The Eastern Cape has commemorated its provincial Human Rights Day in honour of human rights activists, Griffiths and Nonyamezelo Victoria Mxenge.
The two were executed by the apartheid security agents for their struggle activism during the 1980s. Griffiths who was a human rights lawyer was brutally murdered in 1981 while his nurse wife was murdered in 1985, both in Durban.
Acting Premier Mlibo Qhoboshiyane has applauded their contribution, adding that the government needs to do more to honour these giants.
“We’ve got an obligation as the African National Congress (ANC) government to improve infrastructure, schools, clinics, hospitals and so on and I think that’s the commitment this government must ensure. The incident of Mbizana where a five-year-old just sank in a toilet is something that still indicates that there’s still a lot to be done in the province of the Eastern Cape. But we are committed to ensure that those things improve everyday.”
Speaking for the Mxenge family, Advocate Bulelani Ngcuka says the Mxenge’s did not die in vain.
“These are the trailblazers, people who fought for us to say today we are living in conditions of justice and freedom which we didn’t have. Whatever challenges we might be having today, they are nothing compared to where we come from,” says Ngcuka.
