ANC stalwart Joe Mathebula is not forgetting where we come from

ANC stalwart and businessman Joe Mathebula yesterday wrote this on his X account, formerly Twitter:”As we reflect: As part of my personal journey, last Tuesday, I went to salute and pay tribute to the Heroes of Matola Raid. We continue to struggle against forgetting. Our freedom was never free.” Mathebula went to Mozambique because he has not forgotten the Matola raid that took place on the night of January 30 1981 when members of the South African Defence Force of the apartheid government raided the safe houses of ANC members who were in exile in Mozambique and killed no less than 16 people who included Mozambican citizens. There were also casualties from the apartheid government’s side but the number of casualties was not disclosed. In the year 2015, the Matola Memorial and Interpretative Centre was iunveiled in honour of those who lost their lives. It is the place Mathebula and his wife Tebogo visited to remember the dead comrades.

In a similar fashion, the apartheid regime conducted similar night trips into Gaborone in Lesotho and as well as Maseru in Lesotho killing both ANC members and local residents. The apartheid government called it a pre-emptive strike, meaning “attack them before they attack you.” Mathebula told The Village Voice: “Last Tuesday, I took a personal journey as part of the reflection on the history of our struggle and the ultimate sacrifice by people of our country and the entire region.” “It is easy to forget that lives were lost, sacrifices were made, blood shed by South Africans and the people of Mozambique, Botswana and Lesotho in the hands of the brutal apartheid regime.

The Matola, Gaborone and Maseru raids by the South African apartheid regime forces will remain an indelible scar in the history of our country and Southern African people,” he added. Mathebula was in Mozambique on September 11-15. On his way back, he also stopped at Mbuzini, the place where freedom fighter turned president Samora Machel died in a plane crash in 1986. A statue of Machel has been erected in Mbuzini. Mathebula said he stopped at Mbuzini to pay tribute to his fallen hero Samora Machel.
“Thsi is part of our struggle not to forget our history. We must not forget where we come from,” he said.