Tribute to Steve Tshwete
(Taken from the leaflet for the official Memorial
Service of the late Minister for Safety and Security, Steven
Vukile Tshwete).
"A great patriot, a fearless freedom fighter, a
selfless servant of the people, a committed nation-builder has
fallen. Steve Tshwete, who committed his entire life to the
freedom that we celebrate, today is no more with us". -
President Thabo Mbeki.
Since Freedom Day tributes from the many diverse voices of the
land have joined the President in a chorus of respect and honour
to one of the greatest sons of this land.
Fate dictated that Steve Tshwete should depart on the eve of
the anniversary of Freedom Day, our new beginning. From this
symbolic coincidence, we draw solace from the conviction that his
departure is for him a new beginning.
Thangana was born in Springs in 1938. He spent his childhood in
the village of Peelton, and later in King William’s Town and
East London. He was the son of Vuyelwa Nolayiti and Brongher
Palamente Tshwete.
The treason trial of the 50's was a catalyst for his
consciousness. And when he left school he began working for the
ANC. He was sentenced in 1964 and served 15 years on Robben
Island.
Fellow prisoners on Robben Island speak of a person who could
look difficulty in the eye and sometimes make a hill of an issue
that they viewed as an insurmountable mountain. They speak of his
tremendous sense of humour that transformed the dreary moments of
jail life into years of inspiration and hope.
On his release from prison, he became one of the important
driving forces in the formation of the United Democratic Front and
in 1983 became the UDF’s President in the Border region.
In 1984 he was declared persona non grata and a prohibited
"immigrant" after constant harassment by the apartheid
security establishment. He then left South Africa the following
year and went into exile in Zambia. Steve worked briefly in
Lesotho and Zambia before his appoinment as army commissar for
Umkhonto weSizwe. On his return to South Africa in 1990 after the
unbanning of the ANC he became its National Organiser, responsible
for rebuilding the organisation’s structures, and later he also
acted as the coordinator on sports matters. This is also when ge
got his nickname of "Mr Fixit" for his interventions to
build non-racial sporting codes.
In 1994 he became the first Minister of Sport and Recreation in
the new democratic government. He paid undivided attention to
transformation, working in partnership with the leadership of the
fraternity.
President Thabo Mbeki appointed Tshwete as
Minister of Safety and Security in 1999.
A former Commissar of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Steve
Tshwete set out to raise the morale of the police by adopting a
hands-on approach and improving their capacity to deal with crime.
He emphasised in the implementation of his duties that
"interaction between police and Government was not merely a
morale booster but actually an active act in the recognition of a
police as respectful members of a changing South Africa".
Stressing discipline, he also called for greater unity in the
police while at the same time unleashing a massive anti-corruption
campaign. It is in this period that Visible Policing and visible
integrated work among Ministers in the Justice, Crime Prevention
and Security Cluster, as in other sectors of government, took
root.
His death on Friday, 26 April 2002, is a great
loss. But it is also an injunction for us to continue the service
that he has so selflessly rendered to his country.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and four
children, Lindela, Yonda, Mayihlome and Mandlakazi.
Hamba Kahle Thangana!
The struggle for a better life continues! back to top
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