Remains of MK soldier finally home
Ntshinka’s body now reburied in Ngcobo
THE remains of former ANC struggle operative, Monwabisi Ntshinka, were reburied at his home in the Eastern Cape at the weekend. His body was exhumed in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in the latest repatriation as part of a programme spearheaded by the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (Dsrac) to bring home the remains of liberation struggle operatives killed abroad.
Ntshinka was killed in 1988 while participating in an Mkhonto weSizwe (MK) mission.
He was buried at his home in Xhonya village in Ngcobo on Saturday, after his body arrived at East London airport late on Friday.
Dsrac, the provincial ANC and MK veterans participated in a prayer service at the airport, led by Dsrac MEC Pemmy Majodina, department of rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, Buffalo City Metro mayor Alfred Mtsi, Ngcobo mayor Lamla Jiyose, ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane and the MK Veterans’ Association.
Majodina said the delegation sent to bring Ntshinka’s remains home had succeeded in repatriating “every part of his body as it was”.
ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said Ntshinka’s mother, Nontsapho, who is in her 80s, wrote to his office three years ago asking the party to find the remains of her son.
He said she wanted to die in peace, knowing her child was home.
“We are the first province to have a policy that finds our people who died in other countries.
“There were many people who joined the MK to liberate our nation and now their remains are scattered all over the continent.”
In terms of the provincial government’s programme, some were exhumed in Lesotho, Angola, Mozambique and now Zimbabwe.
Ntshinka’s uncle Mveleli, said the family was grateful that finally their son was back home.
“His mother is also happy the remains of her child are finally home. We take our hats off to the ANC.” He said Ntshinka was the second of six siblings.
According to Dsrac, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could not establish the exact circumstances of Ntshinka’s death, but it was later established he had been injured in a mysterious car accident.
Ntshinka joined the ANC’s military wing in the 1980s and underwent military training in Angola.
He left the country when he was in his second year at the University of Fort Hare studying towards a law degree.
The department plans to repatriate the remains of two other struggle fighters this financial year – David Stuurman, buried in Australia and Pascal Macamba, buried in Angola.
The department also plans to erect a memorial to Milner Ntsangani at Nkonkobe municipality. —