Tracey Adams

Theo Mabusela

Leila Samodien

Justice Writer

SCORES of young Struggle veterans – many of whom dropped out of high school to take up arms – have now resorted to lives of crime, or are languishing in jail.

This is according to former PAC regional leader in the Western Cape, Theo Mabusela, who said that after democracy was attained, these men were left without an education or any skills besides military training.

Among them is Gcinikhaya Makoma, a former Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) cadre.

Makoma was granted amnesty for his role in the infamous 1993 St James Church Massacre in Kenilworth.

He was 17 at the time of the attack, and just 14 when he joined Apla.

“These boys were taken from school and at the time, the ANC’s slogan was ‘struggle today, education tomorrow’,” said Mabusela.

“They were promised free education so that they could become responsible citizens of society, but this never materialised. Instead, most of them are sitting in taverns, committing crimes for money or languishing in jail because they have nothing to do.”

In addition, they still possessed military skills and knew how to carry out guerrilla attacks.

Kebby Maphatsoe, chairman of the MK Military Veterans Association, shared the sentiment that many Struggle veterans had resorted to crime to make ends meet.

He said that many comrades, when they returned from exile, battled to reintegrate into society and that there was no proper plan in place to help them to do so.

“Some came home to find that their families had died. They had no source of income, which resulted in some of our comrades resorting to crime, and that is unfortunate,” said Maphatsoe.

The association, he said, understood the frustrations of military veterans.

“If you leave soldiers to idle, those are the repercussions. Had there been proper programmes or plans in place, we would all be fully integrated by now.”

Maphatsoe said he hoped that the recently promulgated Military Veterans Act would bring about some changes.

According to Mabusela, who was in charge of the PAC’s armed operations in the Western Cape at the time of the St James Church Massacre, some Struggle veterans were given more recognition than others, and as a result, were afforded more opportunities post-1994.

“Gcinikhaya Makoma and others were never taken seriously. Not all the fighting forces got to see the gates of prison, but they played an important role in their contribution to the Struggle,” he said.

While Mabusela did not want to go into detail about the attack on the church almost two decades ago, saying it was a “closed chapter”, he defended the attack as a “well-orchestrated, swift operation” that had been given the nod by the highest structures in the PAC.

“It (the church) was a legitimate target because of the theological system behind it … Apartheid was there also because there were some theologians who provided justification for oppression of Africans,” he said.

Makoma, he believed, was an intelligent person and a good resource that would now be lost to prison confinement.

“Gcinikhaya Makoma is not a killer to me; he is an unsung hero,” said Mabusela.

leila.samodien@inl.co.za