Ignatius Jacobs: dedicated to liberation of SA
● Ignatius Patrick Jacobs dedicated his life to the liberation of his people. He fought for freedom as a pupil at school, at university, as a youth and community activist, a communist, a soldier, and a representative of the people in the government.
Inevitably, due to the firmness of his beliefs, energy in action, passion in robust debates and conviction in the liberation of his people, he was to lead in many structures of the liberation movement.
He was a visionary who believed in the power of social capital and the need to always take the masses of the people of our country along, on every programme of our democratically elected government. He believed governance was of no significance if it was not accompanied by deliberate steps to build local capacity in every community so that the people could better interact with such programmes and maximise the benefits these brought.
He always insisted that the movement, and the government it led, should have a structured presence in communities.
He championed stakeholder management and the establishment of community-based structures, whose content was aligned with the
Freedom Charter.
Jacobs was a strategist extraordinaire, a communicator par excellence and a cadre of the movement who always saw things in terms of how they contributed to the bigger picture. He shied away from public galleries and would speak only when it was necessary, thereby throwing members into the deep end before giving guidance behind the scenes.
He was a disciplinarian who never allowed members to publish statements about fraternal organisations and compatriots until they had informed those organisations and compatriots of their content, however harsh the facts might be. He did this to keep the centre holding.
He also refused to launch concepts, opting for active programmes based on his conviction about sustainable programmes, saying that members should never set up the government for failure by raising people’s expectations and then failing to deliver.
When he thought matters were getting out of hand, he would say the moment had come to get into one big room, shut the door and tell each other the truth — the hard truth — so that by the time they left the room there would be one line of march and a clear programme.
Working under his astute leadership, together with many activists, was an eye-opener to members and stretched their capabilities beyond self-knowledge. He would insist that members met journalists who had written false
He loved humanity and his people and for that he sacrificed himself, his talents and skills, and used them to fight for the liberation of SA
stories about the government and its leadership, and tell the members how to fix the faultlines and build honest relationships. He was a bright spark and dedicated cadre.
Each time party members went to visit Jacobs, they spoke about the political situation in the country and the world. When they asked him about his health, he would reply: “My wife and family will pray for me, and as a Marxist I believe in science, and my psychological strength to be able to pull me through.” The prayers, science and his strength made him fight until it was not possible any longer. He was human, after all, and the cancer became too much for him to combat.
He loved humanity and his people and for that he sacrificed himself, his talents and skills, and used them as tools to fight for the liberation of the people of SA.
When freedom came, he further revealed those skills to the country for good use in developing the lives of the people.
He looked forward to living, always talking about the future. He always had ideas to further contribute to human development. Even during his ailment he maintained a sense of humour, and his laughter was infectious.
He made his mark on humanity and the people need to recognise, appreciate, praise and celebrate his contribution. He was no ordinary cadre, but a special one, and he was baptised in revolutionary fires.
He was a human being with a great heart, who loved his wife, children and family.
He will forever be remembered by those people whose lives he touched in his lifetime.