Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi will preside over a solemn and historic handover and reburial ceremony on Saturday, marking a pivotal moment in South Africa’s ongoing journey toward justice and reconciliation.
The handover will take place at the Orlando Community Hall in Soweto.
This comes decades after the activists were executed on death row for offences now widely acknowledged as politically motivated.
The event will see the exhumed remains of ANC political activists Benjamin Malesella Moloise and Abram Zakhele Mngomezulu formally returned to their families, following decades of state-sanctioned denial and erasure.
Between 1960 and 1990, the apartheid state executed at least 130 individuals for politically motivated offences.
Many of them, including Moloise and Mngomezulu, were buried without their families’ knowledge or consent in paupers’ graves around Tshwane. These actions were part of a broader policy to suppress dissent and deny dignity to those who opposed the regime.
According to the spokesperson to the Minister, Terrence Manase, Benjamin Moloise was convicted in 1983 and executed two years later for the assassination of a security policeman. However, he consistently denied involvement and claimed his confession was made under duress.
The ANC maintained his innocence throughout.
Abram Mngomezulu was executed in 1989 following his conviction for the 1987 murder of Mandla Khoza during a rent boycott protest in Soweto. While four co-accused, all teenagers, received prison terms, Mngomezulu was sentenced to death.
In a statement ahead of the ceremony, Manase said: “This significant event, the handover and reburial of activists Benjamin Malesella Moloise and Abram Zakhele Mngomezulu, marks an important milestone in South Africa’s ongoing journey towards healing, justice, and reconciliation.”
“The Department, on behalf of the State, remains firmly committed to advancing justice, fostering national healing, and preserving the dignity of those who paid the highest price in the fight against apartheid,” Manase said.
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