“The purpose of handing over the remains of these heroes to their families is to give them dignity as they were not given dignity where they were buried.”
These were the words of Justice and Constitutional Services Minister Michael Masutha at the handover of the remains of 17 Poqo members to their families, who were hanged by the apartheid government in the 1960s. Masutha was present at the Mzingisi Skweyiya Community Hall in Mlungisi township in Komani yesterday, where he said the late anti-apartheid activists deserved to be buried in a dignified manner.
“We want their families to give them proper burials. These people were buried in anonymous graves and their bodies were the property of the state even at their death.
“These people have given their lives in defence of our people. We have 136 names that we have found and out of that we have 83 bodies that were listed to be exhumed; 46 bodies out of the 83 have been exhumed,” he said.
Masutha said the remaining 53 bodies have already been reburied by their political parties.
“The 17 that is handed over here was among those hanged in 1963 up to 1967. They participated in a number of resistance acts against the apartheid regime at that time.”
Military Veterans Deputy Minister Kebby Maphatsoe then spoke about the most controversial topic that has divided the country – expropriation of land without compensation.
“Without land you don’t have dignity. When white people took the land they took away our dignity. As government we are saying, let’s bring back the dignity to our people by bringing back their land.
“Our people used to live in this land but white people took the land and their cattle from them,” he said.
Maphatsoe echoed Masutha, saying slain freedom fighters deserved to be reburied with dignity.
“These heroes here said ‘never in their lifetime’ and we must remember and honour them in a proper way for the role they played in opposing the apartheid regime.
“As the department we are trying to bring back the remains of our comrades who are still in foreign lands working together with the Department of Sport, Recreations, Arts and Culture. We plead to the apartheid murders and assassins to assist us in allocating the remains of our heroes.”
PAC president Luthando Mbinda said the grave of Nontase Shweni who was the commander of the Poqo members who were killed in the Ntlonze massacre was in a bad condition.
“The roads are terrible, there is no water and sanitation and people would not say that he was among the people who fought for the restoration of land which was expropriated by the Europeans,” he said.
Commenting on the land question, Mbinda said: “You cannot expropriate land that belongs to you, instead you need to return it back to the indigenous people. You can expropriate what belongs to you.” — thembiles@dispatch.co.za
Late activists’ remains handed over to families
These were the words of Justice and Constitutional Services Minister Michael Masutha at the handover of the remains of 17 Poqo members to their families, who were hanged by the apartheid government in the 1960s. Masutha was present at the Mzingisi Skweyiya Community Hall in Mlungisi township in Komani yesterday, where he said the late anti-apartheid activists deserved to be buried in a dignified manner.
“We want their families to give them proper burials. These people were buried in anonymous graves and their bodies were the property of the state even at their death.
“These people have given their lives in defence of our people. We have 136 names that we have found and out of that we have 83 bodies that were listed to be exhumed; 46 bodies out of the 83 have been exhumed,” he said.
Masutha said the remaining 53 bodies have already been reburied by their political parties.
“The 17 that is handed over here was among those hanged in 1963 up to 1967. They participated in a number of resistance acts against the apartheid regime at that time.”
Military Veterans Deputy Minister Kebby Maphatsoe then spoke about the most controversial topic that has divided the country – expropriation of land without compensation.
“Without land you don’t have dignity. When white people took the land they took away our dignity. As government we are saying, let’s bring back the dignity to our people by bringing back their land.
“Our people used to live in this land but white people took the land and their cattle from them,” he said.
Maphatsoe echoed Masutha, saying slain freedom fighters deserved to be reburied with dignity.
“These heroes here said ‘never in their lifetime’ and we must remember and honour them in a proper way for the role they played in opposing the apartheid regime.
“As the department we are trying to bring back the remains of our comrades who are still in foreign lands working together with the Department of Sport, Recreations, Arts and Culture. We plead to the apartheid murders and assassins to assist us in allocating the remains of our heroes.”
PAC president Luthando Mbinda said the grave of Nontase Shweni who was the commander of the Poqo members who were killed in the Ntlonze massacre was in a bad condition.
“The roads are terrible, there is no water and sanitation and people would not say that he was among the people who fought for the restoration of land which was expropriated by the Europeans,” he said.
Commenting on the land question, Mbinda said: “You cannot expropriate land that belongs to you, instead you need to return it back to the indigenous people. You can expropriate what belongs to you.” — thembiles@dispatch.co.za
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