Family happy to give hanged anti-apartheid activist proper burial

Dyakala was 33 when he was sent to the gallows

Kholisile Dyakala was 33 when he was hanged by the apartheid government‚ and his family never got a chance to give him a proper burial.

Now‚ 31 years later‚ the United Democratic Front (UDF) political prisoner’s family will finally give him a decent funeral and find closure.

Dyakala is one of 13 UDF prisoners who were sentenced to death and hanged at Kgosi Mampuru Prison in 1986.

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha yesterday handed over the exhumed remains of the prisoners to their families in Port Elizabeth

“The group was hanged at the Kgosi Mampuru gallows for incidents that took place during the period of intense political turmoil in the Eastern Cape between 1985 and 1986‚” the department said.

“The handover is part of the gallows project‚ which entails the exhumation‚ handover and reburial of the remains of 83 political prisoners who were hanged and buried in unmarked graves.”

Fezeka Dyakala‚ Kholisile’s sister‚ said her brother was arrested in 1985 for killing a security guard in Port Elizabeth.

“He was 33 when he was arrested. He was married with five children. The youngest child was only three years old. He was a very responsible man... and a charmer.”

The other prisoners whose remains were exhumed are Mangena Boesman‚ Raymond Gwebushe‚ Ndumiso Siphenuka‚ Makhezwene Menze‚ Benjamin Gxothiwe‚ Zwelidumile Mjekula‚ Thobile Lloyd‚ Siphiwe Lande‚ Lungile Rewu‚ Tsepo Letsoara and Sipho Mahala. –