ANC VL's Msimang recalls personal relationships with freedom fighters whose remains have been repatriated

JOHANNESBURG – African National Congress (ANC) Veterans League member Mavuso Msimang says he had personal relationships with many freedom fighters whose remains have been repatriated.

This as families of former freedom fighters whose remains have been repatriated gathered at Freedom Park in Pretoria, to honour their legacies.

This is where the government was holding a homecoming ceremony on Friday, for the 49 liberation heroes who died in exile in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga received their remains at the Waterkloof Airforce base on Wednesday.

It had been more than 30 years since the 49 former liberation heroes lost their lives in Zambia and Zimbabwe, where they sought refuge during the peak of the apartheid era.

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Msimang applauded the government for honouring their legacies.

“Symbolically, today [Friday] is a very important day. One must thank the government absolutely. It’s taken long but it reminds us of the yester years,” he told Eyewitness News.

Fox Bogosheng, whose brother was exiled in Zambia, said he’d been trying to get his remains repatriated since 1993.

“It makes us happy because the government did a lot in terms of taking us to Zambia where everything happened.”

Government officials, former freedom fighters and political parties also availed themselves for Friday’s prestigious ceremony.