I wish to express the deep condolences of all our colleagues and families to our Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and his family. While we are sad at this heartfelt loss, I also confess to a feeling of envy as the Deputy President had the loving presence of this mother for many more years than I and our siblings.

The late Mrs. Sophia Masefako Motlanthe nee Madingoana was born and bred at Ramantsho near Marapyane. Her father, Joseph Madingoana was a local priest, who also served an advisor to the local chief. In this capacity he acted as an interpreter for the local chieftaincy in its official dealings with the white authorities. She was one of 10 siblings.

One of the siblings Ramarumo Madingoana met his untimely death aboard the SS Mendi that sank during the Second World War off the coast of England in which a number of South African nationals who were drafted to fight in the war against fascism died.

Sophia Masefako Madingoana met the late Mr. Louis Motlanthe who she later married in Johannesburg.  They had three sons including Kgalema. They resided in Alexandra Township near Johannesburg. With the enforcement of the then Group Areas Act, the Motlanthe  family together with the rest of black people in the area were forcibly removed by the apartheid government and relocated to Meadowlands.

The Motlanthe family was deeply religious with the father Louis Motlanthe being a church warden while the late Mrs. Motlanthe was part of the local Anglican Church’s Mothers’ union. The three boys served as altar boys in the same church.

Like most African families, the Motlanthe family had to survive on meagre wages of the parents with the late Mrs Motlanthe working at the Bond Clothing Factory as a machinist for a period of over 12 years before retirement.  With these meagre wages they still managed to ensure the education of their three children

In the subsequent period Kgalema joined the underground machinery of the ANC alongside SIphiwe Nyanda, George Nene and the late Stanley Nkosi. A police swoop on the unit resulted in the detention, trial and conviction of Kgalema and Stanley Nkosi who were both sentenced to ten years imprisonment on Robben Island while George Nene and Siphiwe Nyanda managed to evade the police and left for exile to join the ranks of the ANC outside the country.

The late Mrs. Motlanthe was one of the pillars of strength for Kgalema during the period of detention, trial and indeed throughout his ten years imprisonment on Robben Island. Invariably the same period also witnessed police raids and harassment of the Family as a result of Kgalema’s detention trial and imprisonment.

One of the sources of support on Robben Island was visits for political prisoners from family members. The late Mrs. Motlanthe like all mothers also paid several visits to Kgalema in prison. These visits were in accordance with the status of a prisoner as accorded by the prison authorities. In this regard there were three categories, Group 1, Group II and Group III.  In Group three a prisoner was afforded 12 visits, 12 letters and 12 cards per year; Group II 20 visits, 20 letters and 20 cards per year while Group 1 was entitled to 40 visits, letters and cards.

However one had to seek permission from prison authorities to visit a prisoner on Robben Island. Such an application for a visit would be referred to the Security Police branch for vetting. Accordingly applications for visits were approved in conjunction with the security police.  Letters to prisoners were subject to close scrutiny and censors to ensure such letters do not contain any form of political communication.

To receive a letter and indeed a visit was one of the crucial sources of sustenance for political prisoners. Some of the parents would have had to travel over 24 hours from Gauteng,  North West, Mpumalanga  and Limpopo on a train (with tickets sponsored by the International Red Cross) to Cape Town, staying at Cowley House to visit their relative on the Island for a mere 30 minutes on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The loving motherly support continued for Kgalema and his siblings even after his release from Robben Island in 1987, through his activism as NUM Education Secretary, Deputy Secretary General of the Union; his deployment as ANC PWV Convenor in 1990 under the leadership of the later Walter Sisulu charged with the responsibility of rebuilding the structures of the ANC in conditions of legality; and his subsequent return to NUM, later becoming the ANC Secretary-General,  a Minister, President and later Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa.

In more ways than one, the late Mrs Motlanthe was indeed one of the millions of unsung heroes of our people who in many ways than one supported the cause of freedom through moral, financial and material support. Lala Ngoxolo.

The stories of these women need to be told about them not only through the work of their sons and daughters.

What gave these mothers such strength, such fortitude, steadfastness, commitment? They are the true standard bearers of the struggle. Like Florence Nightingale they kept the flames of resistance burning, have courage to families and never faltered in their sterling commitment to ensure adversity never gave way to surrender.

We salute these mothers for the example this history and legacy of leadership they have left as our inheritance. Our task is to make their sacrifice truly worthwhile.

Issued by Department of Home Affairs