The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape has learned with great sadness of the passing away of a great revolutionary freedom fighter,a trade unionist , teacher ,historian and ex – MK Commissar, Comrade Fildmore Mapheto after he has been sick for sometime.
We pay tribute to a revolutionary heroic guerrilla who sacrificed his entire life in the forefront of our worldwide struggles to liberate mankind from the subjugation of imperialism and colonialism.
We join the rest of the country as we pay homage to a fallen hero who contributed immeasurably to the noble cause of working class solidarity and internationalism. We pay tribute to an extraordinary hero and a leader of the working class who volunteered his life to liberate not only the people of this country , but also the oppressed people throughout the whole world.
He served our Congress Movement with an immeasurable dedication and commitment towards the course of ensuring better working conditions for the workers.We are deeply pained by a premature loss of this gallant fighter of our people.Phopho was well known for his humility, calmness and humbleness but at the same time vivid and firm in advancing the interest of the working class.
We take our pride to have been associated our being with such a colossal revolutionary our country has ever produced in this century. Indeed Cde Fildmore epitomized a generation in the records of the history of our struggles for the emancipation of mankind, belonging to the category of the rare spices.
We pay tribute to a leader of the working class whose image and tenacity over the years has become a symbol and embodiment of our worldwide struggles for solidarity and internationalism. Phopho will forever live in the hearts and minds of our people as a heroic guerrilla of MK , whose revolutionary ideas inspired him to devote his whole life for the liberation of our people against oppression, exploitation and social injustice.
Indeed it is true that even if Phopho has departed from our midst, his revolutionary ideas and teachings shall live with us forever.
That is why we say that, when we think about his life, when we think about his conduct, this was the case of a very rare man, because he was able to blend in his personality not only the characteristics of a man of action but also those of a thinking man, a man of shining revolutionary virtues and extraordinary human sensitivity blended with a character of iron, a steel will, and indomitable tenacity.
As a revolutionary, as a communist revolutionary, really communist, he had infinite faith in moral values, he had infinite faith in the conscience of men and – we ought to say it – in his conception he saw with absolute clarity that morality was the basic fulcrum for the construction of communism in human society.
He left us his revolutionary thoughts. He left us his revolutionary virtues. Cde Fildmore Mapheto gave the ideas of Marxism-Leninism their freshest, purest, most revolutionary expression.
The ANC extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and comrades within the labour movement as we mourn this noble servant of the people.
Hamba kahle Mkhonto .
May His Soul Rest in Peace.
Issued by :
ANC EC Communications
Enquiries:
ANC Media & Liaison Officer
Judy Mpetsheni
Mobile No: 0636878267/0731176194
ANC Communications Manager
Gift Ngqondi
Mobile No:0848439706/0849519924
