Alex’s former MK freedom fighter and SANDF soldier and Air Force pilot buried

The former uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) fighter and retired SANDF soldier from Alexandra, Thabo Mohlala, who was best known by his MK name Klass Masemola, was buried at West Park cemetery on January 21.

Mohlala (67) was born in Alexandra and startOne of the Alexandra leaders of the June 16 Student Uprisings in 1976 and a former MK freedom fighter and SANDF soldier and Air Force pilot Thabo Mohlala has been laid to rest.ed school at Emfundisweni Lower Primary as it was then known and then went to Pholosho for higher primary. He later attended Alexandra Secondary School before going to Soweto’s Morrison Isaacson High School.

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He was like all other learners affected by the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and as a result, he joined the South African Students Movement (SASM) with the leader of the Soweto student uprising Tsietsi Mashinini as they were at the same high school.
In his home township, Alexandra, Mohlala was recruited into the ANC underground cells, working with the likes of comrades Bafana Sithole and the late Toto Skhosana.

He joined the June 16th Student Uprising while he was at school in Soweto and on June 18, participated in the organising of a march in Alexandra in support of the student uprising in Soweto.

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Later, when the heat was on, he skipped the country and went into exile as police were searching for him and the other comrades he was involved with. With his youth years taken away, Mohlala, who loved playing soccer, reading and debating, took up the responsibility of fighting to end the rule of the oppressive regime.
While in exile, he continued to learn and completed his studies with ANC guidance and the international support the movement received. After completing his education, he joined MK for military training, ending up as a pilot fighter.

After the unbanning of ANC, Mohlala was integrated into the SANDF as a member of the air force. He rose in the ranks as a trained liberation soldier and became a commander in the army and a senior officer in the air force.

He was married to Queen who is late and was with her in exile. At the time of his death, Mohlala had retired from the army and was living in Fleurhof.
Mohlala continued his association with Alexandra, attending weddings, and funerals and visiting his family and comrades. The last time he was seen in Alex was at the memorial service of the late Ntate Bishop Abraham Matome late last year.

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