Maziya lived for freedom of his people
MK veteran and MP of distinction
Born: August 2 1949
Died: September 29 Funeral: Tomorrow at Rabasotho Hall in Tembisa from 9am
Burial: Emfihlweni Heroes Acre
Alpheus Mokabhe “Ali” Maziya was born in 1949 in Madubula village, now known as Mohlakeng, in Randfontein on the West Rand.
The family then moved to Wallmansthal near Hammanskraal, where Melusi, as he was affectionately called by family members, started his schooling at Lethabong Primary School. He completed his matric at Tembisa High.
Maziya was interested in business from a young age, selling clothes, scarfs and wigs, just to mention a few. He used the profits to put himself through school.
In 1961, while still in high school, he joined the ANC Youth League. He went on to work for companies such as Vicks Pharmaceutical, Crown Cock and Delta – all in Kempton Park’s industrial areas of Spartan and Isando.
It was at Reckitt & Colman however where his true political activism was awakened. He was made a shop steward.
During his working days, Maziya also joined Umkhonto weSizwe, training with an underground unit from 1968.
In 1970 he underwent military training at Crown Mines Shaft 6. He was arrested on his first assignment with Frans Maile, while the third co-accused managed to escape.
He was sentenced to two years in prison and served his time at Heidelberg prison.
Upon his release, my brother left Gauteng for Bophuthatswana but later returned in 1976 and participated in the Pretoria district operations of the 1976 unrest.
In 1977, Melusi volunteered as part of the Mandela Residents’ security detachment. A year later, he moved to Limpopo after he was recruited by the Peter Nchabeleng unit.
The unit operated across the Highveld and Northern Transvaal. He was involved in the sabotage of police stations and municipality operations.
He was responsible for the surveillance team of the Nchabeleng unit. He also served in the ordinance unit. He established the self-defence unit (SDU) structures in Mankweng (east of Polokwane), Tembisa, Vosloorus and Warmbaths (now Bela-Bela).
He served as both a leader and trusted member of Umkhonto weSizwe’s underground operations under the guidance and leadership of Commander Admiral Refilwe Mudimu.
Having realised the strategic importance of this work, the ANC among others, took him back to Tembisa in the early 1980s for the purpose of establishing a civic movement, and the Tembisa Residents Association was formed and became a strategic site of the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM).
My brother’s activities in both MK and a civic organisation made him a target for the apartheid regime and its “hit squad” which later attacked his home in Vosloorus and claimed the lives of our mother Thandi, his wife Lindi, and his nine-month old baby Zwelakhe on June 1 1990.
Injured in the attack, Melusi soldiered on with the Struggle. Through the success of the civic organisation, he then went on to co-found the umbrella for all civic organisations – Sanco (SA National Civic Organisation) in the early 1990s.
While piecing his life back together he furthered his education and acquired a certificate in development facilitation from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1994. In 1997, a diploma in local government administration and management from the University of South Africa, and another diploma in achieving globalisation potential: economic strategies for job creation and poverty reduction with the University of the Western Cape in 2004.
Between 1999 to 2014, he served as an MP and chief whip of the portfolio committee on defence and military veterans, and whip of the joint standing committee on defence with other veterans. He also participated in various ad hoc committees.
Maziya retired from parliament and spent his days enjoying his hobbies – jazz, watching soccer and wrestling matches. He also loved cars and the finer things in life.
He is survived by a sister, brothers, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He will be buried in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, tomorrow.
Lala Ngoxolo Qabane elihle!