The African National Congress (ANC) in the Eastern Cape dips its revolutionary banner to honour the memory of the former MK combatant , Comrade Mzimasi Giwu who has passed away recently.
We hope that our message of condolence will somehow go some way in lessening the pain of losing a husband, a father, a brother and son of the Giwu family. Of course the pain of the family cannot be likened to any other pain that maybe felt outside his immediate family.
The former Umkhonto weSizwe combatant aged 63 died at Life St Dominic’s Hospital after battling with lung cancer for more than three(3) years .
A trained operative of MK, Comrade Giwu left the country in 1976 and joined the people’s army in Angola.He received his military training in Benguela where he was deployed in Company One .Giwu became member of the June 16 Detachment together with 300 of his comrades at Nova Catengue in Angola in 1977.
There comes a time in the life of every revolutionary, when the sun must set. And when it does, the remaining fellow soldiers should not be at a loss for words to describe the life and times of the fallen soldier.
Comrade Mzimasi Giwu was indeed a brave and a daring cadre of the ANC, loyal and uncompromising on matters of principle and organizational discipline. This was a cadre with a rare combination of being frank and receptive to new ideas. He would never flinch from his views in defence of his organization and our revolution in general. A distinguished scholar on the revolutionary theory who has produced many young cadres in the discipline of the movement and an educator on the revolutionary literature .
His loyalty to organisational principles or beliefs and collective leadership as a whole, as opposed to individual leaders or factional groupings, is envied by many of us.
This made him to be far ahead of his peers in terms of his correct political understanding of the importance of the organisation, its ideological coherence and above all organisational unity.
Comrade Giwu personified the historic role played by the working class in re-building the ANC as a mass based formation that is rooted in popular aspirations of the oppressed, imbued with correct revolutionary theory and tools of analysis, anti-imperialist in its posture and emphatically biased to the working class.
He was a living archive of the best traditions and values of a genuine cadre produced through concrete class realities and battles at the point of production and in society hence his membership and activism with NEHAWU.
To you “Wilson Ntloko ”,Cde Mzimasi Giwu , the ANC says “thank you” for your fearlessness, loyalty and discipline to the cause of our struggle, and for having been committed to execute your responsibility up until the last moment. We promise you, all of us as your comrades as part of your collective will pick up your spear and forge ahead from where you left off. We dip our revolutionary banners and bow our heads in salute to you qabane lika Tambo.
To his family we send our heartfelt condolences. Their loss is our loss.
May his soul rest in peace!
Hamba Kahle Qabane!
Memorial Service will be held at East London City Hall today,Thursday (31 May 2018) starting at 15h00 .
Funeral service will be on Saturday(2 June 2018) at Tyutyu Location in Bhisho starting at 09h00.
Issued by:
ANC EC Communications
Enquiries:
ANC EC Media & Liaison Officer
Judy Mpetsheni
Mobile No: 0636878267/0731176194
Email:judy.ngoloyi@gmail.com
ANC EC Communications Manager
Gift Ngqondi
0848439706/0849519924
