ADDRESS AT THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL SERVICE IN HONOUR
OF THE LATE DR MANTO TSHABALALA-MSIMANG
by
Ms Hlengiwe Mkhize, Deputy Minister of Correctional
Services, in her capacity as Treasurer-General of the
ANCWL
Pretoria City
Hall
21 December 2009
Programme Director
Honourable Deputy President, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe
Comrades and Compatriots
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the ANC Women’s League, and the freedom-loving
women of this country, we wish to express our deepest and most
sincere condolences to the family of Cde Manto. Sithi, ‘Akuhlanga
lungehlanga’.
Your pain is felt by all of us. Her departure is a great loss not only to
the family, but to the nation as a whole. Though words could never fill
the void of your loss, Baba uMsimang and the children, please take
comfort in the knowledge that your loved one gave all her life,
selflessly, to a noble cause – the struggle for the liberation of the
oppressed masses.
While the brunt of the void which is left by her passing will be borne
by her family and loved ones, the ANC, the tripartite alliance, the
ANC Women’s League and indeed the whole nation mourn her
passing.
Bidding farewell to a stalwart, a daring freedom fighter, a combatant,
a scholarly mind and an organic intellectual of the calibre of Dr
Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang, is indeed a very painful
experience.
A combination of beauty, elegance, gender-activism, revolutionary
spirit, independent thinking, respect for knowledge and a deep
understanding of the importance of health and culture makes
Comrade Manto an extraordinary person.
Such attributes are a combination, which inevitably makes Comrade
Manto a complex revolutionary not easily understood by many. Her
commitment to Anti-Apartheid struggles for freedom and later, the
navigation of the gender machinery during the formative years of a
democratic South Africa, made her to be deeply adored and
respected within the Women’s League.
We were all shocked and deeply hurt when we received the news of
her departure, on Reconciliation Day. As we are gathered here today,
paying tribute to this gallant patriot, our national flag is flying halfmast, reminding all of us that the whole country is in mourning.
Silahlekelwe yinkokheli!
Dr Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang, who was born at eMfume,
KwaZulu-Natal, will always be remembered for being one of the
architects of a democratic South Africa.
In her early 20s, when she could have been chasing passing
pleasures, like all other women of her age, or pursuing her academic
studies, politically determined, Comrade Manto, then Manto Mali, her
maiden name, manifested qualities of a revolutionary, hence her
recruitment into exile. And indeed, in a group of 27 students, she left
South Africa, in September 1962, to fight for the liberation of this land,
our land.
Miles away from the comfort of her home, she served as the Deputy
Secretary in charge of human resource development and deployment
for the African National Congress (ANC), in Tanzania, and Zambia,
between 1979 and 1990.
Her academic achievements in exile, is a testimony to her resilience,
as she endured all the gender and race stereotypes in foreign
countries at the time. A few examples of her educational prowess
should suffice. You will know that Comrade Manto completed her first
degree at Fort-Hare University, in 1961, and in 1969, she received a
medical degree from the First Leningrad Medical Institute in the
former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1972, she went on to complete a Diploma in Obstetrics and
Gynaecology at the University of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania. In
1980, she completed a Masters degree in Public Health, at the
University of Antwerp, in Belgium.
Comrade Manto made good use of the expertise gained from the
responsibilities of serving the ANC in exile under the dynamic
leadership of Cde Oliver Reginald Tambo. Given her emerging
passion for accessible and quality health care, she could not bear to
see her comrades dying of malaria and other diseases far from home.
She went all out to mobilize needed resources.
It is in this context that she found favour with the World Health
Organisation and Swedish donors. Accordingly, she convened the
First International Conference on Health and Apartheid under the
auspices of the World Health Organisation, in the early 80s.
This was a very important Anti-Apartheid conference which drew
strong connections between health issues and the struggle for
liberation. It is this conference, to the credit of Comrade Manto, which
set the tone for the health policy formulation which was to inform
policy directions in the exile context, up to the post-apartheid era. The
said International Conference dominated the thinking of all health
activists, both in exile and at home, up to the formation of the
National Progressive Primary Health Care Network.
Given the fact that many exiled comrades were dying from curable
diseases, it is no exaggeration to draw strong parallels between her
work and that of Florence Nightingale. Like Florence, “The Lady
with the Lamp”, Comrade Manto cared for people in poverty and
handled with passion the health care of her comrades in
Mozambique, Tanzania and Angola.
Lessons learnt out of these experiences, made her to be almost a
medical anthropologist, who understood the socio-cultural context of
health and well-being. Comrade Manto’s passion for quality and
culturally appropriate health care, including mental health care,
informed her positions during the formative years of our policies for
an envisaged democratic government.
We shall always draw strength from the fact that, on her return from
exile, she never deserted the ranks of the oppressed masses,
especially women in rural communities. With other dedicated leaders
of the ANC and the Women’s League, she understood clearly that the
democratic breakthrough that forced the apartheid rulers to the
negotiating table, with tails between their hind legs, did not mean the
end of the struggle for gender justice.
Comrade Manto understood precisely that the advent of democracy
constituted yet another terrain of struggle, which she was forever
willing to engage, and to shape in favour of the poorest of the poor. It
is in this spirit that she continued selflessly to serve the country as a
National Executive Committee member of both the ANC and the ANC
Women’s League.
On her return from exile, in the early 90s, she contributed
tremendously in sustaining the work of the National Progressive
Primary Health Care Network. She assisted in the development of
policies on health and continued to serve on committees promoting
health and gender issues. True to her name – Mantombazana – ‘girls’
in English, Comrade Manto, as both a woman and a political activist,
never lost sight of the burning issues affecting child and maternal
health.
Through her remarkable deeds and unimpeachable struggle
credentials, she has been a Member of Parliament since 1994.
Between 1996 and 1999, she served our people diligently as Deputy
Minister of Justice.
History will judge us harshly if we choose to have a selective memory
and fail to report on her sterling work during this period. She reached
out to communities, and visited women and children’s trauma
centres, promoting women’s rights and access to justice and
advocating for Restorative Justice.
She became Minister of Health in June 1999 and served in that
capacity until September 2008. Comrade Manto will always be
remembered for being what Bessie Head would have aptly called, “a
collector of treasures”. One of the memorable treasures she
collected was the comprehensive HIV and Aids programme which
South Africa gave to the world.
Across the political spectrum, many have acknowledged the sterling
work she has done in the transformation of South Africa’s public
health system. She has received accolades for improvements in the
area of malaria, immunization of babies and the implementation of
progressive anti-smoking policies, introduced by her predecessor.
We all know that even in sickness, she refused to turn her back on
the movement and the people whose well-being she cared for
throughout her life – an impeccable life of sacrifice and struggle for
the poorest of the poor in rural areas, women in particular!
True to her courage and strength of character, she chose to continue
serving the people through her role in government, despite her
deteriorating health. Thus, in 2008, she served the nation as Minister
in The Presidency. She took responsibility for the very important
programmes on the vulnerable groups in society – the women, the
youth and persons with disabilities. Under her careful guidance, a
strong case was made in favour of the establishment of a dedicated
ministry focusing on women.
When we take stock of the great strides made by the new Ministry for
Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, we will always
remember the fundamental role she played in its conception and in
the broader fight for the emancipation of women. Her memory will be
best served if we all ensure the success of this Ministry!
No doubt, Comrade Manto shall always be remembered for being a
guardian of the “wretched of the earth”, at home and abroad. On the
African continent, she will always be remembered for being the
African Union’s Goodwill Ambassador and Champion for Africa’s
Movement to improve Maternal Health and Promote Child Survival
and Development in Africa, beyond 2015.
Most people’s lives follow a trajectory which impacts only those within
their immediate sphere of influence. But once in a while, people like
Comrade Manto come along and touch a nation. Their courage to
stand against oppression and discrimination in the face of
persecution makes them a breed apart.
We will always remember that Comrade Manto remained a
committed activist until her very last days like other influential and
renowned women of her ilk, the likes of Rosa Parks and Coretta
Scott-King (the late wife of American Civil Rights leader, Dr Martin
Luther King).
In describing Rosa Parks (who refused to move to the back of the
bus as expected of black people in America in the 1950s), Bill Clinton
had this to say:
“Rosa Parks, as we saw again today, was small in stature with
delicate features. But the passing years did nothing to dim the
light that danced in her eyes, the kindness and strength you saw
in her smile or the dignity of her voice. To the end, she radiated
that kind of grace and serenity that God specially gives to those
who stand in the line of fire for freedom and touch even the
hardest hearts.”
These words are most certainly true of Comrade Manto. The
similarities between Comrade Manto and Rosa Parks are quite
startling, not only in their small stature and delicate features, but also
in their courage to stand against discrimination and to fight for the
liberation of their people. Bill Clinton’s words that “She made us see
and agree that everyone should be free”, are as true of Rosa
Parks as they are of Comrade Manto. Hers was a life dedicated to
service!
While Coretta Scott-King has played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and has been credited with being
one of the mothers of the Civil Rights Movement, Comrade Manto
has similarly played a very important role in shaping society. Both
Coretta and Comrade Manto will always be remembered for opposing
the evil system of apartheid.
Given her priceless contribution to the creation of a democratic, nonracial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, the ANC Women’s
League views the honour bestowed upon the finest daughter of the
soil with a special official funeral, as being appropriate.
We are humbled by the many messages of sympathy and heartfelt
tributes received from South Africa and abroad. What is of
significance is that all messages confirmed that whatever she did and
believed in, she communicated with passion, and her power and
authority were executed in an authentic manner, and with no fear.
Our gratitude goes to the many comrades and friends who gave the
family a shoulder to lean on during the difficult times of her life, as
she battled with her health after the liver-transplant.
We thank the members of the media who wrote responsibly about the
passing on of Comrade Tshabalala-Msimang, and created space for
the nation to pay tribute to her.
Through your efforts, she will take her rightful place in the pages of
our rich history as a true patriot who gave her life to the fight for the
freedoms and democratic values that have given a voice even to
villainous characters the world has ever seen – so foul as to insult
even the departed souls.
It is very shocking how anyone could muster the courage to go
twittering words like “good” riddance, when the nation is mourning the
great loss of a leader and comrade-in-arms!
It is people like these who give a bad name to the media fraternity.
Such an insult is too grossly to contemplate, especially when this vile
act was committed on Reconciliation Day.
For us who knew Comrade Manto, as a sister in the struggle, as a
leader, as a parent, as a mother, as a granny, as a neighbour, and
most of all, as a warm-hearted loving person, her departure was a
‘loss unparalleled’!
We must draw strength from the fact that nothing can take away the
crucial role Comrade Manto has played in bringing the African
National Congress and South Africa to where we are today.
When we celebrate the 98th Anniversary of the ANC next month, we
shall do so remembering that it is through valuable efforts of
committed comrades like her that the ANC continues to be trusted by
the people of South Africa with the responsibility of accelerating the
transformation process and the democratisation of our country.
As the ANC, we have a formidable task at hand. We must ensure this
movement continues to grow, by leaps and bounds, so that her
struggles are not in vain. Her beliefs and passion in the strategic
direction of the ANC made her to serve the people of South Africa
with honesty and integrity till the last.
As long as the ANC lives, so shall the indelible memory of Comrade
Manto and that of other veterans, like Charlotte Maxeke, Dorothy
Nyembe, Lillian Ngoyi, Ellen Khuzwayo, Albertinah Sisulu and
Adelaide Tambo. The lives of these fighters for freedom are
inextricably linked to that of the ANC.
William Shakespeare’s soothing words, in “Fear No More the Heat
of the Sun”, addressed to a departed sister, could have been
directed to none other than Comrade Manto. And so, with
Shakespeare, we say to our beloved sister, with our hearts heavy
with grief:
“Fear no more the heat of the sun
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone and taken thy wages…
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone:
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan”
May her soul rest in peace!
Lala ngoxolo, Qhawe la maQhawe!
Malibongwe!
Enquiries: David Hlabane – 082 052 3499
Issued by the Department of Correctional Services on 21 December
2009.