Issued by: African National Congress
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY
SPEECH MADE BY DUMISANI MAKHAYE, ANC MEC MEMBER REPRESENTING JACOB ZUMA, ANC DEPUTY PRESIDENT AND KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCIAL CHAIRPERSON AT DUMBE CEMETERY, PAULPIETERSBURG,
7 May 1998.
Mndeni ka Bheki Mchunu, uMgxaji Jele, Mndeni kaManyoni Nkosi, uJoshua Qumbu, Mndeni kaBhekisa S'thebe, uVusimuzi Mbongwa, uJunior, Mndeni kaJames Masango, uWalker, Mndeni ka Bafana Mahlombe, uJeremiah Sotetsi, The families of the deceased, perhaps to be correct, the murdered; Members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission present; Leaders and Cadres of the ANC; Former Commanders, Commissars, Men and Women of Umkhonto We Sizwe;
Sihlangene lana ngosizi olukhulu. Ukuhlangana kwethu lana kungubufakazi, uma ngabe babudingeka, besihluku sikahulumeni wamaBhunu. Ukuhlangana kwethu lapha kuyisikhumbuzo sokuthi sivela kuphi. Kuyisikhumbuzo kuthina ukuthi lenkululeko namuhla esinayo eNingizimu Afrika ayizizelanga, yalwelwa. Akuyena uF.W. de Klerk owasilethela inkululeko. Ilamaqhawe alele lapha esizowamba ukuze siwabeke ezindlini zawo zokuphumula ngokosiko lwethu nangenhlonipho.
Kodwa ngakolunye uhlangothi izinhliziyo zethu ziyakhululeka namuhla ngoba ekugcineni sesiyazi ukuthi kwenzakalani kuzithandwa zethu, amadodana, abafowethu namaqabane ethu. Namuhla okungenani sesiyawabona amathambo amadelakufa akithi.
Our gathering here is a grim reminder of where we come from. It is a reminder of the apartheid state terrorism; of how black people were treated in the past. But it is also a reminder that it is our struggle in the ranks of our heroic people's army, Umkhonto We Sizwe, in the underground, in the mass struggles in urban and rural areas and in the mobilisation of the international community to isolate and quarentine the apartheid regime and support our struggle. Our freedom is as a result of these martyrs whose remains we are here to exhume and bury with dignity. We did not receive our freedom out of a sudden change of the heart of De Klerk. F.W. de Klerk legalised what was already a popular legality. It is the millions of our people in political motion that liberated our country. Not De Klerk! Future generations will not know De Klerk as our liberator. They will know him as the last apartheid president under whose regime more black people died than at any time in the history of South Africa.
Lezinsizwa ezilele lana sasigudla nazo emazweni amaningi anjengoAngola, Mozambique, Jalimane, Russia nakoZimbabwe. Izinkunzi lezi ezimidwayidwa. Umbelebele lona; iZigqoza lezi, iZinyosi lezi, iNgobamakhosi lena, iSanqgu lesi, uMbonambi lona. OTshingwayo laba, oMavumengwana laba, oSigcwelegcwele laba. Bazali balamadelakufa; Nazala! Anibolanga amathumbu. Duduzelekani! Amadodana enu akafelanga ize. INingizimu Afrika isikhululekile. Isikhathi lesi okufanele sibhukule sivikele inkululeko. Labo esathatha izintambo zombuso kubo, amaBhunu, awakasixoleli ngalokho. Asebenzisa izindlela eziningi ukuba kucekelwe phansi lombuso wentando yeningi. Kunukubezwa amagama abaholi benhlangano yenu iANC. Kuzanywa ukuhlukanisa iANC kubalandeli bayo. Amaqembu abamhlophe namuhla asezenza abangani babantu abamnyama ikakhulukazi njengoba sekuza ukhetho. Ayekuphi ngesikhathi sisacindezelwe? Ayekuphi ngesikhathi sibulawa thina'ndlu emnyama? Ayedla umnotho wezwe lakithi. Ayehleli emqaleni wesizwe esimnyama. Ayesibambe ngobhongwane. Iwona lamabhunu okwathi kubulewe uMgxaji Jele (Bheki Mchunu) avula indali yotshwala kosiwa. Iwona lamabhunu asaqhubeka nemikhuba emapulazini akulendawo. Iwona lamabhunu angakavumeli izinyunyana zabasebenzi kumapulazi awo.
Namuhla azama ngezindlela eziningi ukubuyela kuleyondlela yencindezelo. Kungumsebenzi wethu ukuguqula izakhiwo zombuso ezinjengamaphoyisa, amajaji, amasosha, ukusebenza kwePhalamende ukuba lezakhiwo zisebenzele umphakathi wonke hhayi nje abamhlophe kuphela.
Kukhona lawomaqembu athi ngokuhlulwa ukhetho luka 1994, asefuna ukusebenzisa lezakhiwo ukuze zifeze izifiso zazwo zokubuyela enqubweni yokucindezela umuntu omnyama. Lezakhiwo ngaphansi kobandlululo zazisetshenziselwa ukuqhuba ubandlululo. Lamaqembu amhlophe asafuna ukuba lezakhiwo ziqhubeke nalomkhuba. Uma sithi siyaziguqula kuthiwa sesizifaka inkohlakalo. Asizifaki inkohlakalo, sizikhipha inkohlakalo. Noma oDemocratic Party noNational Party bangazishaya ngamakhanda etsheni, lezakhiwo zikahulumeni zona zizoshintsha noma ngabe ziyathanda noma azithandi.
Parents and relatives,
At least today we know what happened to the dear ones. We sincerely thank the TRC for this. Let the sacrifice of these martyrs not to have been in vain. Those who have ruled us for over three centuries have not and will never forgive us for liberating ourselves. They still spend sleepless nights plotting our undoing. They still hope the days of fascism, apartheid and racism will return. They employ every trick in the book to dislodge our people and their spear and shield, the African National Congress, from power. They are demonising your leaders and your organisation so that you lose confidence in yourselves and your organisation.
All of a sudden they pretend to be the friends of black people especially as we approach the 1999 elections. Where were they when we were massacred in the past? They were sitting on our necks! They were feeding on our blood and sweat! They still do so in the neighbouring farms. They better stop it now and they will stop it. After the murder of Commander Mgxaji Jele (Bheki Mchunu) there were discounts in bottle stores of this area. There were braais everywhere. They were celebrating! Now they want the "Kaffir vote" so that they can again return to their old apartheid ways of living.
Of late, these white parties having lost their power to oppress us through a democratic vote, are now desperately trying to sneek to power through the back door. They want the public institutions such as the Bench, the office of the Attorney general, the commands of the security forces etc. to remain what they were in the past - to uphold the system of the brutal oppression of the black majority for the benefit of the tiny white minority. To them the independence of public insitutions means to uphold the apartheid order.
These public insitutions will be transformed to serve all our people irrespective of their colour or sex. Whether the party of apartheid, the National Party and the party of white affluence and black poverty, the Democratic Party, like it or not, these institutions will be transformed. We will not ask permission from them. Their days are gone forever.
We want national reconciliation. But reconciliation is an act between the agrieved and the agressor. We want the members of successive apartheid regimes to come forward and tell everything. We want the generals to come forward and tell everything. Not just foot-soldiers who also come forward only when there are already strong leads to their past criminal activities. We want members of the De Klerk and P.W. Botha regimes and their generals to tell us where are the remains of hundreds more freedom fighters who are not yet accounted for. We want to bury them with dignity so that we can truly forget the past and build a better future for all of us. We want members of the National Party, the Democratic Party and the Freedom Front to be with us on such sad occassions.
Unfortunately, these forces still spit on the victims and their relatives. They still poke our wounds instead of healing them. They still despise the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is unfortunate.
Ukubuyisana kwesizwe sethu siyakufuna. Kodwa phela kubuyisana abantu ababili. Sifuna ongqongqoshe nojenene bobandlululo ukuba bavele bahlanze amaqiniso. Akungaveli nje amabutho aphansi nawo avela ngoba esebona ukuthi umkhondo wobubi bawo usuzovela. Sifuna ongqongqoshe baka De Klerk no P.W. Botha nojenene babo ukuba bavele basitshele ukuthi amathambo amanye amadelakufa esingakazi ukuthi ashonaphi, basikhombise. Sifuna iNational Party, Democratic Party ne Freedom Front babe nathi lapha kulolusizi.
Ngeshwa lamaqembu asafela ngamathe amadelakufa abawabulala kabuhlungu. Basafela ngamathe imindeni yabo. Basabukela phansi iTruth and Reconciliation Commission. Ishwa-ke leli!
On behalf of the ANC National executive Committe, On behalf of the erstwhile Command of Umkhonto We Sizwe, On behalf of the erstwhile MK Natal Command, the Elephant, I salute you Comrade Commanders! You died with your boots on. Under torture, you did not desert the ranks of our people. You may rest in peace now for South Africa is free at last. The South african revolution is under the correct hands. We dare not and will not be careless with our hard-won freedom. Amandla! Uyadela wena osulapho! Ngiyabonga!