Statement of the Anc Nelson Mandela Region

STATEMENT OF THE ANC NELSON MANDELA REGION

The African National Congress (ANC) welcomes the arrival of the remains of the three members of the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO 3) and the two members Congress of South African Students (COSAS 2) that are scheduled to arrive in Nelson Mandela Bay on Saturday 12 September 2009. This is a moment the movement has looked forward to for the last 27 years.

The members of the Pebco 3, Sipho Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Champion Galela as well as the Cosas 2, Siphiwo Mthimkhulu and Topsy Madaka, all of whom were cadres of the national liberation movement as led by the ANC, were abducted by the security police, tortured and murdered in 1985 and 1982 respectively.

The arrival of the remains of these comrades this weekend will be a notable moment not only for Nelson Mandela Bay but for the whole country. It bears testimony to the triumph of the truth and reconciliation process that we started as the new government immediately in the aftermath of liberation.

The event underscores the commitment that we have had in government not only to unearth the truth about the unfortunate endings of many of our comrades who disappeared and died in the struggle, but to also ensure that they are reunited with their families and get buried in a dignified manner. That to us is what restoring human dignity is among other things, particularly when it comes to people who sacrificed their lives for the noble cause of liberation.

These are the cadres that our movement needed in order to survive underground, and cadres we certainly needed in order to be successful in leading South Africans to a democratic state. We wish to express our deepest condolences and gratefulness to the parents, wives, children and loved ones of these martyrs of our revolution. We acknowledge that the whole of South Africa remains indebted to you, perhaps forever, for the great sacrifice you made towards the betterment of our country.

It is noteworthy that the Pebco three comrades will receive heroes’ welcomes at the very place at which they were secretly, or in fact, cowardly, abducted to their martyrdom. They will receive the much deserved honour which was overdue to them for years.

Thanks to their commitment among many other individuals that contributed to South Africa’s liberation, South Africa is a free and a democratic country but still has a long way to go in terms of creating an egalitarian economic system. We remain confident that, working together with many people following the lead of comrades like Sipho Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi, Champion Galela, Siphiwo Mthimkhulu and Topsy Madaka, we will do more and better than we have done in the first decade of democracy and change the lives of the people of South Africa.

The arrival of the remains of these comrades must unite all of us and must serve as a reminder of the unfinished business of redress and transformation. True homage to these comrades is completing the task for which they died for.

NCEBA FAKU CHAIRPERSON: ANC NELSON MANDELA REGION