"On behalf of our Chairman, Board and Staff we offer our deepest condolences to the family, comrades and friends of Shirish Nanabhai," said Sello Hatang, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
He joined Umkhonto weSizwe in 1962 and just five months later was arrested for sabotage. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and spent most of his imprisonment on Robben Island. He was released from prison in 1973 and placed under house arrest until 1978.
The passing of Nanabhai comes within months of the death of his comrades Reggie Vandeyar and Indres Naidoo with whom he was arrested and jailed. Their passing and that of former Pan Africanist Congress President Mlamli Clarence Makwetu represent the loss of a treasured generation of leaders.
These South Africans who sacrificed their own freedom and family life so that all could one day live in a democracy, should be remembered in our actions going forward.
Let us honour them by emulating their dedication to the constitutional democracy they helped to bring about and to nurture.
As Nelson Mandela said in his last State of the Nation Address: “The foundation has been laid – the building is in progress. With a new generation of leaders and a people that rolls up its sleeves in partnerships for change, we can and shall build the country of our dreams!”
ENDS