The African National Congress ( ANC) in the Eastern Cape has learnt with sadness and sorrow the tragic passing of Comrade Mxolisi Faku.
Comrade Mxolisi Faku perished in a tragic accident at Somerset West in the Western Cape on the evening of Sunday , 31st December 2023.
He was born at Tsholomnqa Location , Kwa- Sandile on the 30th January 1966. He did his primary and secondary education in Mdantsane schools ( Isibane Lower Primary, Gcobani Higher Primary and Ngcelwane High School).
He joined both COSAS and SAYCO, the foremost organizations of the militant and revolutionary youth. It is in the 1980s that he became close to the late Andile Matshoba who was brutally murdered by the ruthless Ciskei forces. The murder of a close friend boosted Mxolisi’s resolve to fight and defead apartheid and he immersed himself fully in youth mobilisation to ensure that the youth become the shock troopers of the revolution and he became part of the youth organisations in Mdantsane.
Like many fearless youth of his time, he responded to the clarion call of President Oliver Tambo to render apartheid unworkable and make the country ungovernable. Comrade Mxolisi’s political commitment got the attention of MK underground . This is when he got into contact with uMkhonto we Sizwe underground operatives such as Don Qokweni through Nomgqibelo Mkhosi.
He understood that to serve the people and the revolutionary cause requires self-development to provide strategic leadership and be vast with technical understanding on how things need to be done. Hence he subscribed to the notion of lifelong learning and he did his tertiary education at University of Fort hare where he obtained his BA Degree in Psychology. It is at the UFH that he got recruited into another MK underground unit. He was trained extensively in the military science by the late Mashumi Yekani in prepation for the new South Africa. Xhwangusha knew that to be a student leader comes with a responsibility to excel in academic studies. He demonstrated that the leadership responsibility is not a comfort zone but a platform to advance the course of the movement and the suffering masses.
Comrade Faku was an embodiment of qualities that are rarely found in one person – a fearless freedom fighter, astute educator and skilful organizer .
Once apartheid was defeated, he turned his attention to the work of building sound and strong people`s organizations under conditions of freedom and democracy. In this work, he was as dedicated and disciplined as he was during the fight against the evil system of apartheid.
In 2008 he devoted all his energies when he joined the Political Education & Training Unit (PETU) of the ANC in the Eastern Cape working with the likes of the late Cde Thobile Bam as an ANC Political Education Officer to arm its cadres with tools of analysis and theoretical orientation of the movement and of the enemy alike.
He also worked as a Researcher of the ANC at the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. No one has left such indelible footprints on the grassroots structures of our movement in the Eastern Cape as Comrade Faku has done – the branches of the ANC, the Leagues and the Alliance. Comrade Faku led the realignment of Branches from township-wide to ward-based branches and helped us to rebuild the movement in our province.
Comrade Mxolisi Faku later joined the Department of Military Veterans in Tshwane where he worked for a number of years. At the time of his passing, he was working as a Director at Department of Cooperation Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in the Eastern Cape.
In Comrade Mxolisi Faku , we had that special generation of ANC cadres and activists who cherished and loved our glorious movement , the African National Congress wholeheartedly and without any sense of ambiguity. He belongs to the league of ANC volunteers who understood that the ANC is the priceless heritage of the people of South Africa.
We owe this debt of gratitude to you Comrade Mxolisi Faku for your selfless sacrifices!
We send our deepest condolences to the Faku family, relatives , friends , colleagues at COGTA and comrades in both MK Liberation War Veterans and the Congress Movement .
Farewell Fearless Freedom Fighter!
Farewell Combatant!
Hamba kahle Tshawe !
Lala ngoxolo Xhwangusha !
END….
ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS-EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE
Enquiries:
Cde Gift Ngqondi
Provincial Head of Communications
Mobile No :?0849519924? /?0848439706?
