Masango fought hard for SA’s liberation
THE history of the liberation struggle, especially the armed struggle, is littered with male figures.
When history is rewritten properly, the names of heroines like Andiswa Masango must surely also feature prominently.
“Mavetana”, or “the white lady of Apla”, as Masango was passionately called, died on January 13 after a sudden illness. She was an excellent soldier and comrade, and never gave up, even when the going was tough.
An athlete of note as a middle distances runner, Masango took on her male comrades during endurance military training in the Apla camp, the Zephania Mothopeng Military College in Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
She would regularly challenge her male comrades on any endurance exercises and always came out tops.
Mavetana will always be remembered as a brave advocate of the rights of female comrades during the armed struggle.
An incident in mind, was when she confronted the high command of Apla about the discomforts of the military camouflage uniforms, and the need for female comrades to receive under-clothes to ease and cushion the hard uniforms.
These items were ultimately imported from Zimbabwe to their camp in Bagamoyo. A small concession but victory nonetheless for the women in those harsh and unforgiving conditions in the bush.
Born 43 years ago in Zwelitsha, King William’s Town, Masango joined students’ politics in the late 1980s in her Eastern Cape home province, joining the PAC through its student wing, the Pan Africanist Student Organisation (Paso). She left the country in 1988 through Lesotho for Tanzania.
In post-apartheid SA, she became a staff sergeant in the SANDF’s medical services.
Masango is survived by her husband and four daughters.
She will be buried tomorrow.