Four Eastern Cape struggle stalwarts are among 26 fallen heroes to be reburied at Freedom Park in Pretoria on Friday in a ceremony led by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The exhumation of the apartheid-era freedom fighters in Zambia started earlier this month.
They died during apartheid while seeking shelter in Zambia and were buried in the capital city of Lusaka.
Three uMkhonto we Sizwe soldiers — Skhumbuzo Nkula, Lindile Maneli and Luvuyo Motwenyane — were exhumed and returned from Zambia.
They died in the 1980s, Nkula in 1988 and Maneli and Motwenyane in 1987.
The fourth, Mzondi Khatshwa from Cofimvaba, died in Zimbabwe in 1963.
Nkula’s daughter, Sibongile Nkula, reflected on her father’s journey and the significance of this repatriation. She was part of the delegation which oversaw the exhumation.
“My dad passed away in November 1988 in Lusaka, Zambia,” she said.
Her father, a dedicated ANC and Radio Freedom member, left SA in 1962.
After training in Russia, he continued his work with the ANC in Tanzania and Zambia.
“We performed some family rituals. I was quite excited and pleased to meet the MEC of arts and culture who was sent to support the Eastern Cape families during this period.”
She expressed heartfelt gratitude to the South African government and the Eastern Cape officials for their support.
“I want to thank the government of SA for deeming it necessary and appropriate to bring back our struggle heroes so that they may rest in peace in the country of their birth.
“I also want to thank the government of the Eastern Cape for deeming it appropriate to send officials from the province to go and support us while we were there with this repatriation and exhumation of our loved ones.”
Sports, recreation, arts and culture MEC Sibulele Ngongo said the department was committed to assisting families of victims of conflict by recovering the remains of their loved ones.
“The department, in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Provincial Repatriations and Reburial Committee, runs a rolling programme to ensure that the remains of those who died during the liberation struggle are repatriated and reburied with dignity,” she said.
Ngongo and the respective families of those who died in Zambia returned with their remains on September 3.
She said the process marked a significant step in honouring the sacrifices made by these liberation heroes.
“The repatriation of the remains is thus another attempt to promote reconciliation, unity, justice, nation-building and social cohesion,” she said.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.