Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi: Handover and reburial of remains of Anti-Apartheid Activists

Good morning.

We gather here today for the handover and reburial of the exhumed remains of two courageous and brave patriots, Benjamin Moloise and Abraham Mngomezulu. These two patriots are part of the great army of liberation that took up arms and fought for the liberation of the oppressed Africans since the dawn of colonialism. It was because of their heroic deeds and their unbreakable spirit that the apartheid regime decided that they should be silenced forever. Yet it was because of their heroic deeds and their unbreakable spirit that the apartheid regime was destroyed and thrown to the dustbin of history.

Not only did the regime want them silenced, it was the apartheid regime’s wish that our heroes should be forgotten for good. It is for this reason that the regime decided that after they were executed, our struggle heroes would be buried as paupers in unmarked graves. By burying them in an unmarked graves, the enemy wanted to ensure that the stories of their bravery would never be told.

The enemy wanted to ensure that their courageous and heroic deeds would also be buried with them so that they could normalise oppression and racial segregation. In their short sightedness and their arrogance in power, the enemies of freedom were under the illusion that apartheid will last forever and that the liberation struggle would end in vain. They were wrong.

It is significant that this handover ceremony is also taking place during the Africa Month celebration, which we are celebrating this year under the theme “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.” Benjamin Moloise and Abraham Mngomezulu fought for justice for Africans and today we are here not only to restore their dignity through a proper burial but to celebrate their contribution towards the liberation of this country.

Because he loved his people and was unwilling to accept racial oppression, Benjamin Malesela Moloise paid the ultimate price. Because he wanted to fight for the freedom of black people in the country of his birth, Benjamin Moloise responded to call made by President Oliver Tambo in his Statement to the people of South Africa on the tenth anniversary of Umkhonto We Sizwe in 16 December 1971.

In that statement President OR called upon all the oppressed and exploited black masses of the people of South Africa to unite and close against the apartheid monster. Emphasizing the inevitability of the victory of the struggle for freedom, he further said that: “We are many and the white oppressors are few; our cause is just and white domination is condemned everywhere. The hour to talk Freedom, has come. And Freedom, means struggle against every form of injustice, against every instrument of oppression …; it means struggle against the police, against the army, against police informers; it means getting yourself armed to resist the apartheid regime.”

By joining the ranks of the people’s army, Umkhonto we Sizwe, Benjamin was counted amongst the brave gravediggers of the apartheid regime and for this, the leaders of apartheid were determined to silence him. Responding to President OR Tambo’s call, he got himself armed to resist the apartheid regime because he knew that the cause he had joined was just. As we now know Benjamin was executed for the crime he did not commit. In recent years, security police documents have been located that indicate that the security police obtained information that other MK members including Jackson Mnisi had indeed assassinated Warrant Officer Phillipus Selepe. Nevertheless, Benjamin Moloise was sent to the Gallows for the assassination.

In 1987, a 23 year old Abraham Zakhele Mngomezulu participated in the protests against rent evictions by the municipal council that erupted in Soweto during a rent boycott and stayaway. Abraham participated in the protests because he was disgusted by unfair rent evictions that together with other racially oppressive practices rendered black people to a status of second class citizens.

The boycott and stay away which defined this period where part of the call made by President Oliver Tambo for youth, women, workers, and all of the oppressed to render South Africa ungovernable. It was a series of these actions, together with other pillars of the struggle, such as economic sanctions and armed struggle that eventually brought apartheid to its knees. Abraham’s participation in the protests led to his arrest after the death of Mandla Khoza who had been attacked by the crowd of protesters.

Abraham Mngomezulu was sentenced to death and hanged on 25 May 1989. His execution took place just seven months before the death penalty was suspended in 1990. He was the second last political prisoner to be hanged. He too was buried in an unmarked pauper grave in Mamelodi. By burying them in an unmarked grave, the enemy wanted to ensure that their stories would be never be told. The enemy wanted to ensure that their courageous and heroic deeds would also be buried with them.

As a democratic government of the people, we are determined to ensure that the heroes of our people receive the recognition befitting their contribution to the liberation
of black people. The Indian Nobel Laurette and poet, Rabindranath Tagore once said that “The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life”.

By joining the liberation army, and fighting for the freedom our struggle heroes knew that they were planting a tree in whose shade they may never sit. They knew that their struggle was to free generations of Africans that would come after them, and for that we are grateful that, as Tagore says, they understood the meaning of life. We all have a responsibility towards each other, to build a better country so that many other south Africans can enjoy a better life.

It is when we fulfil this responsibility that our lives find meaning. The remains of Benjamin Moloise and Abraham Mngomezulu were exhumed by the Missing Persons Task Team (MPTT), assisted by the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Unit in its coordinating capacity. The exhumation was done in line with the Gallows Exhumation Project which was officially launched by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in March 2016 by the former Minister of Justice and correctional services.

The Gallows Exhumation Project aims to locate and recover the graves of all those political prisoners who were executed on the Gallows and whose bodies remained the property of the state. These political prisoners were buried as paupers in unmarked graves in local municipal cemeteries, within hours of their execution.

Their families could not attend the burials. Although the families knew that their loved ones had been sentenced to death and executed, the whereabouts of their bodies remained unknown.

This Project aims to recover the bodies of these hanged political prisoners and to assist families to bury them at home with dignity and in recognition of the price they paid. The families of those who were hanged for politically related offenses are also assisted in line with the regulations on Exhumation, Reburial or Symbolic Burial of Deceased victims. By 31 March 2025 the project has achieved following:

When the project was started there were 180 remains to be recovered including missing persons, gallows and other cases.
We have already conducted 11 Spiritual Repatriations and Symbolic burials
Out of a total of 83 remains for exhumation, we have already exhumed 77 remains
74 of the remains have already been handed over to the families for reburial.
56 remains were handed over in the Eastern Cape, 3 in the Western Cape, 5 in Gauteng, 9 in KwaZulu-Natal and 1 in the North West Province.
With the recovery of the remains of Benjamin Moloise and Abraham Mngomezulu, the Gallows Exhumation Project is almost complete with only 6 exhumations still to be done and will be handed over this financial year.

This work to restore the dignity of the victims of apartheid is part of the wider work we are doing on reparations and bringing justice and closure to the families that have suffered a loss of loved ones during apartheid. This work includes the implementation of the recommendations of truth and reconciliation commission. On reparation the following has been done:

On the implementation of the once off final reparation of R 30 000, the TRC identified 21676 victims, we have already paid 17428 of the victims to the tune of close to R 500 million
On the education assistance for TRC identified victims their relatives and dependents, for basic education it commenced in 2014 and has been implemented for 7 years. New regulations came into effect in 2022 and will run for 13 years. A total of 11783 students were funded for close to R 135 million.
On higher education and training we have provided bursaries and other funding payments for just under R 130 million.
We have just signed off the regulations for housing assistance reparation which will commence this financial year
This financial year, 18 community projects will commence as agreed with the affected communities as legacy projects.
With respect to the pursuit of justice, since September 2021, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) matters have been prioritized with the creation of separate TRC components in both the NPA and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) to drive progress on all TRC matters under investigation.

One hundred and four (104) new investigations stemming from the TRC have been re-opened since 2021. There are currently a total of one hundred and twenty-six (126) cases under investigation.

Since September 2021, the original findings of five (5) inquests have been overturned, with multiple inquests and re-opened inquests, set to commence in 2025 including, but not limited to, that of Mr Griffiths Mxenge, Chief Luthuli, Mr Booi Mantyi and the Calata 4 amongst others.

There are six (6) matters on the criminal court roll which are either partly heard or set to commence with evidence shortly. The first conviction post-September 2021 was also secured in September 2023, where the accused was sentenced to ten years direct imprisonment. There are nine (9) recorded prosecutions between 2003 and 2007. We will pursue this work using available evidence to prosecute those who committed crimes and never asked for forgiveness nor reveal the whole truth about their crimes.

We will not be dettered. We stand here today proud to say Benjamin and Abraham’s lives were not taken in vain. Their blood and unbreakable spirit formed part of the spear that dealt the death blow to the apartheid regime. Their contribution to the struggle formed part of the foundation of the democracy that we enjoy today.

Our constitutional democracy is governed by the constitution which contains among other things the bill of rights. The Bill of rights provides for the rights which both Benjamin and Abraham were both denied. These includes rights such as ‘Equality before the law”, and that “Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions.” The most important of these rights is that “Everyone has the right to life.”

The right to life, as enshrined in Section 11 of the South African Constitution guarantees everyone the fundamental right to exist. This right is paramount and it is the foundation for the enjoyment of all the other rights. It is for this reason that we cannot and must not embrace the death penalty as a form of punishment. Benjamin and Abraham’s cases are a very instructive example of the harm that the death penalty can do to innocent lives.

To safeguard our democracy we all have to exercise eternal vigilance, I believe that had Benjamin and Abraham lived, this is what they would want us to do. To display the same bravery and courage in defending our democracy as they displayed in fighting for our freedom. And indeed our struggle displayed bravery to their last breath.

Despite the torture and the torment of his captors in death row, Benjamin Moloise remained strong to the end. His final words were: “The storm of oppression will be followed by the rain of my blood. I am proud to give my life, my one solitary life.”

Because of the heroic and courageous deeds of Benjamin, Abraham and many others, we proudly stand here today to reaffirm the words of our Icon, Tata Nelson Mandela when he said: “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.”

I thank you

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