30 August 2008 Lesotho
It is with a deep sense of loss that I stand to deliver this eulogy on your last journey, my departed father, Leader, Comrade-In-Arms, Tutor and Protector;
Many a member of our movement would have cherished to stand before these multitudes and sing praises to your triumphs and achievements;
I stand here delivering this eulogy in humble respect and deference to the special class of our leadership that was detained with you in the early 1960's;
In your chambers I was privileged to walk with my head held high as a lawyer, but our shared knowledge of the real reasons made both of us hold our heads even higher;
The tree of your legal knowledge and expertise was so huge that our young minds could continue to craft their own legal careers only from its shade;
As you became an able adviser in the Court of His Majesty the King Moshoeshoe the Second, you became an instrument through which His Majesty could dispense his benevolence to his beloved Nation;
As you wore that lesolanka[1] over your body, you embraced me in a country which would become a home away from home, but the blanket was wider and embraced even more of us;
That lesolanka symbolically protected us from the coldness of our exile, and provided the warmth befitting of a protective father a few kilometers away from our own homes;
Under that lesolanka was a man of steel, who took on challenges that many weak-kneed men would fear to even start;
From the safety of your office and your residence we dug our trenches geographically closer to the threatre of engagement with our adversaries, and yet you strode an extra mile to protect us from our enemies;
At tremendous risk to your life and that of your family, you gallantly embraced the struggle of our people and thereby etched your name in the indelible ink of the Heroes of our struggle;
Even when the enemy was successful in breaking the solid defences of your protection, such as they did in 1982 in Maseru, it was not through the absence of vigilance but the desperation of the enemy;
As the bodies of our Comrades, both Basotho and South Africans, lay motionless after that cowardly attack, you directed us to focus on defeating the system that had given rise to the massacre;
Even as the artificial borders drawn in the blood of our forefathers sought to create artificial separation of our peoples, your big feet straddled both countries to display our common destiny;
Natural fortifications in construction, the mountains were melted into smithereens by your vision as they became symbols of the unity they had purported to deny;
While your voice has been silenced by this eternal rest, your words of wisdom will always linger in the minds of our cadreship and the ones that follow:
As we run this relay of life, we are comforted by the knowledge that the baton you carried shall never fall;
As we, the offspring from your own loin and the adopted, jostle to keep your baton aloft, we are comforted by the long queue of young Comrades behind us ready to run their mile;
We dare not, and therefore shall not, let such glorious a life in service of our people fail to find space in the almanacs and historical accounts of our achievements as people of Africa;
So today you complete a sign-posted struggle journey undertaken by all our tried and tested revolutionaries:
From humble beginnings in the then British Basotholand Protectorate to the intellectual pot of Fort Hare;
From the political school of the African National Congress Youth League to the anvil of the then University of Natal in Durban;
From the harassment for political activity to the major struggles of our peoples of the 1950s and early 1960s;
From the African National Congress to the underground of the South African Communist Party;
From the harsh conditions of the Kroonstad jail to the arms of the People's Army, uMkhonto Wesizwe;
From the unbreakable spirit of defiance to the service of our people as a lawyer and member of the Communist Party of Lesotho;
In this noble journey you counted as your comrades and confidantes in struggle illustrious names such as John Nkadimeng, Johnny Makhathini, George Mbhele, Phyllis Naidoo, Mac Maharaj, Robert Maji, Henry Makgoti, John Kena and many others;
Like many of our Basotho friends, you took away the blinkers of artificial colonial divisions and saw the struggle as a struggle for all humanity;
You followed in the footsteps of legendary leaders such as His Majesty King Letsie the Second, who, together with John Langalibalele Dube and other illustrious leaders, descended on Mangaung on that glorious day in January 1912, to found the People's Moement, the African National Congress;
Your unwavering internationalism was taking a leaf from our forebears like Prixley Ka Izaiah Seme, who never confined the struggle to the borders of one country;
You belted the melodic lyrics, Nkosi Sikelela i Afrika, whose conmposer Enoch Sontonga symbolized the unity of our purpose, and which lyrics became a national anthem of many countries of our Continent Africa;
Your ultimate passing away enjoins us, as your Sons, Daughters and Comrades, to strengthen the bonds of our friendships as we approach our fourth democratic parliament;
Those who shall have the honour to serve in our Fourth Parliament shall do so knowing that they walk in the shadows of people like you who lay the foundations for democracy in our region;
As they tackle the new challenges that shall face them in their service to our people, they shall do well to revisit the selflessness of heroes such as you displayed;
Like a lighthouse in deep seas, you shone so that others could follow your directions, and once they had passed, you continued to turn around the turnstiles of your life, to provide the same guidance for other to pass again;
From the unknown land yonder where the spirits of our forebears in struggle such Tambo, Sisulu, Mabhida, Maji Hani and other departed comrades roam free, your name shall now be included;
Fame and fortune you never aspired to; individual accolades you avoided; garlands never graced your deserving neck; front page headlines you hid away from, and soundbites were never your trade;
There shall be no 21-gun salute to celebrate the well-led life, for you would not have wished such,
But in our veins shall course salvos upon salvos of the appreciation of the immense contributions your made to our struggle;
There shall be no soldiers' lament, but fighters that passed through your hands shall sing their own soliloquies to a general that never was;
There shall be no foot-stomping of the marching bands but the outpouring of our inner grief at this sense of loss shall always dwell with us;
There shall be no parade by your colleagues in silk, no red robes and wigs of their office, but we shall all salute the passing of a Chief Justice who never was;
As we gather today to finish your life journey as if we are tying the last strings on the topknot of the modiya nyewe[2] of your proud nation, we mourn;
The horse that you rode may have galloped its last distance, but its hooves will clatter throughout the history of your beautiful nation;
The children of Moshoeshoe, of Shaka, of Langalibalele, of Lobengula, of Mantantise, shall always sing your praises, generations after generations;
Your glorious movement, the African National Congress shall forever be indebted to your immense but untrumpheted contributions;
As a movement of the poor, we dip our banner to your willingness to associate with the downtrodden;
As a movement of workers, we shall always look up to you when we call on them to Unite;
As a movement rooted in the growth of our youth, we shall always shine your light as an example to follow;
As a movement sustained by the strength of women, we shall always ululate when your name is mentioned;
As people of Africa, we shall always cherish your vision of a borderless continent upon which the current African Union trajectory is premised;
As we get the comfort that you are now going to be joined in eternal life by your dear wife, Me Betty and your son, Sechaba, allow me to soothe the aching hearts of Kedibone, Mahlape and Hapiloe with this Bhuddist saying:
"Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift, which is why it is called the present'
What the caterpillar perceives is the end, to the butterfly is just the beginning'
Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well"
To me personally, I am obliged to borrow the words of Frederick Engels when Karl Marx passed away in 1883:
"What a torch of reason ceased to burn, What a heart has ceased to beat!"
As we all take off our modiya nyewe to you, silent hero of our people;
We all in unison are bold to stand up and proclaim:
Robala ka kgotso[3] Ntate Sello,
Robala ka kgotso Akhente ya Sechaba,
Hamba kakuhle Gqwetha Labantu,
Farewell, My Father, My Leader, My Comrade-in-Arms, My Tutor and Mentor My Protector.
[1]Sotho traditional blanket
[2] Sotho traditional hat.
[3]Rest in peace