity that today we are indeed free forever.
Today we are proud to announce that the government of South Africa has
decided to build a cenotaph in solemn memory of these heroes and heroines who
were murdered here in Matola as a constant reminder of our bonds of friendship
between the peoples of Mozambique and South Africa that are sealed in blood as
the late President Samora Machel said.
It is these bonds of friendship that were the cause of our revulsion,
frustration and anger when people of Mozambican origin and other Africans were
attacked in South Africa last year. It was these bonds of friendship between
our two peoples that led our former President Thabo Mbeki to mobilise our
security forces including the National Defence Force to protect and defend
these Africans from further attacks. Accordingly, we shall do everything in our
power to avoid a repetition of such attacks in our country.
That is why our national Defence was the first to come to the rescue of our
sisters and brothers in Mozambique during the big year 2000 floods. The
co-operation between our two defence forces bears testimony to the profound
statement made by the late President Samora Machel in response to a question
why Mozambique continued to support the struggle for free democratic South
Africa that "the bonds of friendship between the people of South Africa and
Mozambique are sealed in blood and cannot be exchanged for anything.
Those bonds of friendship were indeed further sealed in blood when the very
President Machel met his own tragic and sudden end of his life on South African
soil in Mbuzini in 1986 when his plane crashed in what many still believe was
the work of the apartheid agents. The blood he shed on our soil is and will
forever nourish the consolidation of ties of friendship between our two
people.
Where he lost his life we have now erected a monument that symbolises the
common suffering of the people of Southern Africa, an attribute to their
heroism and a solemn affirmation that we share a common destiny of
liberty, peace and social progress. It is indeed as a consequence of these
great sacrifices of our people that have enabled us to build state to state,
people to people relations based on peace, freedom, dignity, justice and other
shared values.
It is from them that we should draw inspiration for the renewal of our
continent. Hence the need for us to continue to co-operate in every aspect of
life, economic, cultural, education, science and technology, trade and many
other areas. The African National Congress and Frente de Libertaçâo de
Moçambique (FRELIMO) and other liberation movements have to co-operate in
defence of the revolutionary gains thus far made and in advancing the
integration of the region and the continent. It is for that reason that among
others there are no visa requirements between our two countries and of course
we should encourage all countries in our region to ratify the Protocol on Free
Movement of Goods and People.
Today, as we work towards the renewal of our continent, we celebrate the
formation of a new inclusive government in Zimbabwe; we call for the lifting of
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe while pledging our unreserved support for the new
government in its daunting task to create a better life for all
Zimbabweans.
In this context, we congratulate SADC and the facilitator, former President
Mbeki for the tenacity, courage, and patience in the face of massive
opposition. The people of Zimbabwe with their unbelievable resilience have now
been given a renewed sense of hope.
We have no choice but to stand together as we brace ourselves for the
economic depression which will indeed test our tolerance and resilience, the
bonds of friendship that are sealed in blood of our martyrs have to keep us
together and remind us what the people of Southern Africa sacrificed for is
what makes us what we are and what we have. The future can only be bright if we
are united in action.
In conclusion it is only befitting therefore that we recall the words of
Birago Diop, Senegal in his poem "The dead are not gone"
"The dead are not dead unless we choose to forget them
The dead are not beneath the ground
They are with us every day
Listen more often to things than to human beings
Those who have died have never, never left
They are with us in the home
They are with us in the crowds
Listen more often to things than to human beings
And you will hear them every single hour
They are in the child's first cry
They are in the woman's breast
They are in the quickening shadows
They are in the twinkling stars of the night
They are in the rising sun
The dead are not beneath the ground
They are in the burning amber
They are in the leaping flame
They are in the flowing river
They are in the grinding stone
Hear them in the bird's ancient song
Hear them in the driving wind
See their unstoppable dance
In the waves of the ocean
See them in the rustling leaves
See them in the spring's first flowers
The dead are not dead
Unless we choose to forget them
They are in my heart; they are in your heart
They are in our gentle breath, every second
Just listenâ¦listenâ¦listen"
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
14 February 2009
