Another veteran of the land and property rights struggles in Alexandra has fallen.
Moeketsi Godfrey Koalepe, affectionately known in Alexandra as Keke, was born on 1 December 1936 in Kroonstad and came to Alexandra at an early age where he started his schooling at Amalgamated School.
He proceeded to Kilnerton High and also to St Peters in Rosettenville, where he was taught by the late and former president of the African National Congress, Oliver Reginald Tambo.
As a youngster in the 1950s, Koalepe was an activist distributing The New Age, an ANC bulletin; and was also involved in the famous 1956 Alexandra Bus Boycott, popularly known as Azikhwelwa, meaning no bus rides.
Besides his political activism, Keke was also a sports fanatic who participated in boxing and also became a renowned tennis player who was recruited at an early age in the 60s by the ANC.
Keke often reported as a freelance journalist, and in the mid-70s became a member of the Save Alexandra Campaign at the height of the Alexandra land expropriations.
Keke became the chairperson of Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association (Alpoa) in the late 1980s, and also assisted people displaced by the ANC-IFP war of the 90s to find refuge and accommodation at various centres and unused schools and churches, including the Old Council Building and the Old Health Committee Building, which today houses the offices of Alpoa.
Keke was a highly regarded and outspoken member of the Alexandra Peace Committee, strengthening its structure and initiatives, and in 1992-5 he was the Alpoa delegate at the Northern Joint Negotiating Forum deliberations; as well as being the Alpoa representative for the Central Witwatersrand Metropolitan Chamber which ushered in the Interim Local Government Structures in 1995-6.
He was also instrumental in the development of Far Eastbank in 1994-5 and River Park in the late 1990s. Keke was the core leader who propelled the return of Alpoa to the historic Old Health Committee Building, which is today a national heritage site, and a place where he spent his last years and strength.
Keke was also a devoted member of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and served in different leadership capacities
alongside other departed leaders like Rev Dr Sam Buti and Dr Beyers Naude, and was also a founding member of the local Christian Men’s Ministry.
Elder Koalepe lived the faith he preached and taught. He loved God, he loved people, and he was humble, caring, compassionate, and always an encouragement to others. He was a counsellor, a mentor, and a truly phenomenal human being.
