African National Congress (ANC) veteran and former Umkhonto we Sizwe commander, Mbhazima Joel Sibiya, has been buried at his home village of Mahatlani outside Giyani in Limpopo.
He was given an official provincial funeral category two.
He was exiled in Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania.
He received military training in Mozambique, Angola and Germany. Sibiya died after a short illness at the One Military hospital in Pretoria.
Sibiya also served in Parliament as a member of the National Council of Provinces.
Family representative Ann Phiri says Sibiya married her sister in Zambia and the family learnt love and discipline from him.
“This man was a freedom fighter fighting for his people while he was in Zambia. He taught me and my family so many stories of how he travelled, how he moved from SA to Mozambique and some of his stories were frightening.”
Phiri adds: “He was not only fighting from home but he was fighting for his country from outside. Joel Sibiya was not a man just for South Africa, Joel Sibiya was an international man he was a legend.”
