‘Always at the forefront of the struggles of our people’: Shivambu honours Mphahlele at memorial

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) regional deputy secretary Moshe Mphahlele has been remembered as a loyal fighter and committed councillor to his community.

Mphahlele was shot in crossfire as security officers dispersed a crowd protesting over the occupation of flats in Bramley on Sunday.

His memorial service took place at the Sankopano Community Centre in Alexandra on Wednesday afternoon, where fighters, City of Johannesburg officials, and his family members, including Mphahlele’s fiancé and two children, gathered to pay their respects.

Mphahlele’s death the will of criminals

The party’s deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, delivered the keynote address, saying that Mphahlele’s death was not the will of God but the will of criminals who must be arrested.

He added that the EFF leadership has given the MMC of public safety, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, instructions to fire the security companies that are guarding those properties in Marlboro and called on the fighters to do everything to hold those who killed him accountable.

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“He has always played a very important role in the life of the EFF,” Shivambu said.

“It is not a myth, it is not untrue, that from the beginning of the EFF in 2013, Moshe Mphahlele was here in the EFF.”

The deputy president said Mphahlele did not join the EFF to further his political career or merely to look for a job; he came to be involved in activism and worked for the community.

Always been at the forefront of the struggles of our people’

Shivambu added that Mphahlele could not rest until the people of Gomora and all the sections of Alexandra lived in a decent area.

“He has always been at the forefront of the struggles of our people,” he said.

ALSO READ: EFF condemns killing of regional leader Moshe Mphahlele

Shivambu called for Mphahlele’s death to be the clarion call for real special transformation in Gauteng because “the end of apartheid was meant to bring to an end the special apartheid that is defining our society up to this date”.

Committed councillor

The Joburg speaker of council, Margaret Arnolds, said Mphahlele was always a straight shooter and backed his words with action.

“He was a committed councillor. As we see today from the people that are here, he was committed to his community. There was no doubt about that,” Arnolds said.

Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said: “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A person is a person through other persons). I stand here as a testament to that fact. I am because he was.”

Watch the livestream of Mphahlele’s memorial service here:

EFF DEPUTY PRESIDENT: FLOYD SHIVAMBU | MEMORIAL SERVICE (MOSHE MPHAHLELE | ALEXANDRA https://t.co/qqXZRuPDIM

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) August 7, 2024