Symbolic burial celebrates three MK fighters

01 July 2016 - 18:41 By S'duduzo Dludla

The band played‚ hugs and handshakes were vigorously shared and songs of liberation echoed through Freedom Park in Pretoria on Friday. The symbolic burial of three uMkhonto we Sizwe cadres was more a celebration than a funeral.Sizwe Kondile‚ Johannes Sambo and Selby Mavuso were killed by the apartheid government’s security police during the late 1980s and early 1990s.Their bodies were burnt and discarded.The ceremony was attended by religious and cultural leaders from various backgrounds. Also in attendance were the minister of justice and correctional services‚ Michael Masutha‚ and National Prosecution Authority boss Shaun Abrahams.“Today is a moment of reflection across all racial and religious divides in South Africa‚” said Masutha. “These people were tortured and burnt and their remains thrown into the river; that’s why we are here having a symbolic burial for them.”Friday’s ceremony forms part of a project of exhumations and reburials of people who died at the hands apartheid agents. Other bodies were either secretly buried or destroyed.Masutha said he was hopeful that‚ by September‚ a concrete plan that criminalises racism would be finalised...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.