Tribute

Dr Tshenuwani Simon Farisani passed away on May 29th 2025 at the age of 77. Here, Cde Sechaba Nkoana, the Provincial Secretary of the ANC Veterans in Limpopo Province, pays tribute to him and his legacy.

Cde Tshenuwani Simon Farisani was born into a farming family that thrived on fertile land in Songozwi, near Louis Trichardt in Limpopo. However, under apartheid’s brutal land policies, his family was forcibly uprooted and moved to the arid village of Madodonga. Much of their livestock was confiscated due to discriminatory laws restricting black land ownership. This experience of violent dispossession shaped his early awareness of systemic injustice.

Cde Farisani only began formal schooling at age 12, after a German missionary saw him working in the fields and advocated for his education. He excelled academically, quickly advancing through school and completing his matric with distinction.

He studied theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Maphumulo, Natal, where he was introduced to liberation theology intensified. His radical critique of apartheid theology led to his expulsion from the seminary. Undeterred, he continued with his studies via correspondence with UNISA where he completed his degree and was ordained in 1975. In 1976, Farisani became the first black dean of Beuster Mission, established by white Lutheran missionaries.

Throughout his life he straddled church and political work.

As a cadre, Cde Farisani was an embodiment of the ANC-led Alliance and the mass democratic struggle. He was, in the words of the late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minhsomeone who heeded the call to be “true to the Party and loyal to the people, fulfil any tasks, overcome any difficulty and defeat an enemy”.

He served in many political roles, always being a champion of the struggles of the poorest of the poor, the marginalised and the downtrodden. Cde Farisani defied death threats from the looters of the VBS Mutual Bank and courageously stood on the side of more than 500 VBS bank’s clients who were left destitute by the collapse of the bank.

Up until his death, Cde Farisani supported the VBS victims, street vendors and pensioners who now lie in limbo because they can’t access any money for their healthcare. Cde Fraisani called on all who benefited illegally to repay the bank’s clients and face the full might of the law.

As one has witnessed, Cde Farisani believed that the essential duty of cadreship and leadership was to be with the people while continuously organising them as a conscious force to seize and maintain political power.

In the church, Cde Farisani was a proponent of Liberation Theology, focusing on liberating humanity from various forms of oppression, including social, political, economic, and spiritual injustices. He also advocated for an academic discipline which focused on empowering people of African descent to overcome systemic racism through rethinking the frameworks of organised religion, primarily Christianity.

While Cde Farisani strongly believed that changing the structures of society was fundamentally a matter of politics, the Church has to address itself to these strategies. It is into this political situation that the Church has to bring the gospel, not as an alternative solution to our problems, as if the gospel provided us with a non-political solution to political problems. He believed that there is no specifically Christian solution, but there is a Christian way of approaching the political solutions, a Christian spirit, motivation and attitude.

Rejecting what was considered the ‘liberal rhetoric of reconciliation’, Cde Farisani called for direct participation in the liberation struggle, including acts of civil disobedience against the apartheid state. This was in contrast to the views of many church leaders who believed that they could be agents of reconciliation without actively engaging in the liberation struggle.

Cde Farisani also believed that no reconciliation was possible in South Africa without justice. What this meant in practice was that no reconciliation, forgiveness, or negotiations werepossible without repentance. The biblical teaching on reconciliation and forgiveness makes it quite clear that nobody can be forgiven and reconciled with God unless they repent of their sins.

Cde Farisani has had an indelible impact on our community and was much more than an inspirational, iconic freedom fighter and the presiding pastor of the Lutheran Church; hetranscended the bitter divides of South Africa’s history to become one of the most revered religious leaders in our country. It is very, very difficult for us to think of the democratic South Africa without his crinkly smile, deep voice, and slow, tall walk.

Cde Farisani left behind a legacy as an example, which can and will inspire the new generation of African leaders. Cde Farisani actively promoted understanding, healing, and harmony. He remained throughout his life free from bombast and managed to evade the isolating trappings of public office that so often ensnare politicians. He was always approachable and lived a simple life.

The name Tshenuwani Farisani is inextricably bound to the history and political evolution our country, South Africa. We must not mourn his death, but instead celebrate his pragmatic political acumen, his commitment, his ability to bring together politics and religion, and his Pan-African vision.