ANC says Angola repatriation programme honours fallen liberation fighters

By Simon Nare

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says liberation fighters who died in exile did not sacrifice their lives in vain, describing the repatriation of their remains from Angola as a vital step in honouring their contribution to South Africa’s democracy.

Briefing the media on the Angola Repatriation Programme in Pretoria on Friday, Mbalula told the families of fallen freedom fighters that the blood of their loved ones had “nourished the tree that bore the fruits of our freedom”.

“It is right, on an occasion such as this, to ask the hard question: Did our combatants die in vain in foreign lands far from home? We answer, without hesitation, that they did not,” Mbalula said.

“South Africa today is a constitutional democracy built on the Freedom Charter’s promise that the country belongs to all who live in it.”

Mbalula said the repatriation programme was aimed at returning the mortal remains