Tributes are pouring in for former Umkhonto WeSizwe (MK) operative Gideon “Patrick” Ngqele.
Ngqele, 54, who was widely known for his use of the term “Manyoko” when referring to a person, died last Thursday at Life St Dominics Hospital, after suffering from pneumonia.
Family spokesman and brother-in-law Luphumlo Lwana said Ngqele died soon after water had been drained from his lungs.
Ngqele, of Graaff-Reinet, joined the anti-apartheid struggle at the age of 17.
He was arrested for his alleged involvement in public violence at the funeral of Graaff-Reinet activist Robert Sobukwe, co-founder of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
“They were a group of students from Nqweba High School and were sentenced to six to ten months in prison,” said Lwana.
On his release from prison, Mamkhulu Ngqele, his grandmother, decided to move him to Zwelitsha to “cool off” from politics.
Instead, he joined another highly active local school, Thembalabantu High, where he matriculated in 1982.
It was after the funeral of the Cradock Four – Mathew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Fort Calata and Sicelo Mhlauli – that Ngqele decided to heed the call to join other young men and women in exile, to be part of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto WeSizwe.
“He left with 11 of his comrades to join the ANC in Lusaka,” said Lwana.
It was in Lusaka that he served in the ranks of MK as company commissar and instructor for politics and international relations.
While busy with basic military training, he was selected to go for specialised training in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
In 1987, Ngqele attended the Academy for Social Sciences and International Relations in Moscow, where he studied political economy, philosophy, internal relations and the workers’ movement.
Ngele was then deployed to an MK camp in Pango, Angola, as a political instructor.
He then left in 1988 for Zambia, to join the ANC’s internal political committee (IPC).
“It was during this time he was prepared to infiltrate South Africa as part of ‘Operation Vula’, with the likes of comrade Mac Maharaj,” said Lwana.
He was deployed as an operative at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, where he completed his degree.
Friend Xola Ndudula said: “While he was a student at Fort Hare, he trained a number of comrades in small arms.
“Comrade Pat served in the structures of the movement from 1989 until the unbanning of the ANC and was elected to serve in the ANC Border regional executive committee.”
A memorial service will be held in Graaff-Reinet on Wednesday, and on Thursday at Mdantsane’s Indoor Centre. His funeral service will be held at Orient Theatre on Saturday.
Ngqele is survived by his wife Namantande, and two children. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
Dedicated struggle hero passes away
Ngqele, 54, who was widely known for his use of the term “Manyoko” when referring to a person, died last Thursday at Life St Dominics Hospital, after suffering from pneumonia.
Family spokesman and brother-in-law Luphumlo Lwana said Ngqele died soon after water had been drained from his lungs.
Ngqele, of Graaff-Reinet, joined the anti-apartheid struggle at the age of 17.
He was arrested for his alleged involvement in public violence at the funeral of Graaff-Reinet activist Robert Sobukwe, co-founder of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
“They were a group of students from Nqweba High School and were sentenced to six to ten months in prison,” said Lwana.
On his release from prison, Mamkhulu Ngqele, his grandmother, decided to move him to Zwelitsha to “cool off” from politics.
Instead, he joined another highly active local school, Thembalabantu High, where he matriculated in 1982.
It was after the funeral of the Cradock Four – Mathew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Fort Calata and Sicelo Mhlauli – that Ngqele decided to heed the call to join other young men and women in exile, to be part of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto WeSizwe.
“He left with 11 of his comrades to join the ANC in Lusaka,” said Lwana.
It was in Lusaka that he served in the ranks of MK as company commissar and instructor for politics and international relations.
While busy with basic military training, he was selected to go for specialised training in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
In 1987, Ngqele attended the Academy for Social Sciences and International Relations in Moscow, where he studied political economy, philosophy, internal relations and the workers’ movement.
Ngele was then deployed to an MK camp in Pango, Angola, as a political instructor.
He then left in 1988 for Zambia, to join the ANC’s internal political committee (IPC).
“It was during this time he was prepared to infiltrate South Africa as part of ‘Operation Vula’, with the likes of comrade Mac Maharaj,” said Lwana.
He was deployed as an operative at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, where he completed his degree.
Friend Xola Ndudula said: “While he was a student at Fort Hare, he trained a number of comrades in small arms.
“Comrade Pat served in the structures of the movement from 1989 until the unbanning of the ANC and was elected to serve in the ANC Border regional executive committee.”
A memorial service will be held in Graaff-Reinet on Wednesday, and on Thursday at Mdantsane’s Indoor Centre. His funeral service will be held at Orient Theatre on Saturday.
Ngqele is survived by his wife Namantande, and two children. — zineg@dispatch.co.za
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