Struggle stalwart Ntlebi led a life of unflagging service
The ANC in the Eastern Cape is mourning the death of Malgid Ntlebi, a former Robben Island prisoner.
He died on May 29 after an illness.
Ntlebi was born on October 13 1937 at Poni Street in West Bank, East London. He was the third child of Mamane Ntlebi. He joined the ANC in the early 1950s and immediately received the nickname of Rhambaliyathwethwa “because of his eagerness and diligence to complete any task given to him,” said Petros Vantyu, the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans central regional secretary.
He was later assigned to form ANC structures in West Bank where he mobilised and recruited students, youth and people from the Mpondoland region to also join the ANC.
“He was one of the volunteers who did the door-to-door in the run-up to the congress of the people in Kliptown that adopted the Freedom Charter in 1955. He was instrumental in implementing the M Plan, a project responsible for the formation of street and block committees for the ANC in East London,” said Vantyu.
In 1961, Ntlebi skipped the country to receive military training along with the likes of Khulile Mphahlaza, Mxolisi “Slumber” Jayiya and Papa Mbatyoti.
They were arrested in Livingstone, Zambia, deported to Pretoria and sentenced to 12 years on Robben Island.
Chief Mthuthuzeli Makinana said apart from his active involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle, Ntlebi also spent the last part of his life working with members of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA in East London district.
Ntlebi’s funeral service will be held at the East London City Hall on Saturday.