Remembering Molosi
Kusavakala nangoku ukuwa komthi omkhulu, uDikela, uMqwathi, uNoni!*
It's a year later and the wound left by the tragic death of Knysna councillor Victor Molosi is still felt as deeply in the community as it was on the fateful night he was gunned down outside his home in Concordia.
The sight of his wife Nomonde sobbing as she made her way to his grave during the one-year commemoration on Tuesday 23 July was heart-wrenching. As she dropped the flowers on the grave, her knees failed her and she was caught by her mother and a member of the community in a metaphorical gesture reflective of how the entire Knysna community have been holding each other up since Molosi's passing, uniting in his name, fighting for justice to prevail and now ensuring that his legacy lives on.
The visit to the graveyard was cut short by a downpour – somewhat ironic under the circumstances as rain is associated with rebirth and emotional cleansing.
Molosi, fondly known as Freeze, was a fearless leader, nonconformist ANC stalwart and a defiant political voice who remained deeply connected to his humanity. On Monday night 23 July last year, he was shot mere meters from his house in Concordia and left to die. He later succumbed to his injuries. Ta Freeze was easily one of Knysna’s very best and well-respected politicians and remains so beyond the grave, as the town continues to honour him. He was widely considered to be a pillar of the community – evident through the various events organised by locals in his honour including the marches to court to oppose the granting of bail to the accused over the course of the past year, his birthday celebrations, opening a play park, a fun run and, for the one-year commemoration, wreathe laying-at the graveyard, and the handing over of a house in Joosekamp.
It is as though the town is always finding new ways to celebrate the force he was. A memorial lecture was also scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed to Sunday because of the weather. According to deputy mayor Aubrey Tsengwa, during the 2015 door-todoor campaign he and Molosi visited a house in Joosekamp and upon arrival Molosi observed that the family is beyond impoverished and relayed to Tsengwa that this will be their first project after the elections. The 78-year-old Eunice Harris who used to stay with eight people in a tworoom, old RDP house now has an adequate home that consists of three bedrooms with a bathroom, kitchen and dining room, which was made possible with the help from sponsors that Molosi had started the process of securing while he was still alive, and which his successor Thando Matika took further after his death. It was also the setting for the next stop of the commemoration and official opening of the house on Tuesday.
When Harris was embraced by Nomonde, she couldn’t stop thanking her. “This is what my husband wanted,” Nomonde replied with a brave smile. The very emotional Harris during an interview with the Knysna Plett Herald expressed how grateful she was and said, “Freeze was truly God-sent, he saw my situation, he saw that I was struggling to take care of my family with my pension money, raise children and send a grandchild to college, and he came through for me in a very big way and gave me this gift. I am also grateful to the people who picked up where he left off because if it wasn’t for them then his plan would have died with him.”
Molosi is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife uMamtshatshu Nomonde Molosi and their four children Dumisani (17), Hlumani (12) and twins Sihle and Lihle aged eight.
The trial for the men arrested in connection with his murder will commence in October.