2005-02-21,+Obituaries+from+SACP+and+COSATU+for+Late+Oom+Ray



=__Obituary from the South African Communist Party__=


 * 21 February 2005**

RAYMOND MHLABA: 1920-2005
Raymond Mphakamisi Mhlaba, life-long communist, ANC leader and Isithwalandwe, died in Port Elizabeth late last night after a long battle with liver cancer; he turned 85 on 12 February 2005. Raymond Mhlaba was a revolutionary, an educator, organiser, soldier, statesman and leader of our people over many decades: a man who brought with him the rare qualities of selflessness and utter devotion to the cause of the oppressed and exploited millions of our country.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) sends its condolences to his wife, Dideka and the rest of the family. We dip our revolutionary banner in honour of this dedicated communist.

Like all rural young men desperate for a decent life in the Eastern Cape hinterland, he left his home rural town of Fort Beaufort in the early 1940s to look for work in Port Elizabeth which was rapidly developing as an industrial centre as part of the World War 2 economic boom. He got a job as a general labourer at a a dry-cleaning factory from where he was recruited into the Laundry Workers? Union. He became a union organizer and later joined the then Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) in 1943. From 1946 until its banning in 1950, he served as the Party?s district secretary for Port Elizabeth. As a young black worker in apartheid South Africa and in line with the programme of the Communist Party, he later joined the ANC as part of the wave of radical and militant African youth committed to a radical programme of action.

In 1949, he served as a leader of the Port Elizabeth Bus Boycott Committee. After this experience, he was appointed as the Volunteer-in-Chief of the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Under his leadership together with Govan Mbeki, Vuyisile Mini, Zinakile Mkhaba & others, the Port Elizabeth region was one of the strongest regions of the ANC during the 1950s. From 1947 to 1953 was Port Elizabeth ANC branch chairman. Mhlaba was the first ANC leader to be arrested in the 1952 Defiance Campaign. Banned under the Suppression of Communism Act, Mhlaba was nevertheless elected to the Cape executive committee of the ANC in 1954, and continued with his political activities.

After the ANC was banned in 1960, he was one of the first cadres to undergo military training in the People's Republic of China. Mhlaba was a founding member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, and served as its commander for a brief period following the arrest of Nelson Mandela. Following a raid in July 1963 on the underground Party headquarters at Rivonia a number of the most outstanding revolutionary leaders, both Communists and non-Communists, were arrested and tried on charges of planning to overthrow the state by armed revolutionary struggle. Despite world-wide protests, including a 106-1 vote at the United Nations General Assembly, Mhlaba with 7 others (Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Arthur Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni) was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964.

He served his term in Robben Island and was a member of the ANC High Command in the Island. Many younger prisoners remember his as an educator and father figure. It was only in 1986, after repeated requests, that the apartheid regime allowed him to marry with his long-standing partner & comrade, Dideka Mhlaba. The wedding ceremony took place at the prison grounds.

Together with other Rivonia trialists, he was released from prison in October 1989. He was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in July 1991. He was elected the SACP Deputy National Chairperson at the Party's first legal congress inside the country since its unbanning, in December 1991. He became SACP National Chairperson from 1995 to 1998. He was elected first Premier of the Eastern Cape in 1994. He served as South Africa's High Commissioner in Uganda from 1997 until his retirement in 2001. Mhlaba was awarded the ANC's highest accolade, Isithwalande Seaparankoe, in 1992 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the struggle of the South African people. COSATU awarded him the Elijah Barayi Award at its 6th National Congress in 2000. At the time of his death, he was still a member of the SACP Central Committee.

In his life and personality, in his bravery, dignified manner, commitment, ability to speak his mind, his respect for the organisation & easy-going manner, Raymond Mhlaba embodied many of the values that characterise the generation of Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki, and others that he was part of. These values & example have made an indelible mark on our country. His personal contribution to all organisations in which he was active was characterised by these values. He was a true communist!


 * Hamba kahle qhawe lamaqhawe! Lala ngoxolo Ndobe!**

Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara) Head of the Office of the General Secretary South African Communist Party P.O. Box 1027, Johannesburg, 2000 3rd floor COSATU House, 1-5 Leyds Street, Braamfontein, 2017 Tel - 011 339 3621, Fax - 011 339 4244/6880 Cell - 083 651 0271 Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za (office), mazibuko@mail.ngo.za (alternate) Website - [|www.sacp.org.za]**
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=__Obituary from The Congress of South African Trade Unions__=

Raymond Mhlaba
The Congress of South African Trade Unions mourns the passing of Raymond Mhlaba. We dip our banners in honour of one of the greatest heroes of the South African trade union movement, Communist Party and national liberation struggle.

From his first job in a dry-cleaning factory in 1942 in Port Elizabeth, Oom Ray threw himself into the workers' movement, the Communist Party and the liberation struggle led by the ANC. He was the embodiment of the alliance which unites these three great movements. COSATU awarded him the Elijah Barayi Award at its 6th National Congress in 2000. Like all workers, he was humble yet courageous. Even when faced with a possible death sentence at Rivonia, his fighting spirit and humour was undimmed. He always stood firm for his beliefs and served the movement with loyalty and sacrifice. He was a great all-rounder, who tirelessly fought injustice at work and in the community but also never lost sight of his vision of a socialist future in which workers would finally be liberated from the oppressive system of capitalism. He was a perfect example for workers to follow and the best tribute workers can, and must, make is to swell the ranks of the ANC and SACP and build the trade union, just as he did throughout his life. We owe it to his memory to bring to fruition the causes to which he dedicated his life.

Congress of South African Trade Unions 1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets Braamfontein, 2017
 * Paul Notyhawa (Spokesperson)

P.O.Box 1019 Johannesburg, 2000 South Africa

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24 Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940 E-Mail: paul@cosatu.org.za**