President Jacob Zuma will visit the family of the late Riot “Makomanisi” Mkhwanazi at KwaDlangezwa near Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday afternoon.
Mkhwanazi‚ 83‚ who died on Sunday‚ was a close ally of Zuma dating back to their imprisonment days on Robben Island.
Zuma said on Sunday that he was saddened by the passing on of Mkhwanazi‚ a recipient of the Order of Mendi for bravery.
Mkhwanazi and Zuma were arrested together in 1963 after trying to cross over to Botswana. They both served 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island.
“We have a lost a disciplined veteran and a true revolutionary who sacrificed his youth and risked his life for the liberation of South Africa. He was passionate about political education and development programmes. We wish to convey our deepest condolences to the Mkhwanazi family and may his soul rest in peace‚” said Zuma.
Provincial African National Congress (ANC) secretary Super Zuma said that‚ like Zuma‚ Mkhwanazi had an opportunity to learn how to read and write while in prison‚ where his political consciousness was deepened.
Before he was released with other freedom fighters‚ Mkhwanazi received a letter from Nelson Mandela urging them to continue where they left off before imprisonment‚ with the struggle to free South Africans.
“The ANC has lost one of its dedicated freedom fighters. We have lost a disciplined veteran and a true revolutionary‚ who sacrificed his youth and risked his life for the liberation of South Africa. Comrade Mkhwanazi knew and lived for the ANC until his last day. He risked his life fighting for all South Africans to be free from the evil apartheid‚” he said.
Mkhwanazi followed in the footsteps of his father‚ Madonso‚ who was one of the first South Africans who defied apartheid laws by burning his dompas during the 1930s.
Mkhwanazi was introduced to politics by activists who were serving alongside the revered South African Congress of Trade Unions leader‚ Stephen Dlamini.
He went into exile in Mozambique until the Nkomati Accord was signed between South Africa and Mozambique in 1984.
Mkhwanazi returned to South Africa in the early 1990s‚ along with other cadres who had been in exile.
The ANC held a huge thanksgiving for Mkhwanazi at the University of Zululand in April 2014 and Zuma presented him with a fridge.
– TMG Digital/The Times
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