[ad_1]
By Sihle Mavuso 
15h ago
Durban – In a raised eyebrow speech, ANC Under Secretary General Jessie Duarte said that South Africa without the ruling party cannot be imagined and that it could lead to a civil war.
But Duarte did not specify what exactly could cause the civil war if the ruling party were ousted from power.
He made these controversial comments during a virtual memorial service for the late Rajes Pillay, a former stalwart of the struggle who hailed from Durban and played a leading liberating role in the ANC and the now-defunct Natal Indian Congress.
“Comrades, it is very difficult to talk to people who doubt that the ANC will continue. You know in your heart that you can never live in a country where there is no ANC because the opposite of that would be chaos and without a doubt a civil war that not all of us want, ”said Duarte.
Pillay worked with Oliver Tambo, Yusuf Dadoo, Phyllis Naidoo, Judson Khuzwayo, and Shadrack Maphumulo. He received clandestine training and became a communications and logistics officer for the ANC’s clandestine operations in Angola and eSwatini.
Other ANC stalwarts who spoke at the service included former minister and presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj and former KZN director general Nhlanhla Ngidi.
Maharaj regretted that the country has abandoned activism and left it in the hands of NGOs that fulfill their own agendas.
Ngidi lamented that the ANC is deviating from the values of Pillay, who advocated for members to speak up. He said that now the members are afraid to speak out, for fear of victimization.
The neighboring kingdom of eSwatini featured prominently during the memorial service because it was the host country for the late Pillay. The former deputy minister for international relations and cooperation, Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, spoke about the dangers of working there.
Ebrahim said in one of the many conversations he had with the late Pillay, that he regretted that the kingdom was a “dangerous place” for exiled freedom fighters, as some eSwatini policemen collaborated with the apartheid regime to persecute them.
“Swaziland was a very dangerous place, there was a collaboration between the South African security police and some elements of the Swaziland police. People were being killed; kidnapped. I know of a house where the security police called, a woman opened the door and the police killed everyone. So Swaziland was a very dangerous place, ”Ebrahim told mourners.
However, eSwatini’s government spokesman, Sabelo Dlamini, questioned allegations that the kingdom was not a reliable ally of the freedom fighters.
“The positive role played by eSwatini in the fight against apartheid is well documented. Many South Africans can attest to how this country was a safe haven, including former presidents. South Africans themselves have shared the same positive sentiments in many forums. You would simply need to do some basic research to determine how many ANC members received their education here; worked in our industries, hospitals and schools.
“That is why it even has the famous Magogo movement, a celebration of how Emaswati protected and provided for the stalwarts of the Fight. That a few people have gone against this well-established norm does not diminish the role that this country plays and many more united under the banner of the then Organization of African Unity to rid this continent of the scourge of apartheid, “said Dlamini in response to accusations of selling out.
Political Bureau
[ad_2]
