Friends, family pay tribute to SA’s ambassador to Algeria Billy Masetlha

A man of courage and character, who was an extraordinary human being.

That is how family, friends and colleagues have described South Africa’s late ambassador to Algeria, Billy Masetlha, during his funeral service on Saturday at Bryanston Methodist Church in Johannesburg.

Masetlha, who has served government in various capacities including as the director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), passed away last Sunday after a long illness. He was 68 years old.

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The anti-apartheid struggle veteran will be laid to rest after a special provincial official funeral on Saturday morning. President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the national flag to fly at half-mast in Gauteng today.

Billy Masetlha’s funeral service

The funeral service was attended by several ANC politicians including former president Kgalema Motlanthe, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, former Cabinet minister Lindiwe Sisulu and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

Sisulu, a longtime friend of Masetlha, paid tribute to him. She said the ANC veteran “went through a lot of pain” and sacrificed a lot for the country’s democracy, often at great personal cost.

“Billy you’re the greatest, the greatest friend, you were the greatest revolutionary of our time, our age, and an extraordinary human being,” said Sisulu.

“He had a huge heart, huge enough for all of us and he had his hearty laughter that whatever he was laughing at – whether you understood it or not – you would join in because he was so infectious.”

‘Genuine servant of the people’

Mbalula described Masetlha as a selfless and “genuine servant of the people”.

“We have come here to bid this great titan of our liberation struggle farewell. We have not come here to cover the grave of comrade Billy, but we have come to salute him for what he was – a genuine servant of the people and a frontline fighter and revolutionary,” he said.

Masetlha was a “great dreamer who forged a new reality” for South Africa’s constitutional democracy, Mbalula added.

“Comrade Billy’s untimely death marks a life seized and a service ended.”

Masetlha was born on 21 November 1954 in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg.

The former freedom fighter was a founding member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and played a role in the formation of the Azanian Student’s Organisation (AZASO).

Masetlha was also a member of Umkhonto weSizwe and was previously exiled to Botswana and Zambia. While in exile he dedicated most of his efforts to the youth and student struggles against the apartheid regime.

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