Petane celebrated at memorial service
‘We have lost not just a comrade, but a brother’
FRIENDS, family and comrades of former SANDF Major-General Mxolisi Petane gathered at Ikhwezi Community Centre in Gugulethu to pay tribute to him, after he died of natural causes at 1 Military Hospital a fortnight ago.
Speakers, including some ANC national executive committee members and military veterans, spoke fondly of him, describing him as soft-spoken, firm and intelligent.
His life was celebrated and remembered by what he taught others while he was growing up as a young boy, during his time in exile and on Robben Island.
Petane’s comrades said they were distraught at his untimely death and told about 200 mourners how he made an impact on their lives.
ANC NEC member Tony Yengeni said: “We have lost not just a comrade, but a brother.” He added that after Petane left the country for exile in 1976, he met him again three years later in Angola.
“Mxolisi played a vital role to ensure that we, the newcomers (in exile) were looked after.”
Petane’s widow, Zimasa Petane, listened attentively, while surrounded by family members.
Bongani Jonas, who was with Petane in exile, said it was owed to Petane to write about the experience and history of exile, “because someone else will do it and distort it”.
Jonas told a story of how he, Petane and many others had travelled to various African countries and trained as Umkhonto we Sizwe soldiers before coming back to the country in 1985.
Vincent Diba said he was incarcerated with Petane on Robben Island and learnt a lot from him.
“He was our most politically advanced comrade,” Diba said.
IT IS difficult to write about Mxolisi Petane in the past tense. He was one of those who was committed to our revolution. Mxolisi and I met in the streets of Gugulethu. In one way or another, we would be in our collective group of friends trudging the sandy streets.
Perhaps in a way that today we may call accidental, a few of us among friends grouped ourselves to form the ANC unit in Gugulethu under the tutelage of Lumko Huna and Mountain Qumbela. That unit of him, Mxolisi, Norman Yengeni, Tony Yengeni, Ntsikelelo Magwa, Hapi Mgqwashu (Plato) and myself were part of this tightly knit unit. It was later to be joined by Johnny Seutloadi.
We called this unit The Big Game. It was so named to demonstrate the grand ambitions and ideas of this group. It was the stated aim of this group that they were no longer prepared to live in the same way. As the manifesto of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) stated in 1961: “The time has come not to submit, but to fight.”
Mxolisi was instrumental in organising Father Dick, who wholeheartedly assisted the unit in many respects – such as with facilities to copy and print the underground leaflets for distribution.
The Big Game unit knew earlier on that the small steps it was embarking upon, however ambitious, would ultimately be a lightning rod to electrify not just the unit, but the fires of the revolution.
Lumko Huna, in particular, became the teacher, mentor, inspirer and leader of the unit. Huna, the main contact of the unit, was a perhaps of unparalleled patience and coolness. The unit was provided with a lot of literature to read and equip themselves – Sechaba, the African Communist, ANC leaflets and a variety of books.
Later on, the time came for the unit to leave South Africa for exile. Mxolisi left with a group of five. The group left via Botswana to Luanda. Later at different times, the other members also left for exile.
It is with great satisfaction that all members of The Big Game joined the ranks of MK. In the ranks of MK, Mxolisi, as with many who joined the ANC in exile, was given the choice to go to school or join the military. He chose, as did all members of The Big Game, to join the ranks of MK. Once there, Mxolisi was given the new name Reggie Nyirenda.
Mxolisi and his group arrived at the engineering camp in Luanda, a form of transit camp. It was truly a camp that could be called a melting pot because we shared space with Swapo of Namibia, Zapu of Zimbabwe, Angolan armed forces Fapla, the Cubans and of course the group of mostly young people from across every corner of South Africa.
It was also in this camp where for the first time the group met with the esteemed and revered leaders of the ANC – OR Tambo, Duma Tlokwe, Mzwai Piliso and Joe Modise.
After a stay of a few months, most of those at the engineering camp left
James Ngculu pays homage to Major-General Mxolisi Edward Petane, a fearless freedom fighter, peacemaker and reconciler, who has died at the age of 59
and began a journey of about 400km to the training camp at Nova Catengue, just south of Benguela city.
The detachment was trained by the Cubans, an experience that will forever be etched in our memory. After more than six months, they completed their training, and at a graduation ceremony, OR Tambo named it the June 16 Detachment.
Mxolisi was thereafter selected for further training in the Soviet Union at Perevale training camp in Ukraine. He specialised in military engineering. On his return, Mxolisi stayed briefly in the camps and later was deployed to work at Sactu in Lusaka and later in Gaborone. This deployment was recognition of his advanced understanding of the broader spectrum of the politics of the movement and its allies.
He was withdrawn from Gaborone and went back to the camps. After a brief stay there, Mxolisi was selected in a unit that was to be sent inside South Africa. This comprised Bongani Jonas, who was a commander of the unit; Mxolisi as commissar; Billy Holiday (Norman Petersen) and Mthetheleli Titana.
After this unit settled in Cape Town, the pincers of the apartheid security forces caught up with them. Holiday died in a fierce battle in New Crossroads.
Mxolisi was arrested. Remarkably, and to be celebrated by us, he survived being tortured and never revealed a single person he worked with or a single weapon or explosive in use by the unit. During his trial, he was the first MK soldier on trial to proclaim himself as having the status of a prisoner of war.
This was his response to the signing of the Geneva Convention by OR Tambo in 1980, wherein he said: “We solemnly affirm our adherence to the Geneva Conventions and to the Protocol.”
The presiding judge, Justice Conradie, was so impressed by Mxolisi’s individual defence and demeanour that he presciently saw in him a future leader.
On his release after the unbanning of the political organisations, Mxolisi was to be integrated into the new SANDF. He rose from the ranks to become a general and respected inspector-general. He was respected in the entire continent in the group of inspectors-general – in particular in the SADC countries.
Now Mxolisi has died. I fondly remember his commitment and tolerance under severe torture that he remained true to the MK oath to keep the secrets and property of MK safe. Mxolisi had passion and love for his own comrades and in particular his family.
Mxolisi was a dedicated soldier and a dedicated member of the ANC, who was concerned about matters of the ANC.
For those of us who remain, let us cherish your commitment, honesty and truthfulness till your last breath. Hambe Kahle Mkhonto we Sizwe !!!!!
Ngculu is the former provincial chairperson of the ANC in the Western Cape and commander and commissar of MK. He worked as assistant administrator at MHQ (Military HQ). He is the author of two books and is completing a third one.