State to hold special funeral for Sobukwe
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday ordered that the late Zondeni Sobukwe be given a special official funeral.
Zondeni, the wife of struggle icon Robert Sobukwe, died on Wednesday in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape. She was 91.
Robert Sobukwe was the founder of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). He died in 1978.
Ramaphosa ordered that she be given a category 2 funeral and that flags be flown at halfmast until the evening of the funeral.
According to the presidency’s state‚ official and provincial official funeral policy manual‚ category 2 is meant for “distinguished persons” specifically designated by the president.
“We will honour her for her contribution in the [anti-apartheid] struggle. She contributed to the struggle by supporting her husband‚ Robert‚ through thick and thin.
“When Robert was arrested‚ she was there. It was [Zondeni] who was supporting him and raising their children while he was incarcerated,” PAC president Narius Moloto said.
Zondeni Sobukwe received the Order of Luthuli in Silver earlier in 2018 for her “tenacious call for freedom of the people and steadfast support of incarcerated freedom fighters”.
The ANC on Wednesday said Zondeni Sobukwe had endured pain, rejection and immense suffering inflicted on her by the apartheid regime.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said: “We bid her farewell and ask her to report to all veterans of the Izwelethu movement that, finally, 24 years after democracy, SA will expropriate land without compensation for equal redistribution.”