MK soldiers' families find peace
Zibonele Ntuli
12 July 2005
Families of South African freedom fighters found peace when the remains of five soldiers of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the former armed wing of the African National Congress, were returned to their loved ones on Sunday.
The five - Richard Kekana, Maleka, Jabulani Ndaba of Pietermaritzburg and Mzwamdoda Bonga and Vusumzi Ngwema of the Eastern Cape - were killed by apartheid security forces between 1983 and 1988.
Umkhonto we Sizwe now forms part of the South African National Defence Force.
The exhumation of the bodies was recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to bring closure to the families of those killed by security forces during the apartheid era. Testimony to the commission revealed that many had been killed and then buried or disposed of without the knowledge of their families.
In 2004 the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) began investigations of about 480 cases of people who went missing during the apartheid
era, as listed in the TRC report and related documents. The return of the remains was part of this process.
Speaking at an emotional ceremony at the Freedom Park site in Salvokop in Tshwane, Gauteng, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Bridgette Mabandla said the slain freedom fighters had made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that South Africa "walks boldly in the brilliant sunshine that freedom has brought".
The ceremony was also attended by NPA head Vusi Pikoli, Defence Minister Mosiua Lekota, traditional healers and religious leaders.
"We are deeply moved and touched by these bodily remains, but we are also comforted and inspired by the courage, commitment and dedication that our compatriots displayed to dismantle apartheid social relations and build a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it united in our diversity," Mabandla said.
"While we have the remains of the five fallen compatriots, we also remember all our fallen heroes,
those whose remains have yet to be found and whose families still have to find closure.
"Our thoughts are with you and our hearts reach out to you. We all seek to still the pain in our hearts when we recall those who have disappeared without trace. The undying spirits of these cadres should propel us forward in building a South Africa that belongs to all," she said.
'Coming home to rest'
Issuing the death certificates to the relatives, Defence Minister Lekota apologised that "their children had to die", saying it was the only way South Africa was to be free.
"They gave their lives then to ensure that we as South Africans can have our freedom today," he said.
Putting the men in danger, along with the hundreds of others still missing and presumed dead, was one of the hardest decisions the ANC had had to make, Lekota said.
"If there had been any other way to obtain our freedom, then we would have chosen it.
"Each time
fighters were sent into South Africa, we, the leaders, would agonise about whether they would come back, die, or - like the hundreds of others - simply disappear."
Lekota said the families were lucky that their loved ones' remains had been found, because many others were burnt to ashes, thrown into the sea or blown to smithereens.
"At least now you have peace of mind and the knowledge that your sons are finally coming home to rest," he said.
The South African government is to explore the possibility of creating a special pension fund for the families of freedom fighters who died in the armed struggle against apartheid.
Source: BuaNews
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