South Africa will honor the sacrifices of 21 former members of the African National Congress’ military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), who were killed by apartheid security forces in the late 1980s, during a solemn ceremony in Soweto on Thursday.
The Deputy President, Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, will attend and deliver a keynote address at the event in Johannesburg, which will see the official handover of headstones to the families of the fallen freedom fighters. Many were brutally murdered or abducted between 1986 and 1989 for their roles in the struggle against apartheid.
Mashatile’s address will be preceded by wreath-laying ceremonies at five cemeteries across Gauteng province, including Ga-Rankuwa, Avalon, Emfihlweni in Tembisa, Westpark in Johannesburg, and Crystal Park in Benoni.
The slain MK operatives were ambushed and killed by the notorious apartheid regime, which worked tirelessly to preserve the racist system of oppression and suppress the struggle for democracy, peace, and social justice, according to the press release from the Presidency.
After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission processes, the National Prosecuting Authority’s Missing Persons Task Team traced the remains, conducted DNA analysis, exhumed them from unmarked graves, and reburied them in marked gravesites guided by their families.
Honoring those who sacrificed for freedom is an obligation under South Africa’s constitution, the press release stated. The Department of Military Veterans has undertaken to commemorate “the lives and sacrifices of our fallen heroes and heroines” under the theme “Lest we forget. Freedom was never free.”
Mashatile will be joined by Defense and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla, and senior Gauteng provincial government representatives at the ceremony in Orlando Community Hall in Soweto starting at 11am.
The event highlights South Africa’s ongoing efforts to recognize and pay tribute to those who gave their lives during the decades-long struggle to dismantle the brutal apartheid system and establish a democratic nation.
