The remains of former-uMkhonto weSizwe combatant and trade unionist Vuyisile Mini have been reburied at his ancestral village of Mhlahlane, outside Tsomo, Eastern Cape.
Mini was sentenced to death and executed by the apartheid regime at Pretoria Central Prison in 1964. He was buried in a pauper’s grave at Rebecca street cemetery.
Vuyisile Mini reburied at his home village of Mhlahlane:
Mini was a unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer and one of the first African National Congress (ANC) members to be executed by the apartheid state.
The former liberation struggle icon was at the forefront of the fight against white minority rule and discrimination.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says: “This was a great man, a trade unionist as you have said but a member of the African National Congress and a member of uMkhonto Wesizwe.”
“You can be one of the greatest unionists but also become an ordinary card-carrying member of the African National Congress but also a soldier of uMkhonto Wesizwe.”
The death sentence passed on the three struggle stalwarts Vuyisile Mini, Wilson Khayingo and Zinakile Mkaba sparked an international outcry. They were hanged at Pretoria Central Prison in 1964.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola says, “He was a fearless freedom fighter who stood his ground even on the face of adversity, the face of death. He inspired those that he was with in the gallows and even before the process of the gallows. He inspired the people of Port Elizabeth through various campaigns, the defiance campaign and many campaigns of the then liberation struggle. he never was shaken at any moment. He remained steadfast as they were going into the gallows and going through processes.”
Repatriation of his remains has brought closure to his family.
Vuyisile Mini’s son, Xolile Mini says, “I would like my father to be remembered by creating opportunities, school opportunities, opportunities of job creation in this vicinity where he was born. For instance, here we don’t have a school. Our school is built like those things are cardboards I would say. We’d like to have a hospital here at Tsomo. We don’t even have a clinic here. We have a mobile clinics that would come sometimes without pills without anything. We want that to change.”
The Eastern Cape government says more developmental programmes will be rolled out to honour this ex-MK combatant.
EC Premier Oscar Mabuyane says, “We’re doing programmes here – a thousand housing units for the people of this area. There’s just a lot of work that’s being done. We’re also on the agriculture, trying to help cooperatives in this part as well as the entrepreneurs. I met some young people here in the areas where I was yesterday to ensure that we support them we assist them. agriculture is what drives people’s lives in this part of our province.”
Many politicians and academics want the role played by the ex- MK combatants in the liberation struggle to be penned down for future generations.
Remains of ex-MK combatant Vuyile Mini reburied at his ancestral village:
