Nomabali Mapela whose father, Dr Norman Ngcipe was among people killed at the Maseru Massacre 37 years ago. Picture: Supplied.
In an act that shook the United Nations (UN), 30 South African exiles and 12 Lesotho nationals were wiped out by a volley of bullets from SADF commandos under the guise of “fighting terrorism”.
Those killed during the SADF cross-border raid – an attack described by then Lesotho foreign minister Charles Molapo as a “dastardly, cowardly and barbaric act” – included women and children.
But little did six-year-old Mapela, who lived with her grandmother in the Eastern Cape town of Somerset East, realise that his father – Dr Norman Norman Bantwini “Totose” Ngcipe, a South African medical doctor who served as African National Congress (ANC) underground operative – was among those killed.
Dr Norman Ngcipe, who was among those who died at the Maseru Massacre. Picture: Supplied
As yesterday marked the 37th anniversary of the Maseru Massacre, to Mapela, memories of her father invoke loss and courage.
Mapela: “My father sacrificed his life for the liberation of the poor masses. This day reminds us of the many unsung and forgotten heroes of the liberation struggle.
“It reminds us how selflessness has helped this country move from the brutal apartheid to democracy. My dad could have chosen to start his own practice and not been involved in the fight for liberation, as it was not safe at the time.
“He was a selfless, peace-loving and humble soul. Life would have definitely been different for me in terms of the opportunities I would have had, having a father who is a medical doctor.
“I have definitely learnt that living goes beyond just the self. My father could have decided to focus on his medical career but he chose to fight for the liberation of his people.
“He may be dead but his life lessons continue to give hope to the youth of Somerset East.”
In his father’s honour and legacy, Mapela has launched the Dr NB Ngcipe Foundation.
According to Mapela, the non-profit body “is dedicated to driving positive change in the lives of South Africa’s youth through educational programmes”.
“It is my hope and dream that our programmes will one day produce doctors, engineers, artisans and community leaders with moral values and integrity,” said Mapela.
The grave of Dr Norman Ngcipe in Somerset East.
She added: “Driven by his love of the underprivileged masses and selflessness, the foundation seeks to empower the Blue Crane Route Municipality’s youth, so that they can flourish, succeed and break the cycle of poverty in which many South African communities are trapped.
“In our view, the best way to achieve this is through educating our youth.
“The foundation aims to drive positive change by providing quality formal and informal education; knowledge and skills needed to become active and contributing members of the broader South African community and economy.”
Given a heroes’ funeral in Somerset East after his remains were exhumed in Maseru and returned home, Ngcipe was reburied in South Africa in May 1999.
In a ceremony described by the family as part of “a healing process”, 2000 people who included ANC leaders and medical colleagues attended the reburial.
Suspecting that he was shot at close range, they have appealed to government to reopen an investigation into the massacre in Maseru.
Ngcipe was born on 10 of November 1955 in Somerset East.
He completed a bachelor of medicine and surgery degree in 1981 at the University of Natal in Wentworth.
He commenced his internship at Edendale hospital, Pietermaritzburg, in 1982.
While a medical student, he joined many in the work of being an underground ANC operative.
In a moving speech, former ANC president Oliver Tambo, said during the mass funeral in Maseru: “They have tortured children, men and women.
“They have sent them to jail, sentenced them to death, imprisoned them for life and yet they have found it necessary, unavoidable, that they should come to Maseru because torture, imprisonment, persecutions, killings have not changed the growth, the offensive, the determination of the people and the fact that they face defeat.”
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