Military veterans: ANC fails to care for its own

While the ANC and the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party continue to squabble over who has the rights to the MK name, it has been revealed that those who had been part of the MK military wing during apartheid are not being taken care of by their very own party.

During the commemoration in Boksburg which marked 31 years since the death of South African Communist Party (SACP) leader and struggle icon Chris Hani, SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila revealed quite shocking information that the former combatants of the MK were not being looked after.

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According to Mapaila, when ANC members at that time joined the MK as soldiers, the members took an oath under military instruction and had to renounce all affiliations to the ANC, despite the ANC being the mother body.

Mapaila indicated this decision meant that if there was an ANC underground responsible for that particular MK soldier/member’s work, that task would have changed because “your political authority was now under uMkhonto weSizwe, which accounts politically to the ANC”.

Perhaps they did this because they wanted to instil order and probably to also have separation of powers.

Loyal to the ANC

Mapaila further went on to point out that all members of MK would never attack the ANC and that they took a “life and death oath to be under political control, not just leadership but political control of the African National Congress and to be under command and control of uMkhonto weSizwe”.

The organisation was formally disbanded in a ceremony at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on 16 December, 1993.

This was preceded by the suspension of the armed struggle during the negotiations to end apartheid.

But Mapaila also said most cadres now from the “special force does not fully enjoy freedom” as many of them are not working and were struggling to make ends meet because of the many compromises that were made.

It was worrying to find out, basically, that those who are still alive today who worked hard for this movement and laid down their lives for this party and country, are today struggling, have no jobs and are basically destitute. I fail to understand this.

I saw some of these members at the event and I was really touched.

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Mapaila said there is no other MK that is not under the ANC. So that statement poses the question: why does the ANC not take care of their own?

These were people who helped and devoted their lives to the ANC and the party should be taking care of them.

And while I mention this, I will not put aside the rest of the ordinary citizens like our mothers and fathers who voted for the ANC for so many years, yet the party still struggles to come through for them.

It is also quite uncomfortable that this is only coming out now ahead of the 29 May general election.

This is something that had been neglected. It should have been sorted out a long time ago and not brought forward during the election season.

This all goes to show that the ANC should do better. The struggle for liberation came with a lot of sacrifices and compromises.

Many fought for this freedom and what the current government in its entirety should be doing is to take care of its citizens.

It should be helping those who fought for the country and endured a lot of suffering.

It says it cares and will put the interests of the country’s citizens first, but how will they do that when they simply fail to fully take care of their own?