ANC members bid farewell to fellow comrade

Members of the ANC came together to pay last respects to their late comrade, Billy Masetlha (68) in a memorial service on May 25.

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The memorial which was held at Uncle Toms Hall saw various members of the ANC together with the family of Masetlha and other residents honouring his life through songs and speaking found of the memories they created over the years with the former National Intelligence Agency director-general.

Masetlha was remembered for his love and passion of the anti-apartheid movement and the contribution he made in the liberation movement through establishing Cosas and participating in student activism.

0Late comrade Billy Masetlha will be remembered as an active member of the ANC as well as his love and passion for the struggle.After getting military training, he served as a member of uMkhonto we Sizwe, SACP, and South Africa’s ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.

First deputy secretary-general of the ANC, Nomvula Mokonyane said Masetlha has been a rock to the ANC as he was born into the struggle and he was a comforter to a lot of young people.

She said in the end they will remember him for the great knowledge he left to members of the ANC, especially young people.

“We are proud to call him one of ours because he has worked to stand up for our people. Even when times were hard giving up was not never an option to him.

“He was one of those who assisted in calling out the violence that was previously in Soweto and the surrounding areas working with comrades to investigate the issue behind the violence,” Mokonyane said.

She added that the investigations that he was a part of yielded positive results and his engagement in making communities understand the type of battles they were facing and ways to overcome them will be dearly missed.

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“He is one of those who used his capabilities to expose the chaos which was labelled as the ‘black-on-black violence’ and that it was never violence between the IFP and the ANC but it was violence caused the apartheid regime. We need such people even now, to help us fight crime, GBV and expose what we are going through as a nation in these high levels of criminality.”

She urged communities to remember Masetlha by fighting crime and exposing those who are part of corruption in the organisation itself.

“Regardless of all the challenges he faced during his time serving the ANC, he also put the organisation as his home, we therefor need to renew ourselves and be humble members of the ANC like he was.”

Although their light has been shattered by his passing, his family remember him as an education driven individual who spent most of his time studying and reading.

His niece, Thato Magashe said, “We would like to remember him in a way that is befitting someone who fought for the freedom that we enjoy as young people today.

“As we get closer to Youth Month we would like him to be remembered in a way that encourages young people to ensure that his legacy and those of his fellow late comrades lives on.”

She added that he was a lover of knowledge who loved reading and using resources around him to broaden his understating of various topics.

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“This shows us that there is nothing that stops us as young people from studying further and accessing various facilities such as libraries.

“That is the way he would want to remembered because he pushed us as his family to do more and use the benefits that comes with this freedom since it was fought hard for and for that he will be forever remembered.”

Masetlha passed away on May 14 after battling a long illness and was laid to rest in a funeral service held at Bryaston Methodist Church on May 20.