Speeches

Dear family members of Bra Koos Segola, members of the community who are gathered here at the last resting place of Cde Segola in Molepolole in Botswana.

It is an honor and a privilege to be given  this opportunity to represent the ANCVL at the unveiling of Cde Bra Koos tombstone after 11 years of his passing.

I met Bra Koos in 1974 in Gaborone when  i was on my way to join the  ranks of the ANC in Zambia.

When i left the country i was given the names of Cde Mathiso and Uncle Dan Tloome who was a senior member of the ANC and of the South African Communist Party and living in Lobatse.

It was easy to contact Cde Mathiso as he was a salesman at  Ellerines furnisher  in Gaborone but was an underground activist of the ANC in the town.

He accommodated me at his place and contacted Cde Uncle Dan Tloome who came to meet me in Gaborone .

Uncle Dan Tloome was interested in knowing how strong the underground structures of the ANC were and whether there are  any initiatives of  building  trade unions in the country.

A month later I  was then introduced to Cde Koos Segola who came with Cde Isaac Makopo who had just arrived from Zambia.

Cde Isaac Makopo was formally introduced to the Botswana authorities as the official but  underground representative of the ANC in Botswana and i was  instructed to work with him.

During that time the situation was still very tense in Gaborone.This was just after the assassination of Onkgopotse Abraham Tiro.

Cde Makopo wasted no time, but trained me on how to handle small arms, store underground weapons that were to be infiltrated into Botswana, basic intelligence training and surveillance .

I was not to contact and expose Cde Bra  Koos as he was legal and employed as an economist in the Botswana government but was active in the underground structures of the ANC and of Umkhoto we Sizwe.

Bra Koos as we are unveiling your memorial stone today, we would like to inform you that the organization that you sacrificed your life for is facing an existential crisis.

It is the first time after thirty years of democracy we were forced to establish a government of National unity. We had to govern with parties that we differ with ideologically. But these are parties that are committed to our constitutional democracy, the rule of law and clean governance.

Over the last thirty years we have achieved a lot in terms of transforming the apartheid state and building strong  democratic Institutions.

We have however been complacent and allowed State Capture, political patronage  and corruption to happen  under our watch.

This  destroyed our moral fiber.

Four and a half million voters stayed away during the last elections. They were protesting the lack of basic service delivery;-provision of water and sanitation, potholes, and lack of maintenance of roads , electricity crisis, vandalism of schools and infrastructure, crime, and unemployment.

Cde Halliday we are not here to mourn but to recommit ourselves to the  Renewal of  the ANC.

As the ANCVL working together  with the ANC, MKLWV,the Youth League, and the Women’s League  we have put together five pillars of the Renewal  programme which will be implemented from the most   basic organ of the organization  which  is the ANC branch.

1.The first pillar is :compulsory political education for all members.

We are starting with the “Foundation `Course which will be rolled out to all members. It covers a brief history of the ANC,its historical mission, vision and values, the work of the ANC,the constitution and the Bill of Rights and the kind of south Africa we seek to build and the challenges we face as a country and the world and the work of government.

2.The second pillar is a new approach to recruiting members. All new members must meet the minimum criteria to remaining in good standing using the ANC’s seminal document “Through the Eye of the needle.”

3.ANC branches must reconnect with the masses. They must serve the masses and attend to community needs-water and sanitation crisis, lack of road infrastructure, security of members of society, crime, and unemployment.

4.Ethics and integrity .Adopt an uncompromising attitude to corruption and all forms of misconduct  and criminality.

5.Demonstrate  unwavering commitment to the principle of unity, on racialism, on-sexism, and a democratic and prosperous society.

Cde Halliday rather than us sitting at home mourning about the decline of the ANC’s hegemony, we are recommitting ourselves to rebuild and renew the organization you spent your entire life in rebuilding it after it was banned in 1960 and ensuring that it establishes a constitutional democracy in RSA.

We will not disappoint you.

Amandla.

Cde Snuki Zikalala
President of the ANCVL
Te082 561 3900