‘PAC FAMILIES STRUGGLING’
Poqo reburial raises hard issues
A PAN Africanist Congress member and Poqo cadre has made an emotional plea to the government to give free tertiary level education to everyone.
Phumelele Nkwenkwe Gaqa, now 75 years old, was among 23 Bhaziya villagers arrested in 1963 for the deaths of five white road construction workers near the Mbashe River.
He was speaking on Saturday during the official handover ceremony of the remains of 14 Poqo combatants to their families in Bhaziya’s Mphuthi village.
Gaqa said the families of many struggle heroes were struggling to make ends meet.
“I thought the children will get free education. Some of their [struggle heroes’] families are frequenting taverns,” Gaqa said.
The normally quiet village outside Mthatha in Eastern Cape was a hive of activity as a delegation from the government, led by Justice Minister Michael Masutha, officially handed over the remains of the Poqo political prisoners who were hanged by the apartheid government in Pretoria in 1963.
Other senior government leaders who attended the event included cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa and sports, recreation, arts and culture MEC Pemmy Majodina.
Of the 14 activists, five members were from the Vulindlela family – with the youngest, Mbhekaphantsi Vulindlela, only 18 years old at the time of his death.
The other family members hanged were Sihelegu, 28, Sandunge, 30, Bhonase, 46, and Malize, 30.
Other Poqo members hanged included Bennet Mpetu, 20, Right Mangqikana, 53, Bawokazi Mangqikana, 30, Nqaba Memani, 30, Siwana Mlahleki, 31, Mili Poli, 43, Mthalathala Xhego, 20, and Dumisa Galeni, 30.
Bhonase’s now elderly wife, Noluzile Vulindlela, said: “Our spirits will now rest because there has been a lot of infighting in the family.”
Gaqa, who miraculously survived the noose 53 years ago, told the government that people in his village still went to bed without clean drinking water.
“Our people are lying here and yet after so much bloodshed, it’s difficult to get water or get an education,” said Gaqa.
Masutha said the families would now be able to find closure after harbouring much pain all these years.
The minister said the 14 were the first among many liberation heroes and heroines to be exhumed and handed back to their families for reburial.
“This province gave birth to a litany of giants of our liberation struggle and as the ANC-led government we recognise the role played by other liberation movements in the liberation of our country,” Masutha said.
Pan Africanist Congress president Luthando Mbinda thanked the government for ensuring the remains were finally brought home.