Ramaphosa leads wreath-laying ceremony for Moses Kotane on ANC's 114th anniversary

The ANC marked its 114th anniversary with a wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of late anti-apartheid activist Moses Kotane on Thursday.

Kotane died in Russia in 1978, but his remains were returned to his hometown in the North West in 2015.

He served as general secretary of the South African Communist Party and treasurer general of the ANC while in exile.

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the former freedom fighter’s resting place in Pella.

“Moses Kotane, as a leader of our movement, never sought the glamour of politics nor the rewards of personal ambition. Having been born in this village, he left when he was 17 and unfortunately died in exile in a foreign land,” he said.

Ramaphosa added that Kotane had longed to see an apartheid-free South Africa.

“We will forever regret that he never saw a free South Africa, but we know that in spirit, he has seen the South Africa he struggled to achieve. When he was finally laid to rest here after decades, it was not merely the return of a revolutionary; it was the return of a national conscience,” he said.