Johannesburg -
The Moses Kotane Foundation, in its vision and programmes, was a fitting tribute to the man, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Wednesday evening.
He was speaking at the launch of the Moses Mauane Kotane Foundation at the Liliesleaf Museum in Johannesburg.
“It is a fitting contribution to those who lost their lives and limbs in the struggle against apartheid, to a South African community of orphans, and also to the widows and mothers who have lost their own in this struggle.”
Motlanthe was a patron of the foundation along with Kotane's 100-year-old widow Rebecca. Reverend Frank Chikane and Brigalia Bam were announced as board members.
Kotane, born in 1905, was the longest serving general secretary of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), which later became the SA Communist Party.
He was also a prominent figure in the African National Congress for many years. He left South Africa for Tanzania in 1963 where he became the treasurer general for the ANC in exile.
The foundation was established late in 2011. It aimed to contribute to social transformation especially in rural and poor mining communities.
The focus of the foundations' interventions would be on health, poverty alleviation, rural development, skills development and job creation.
Motlanthe said the foundation and the memory of Kotane and his wife would serve as an abiding reminder for young people and future generations of the ideas that he and his generation fought for.
“Few would disagree that if only half of us in the ANC and society could make the ideas for which Moses Kotane lived his entire adult life a way of life, our efforts at bringing about a united, non-racial, non-sexist, just and prosperous society could be realised within the wink of an eye.”
He said that among Kotane's greatest contributions and legacies to the ANC and country was that he valued education highly.
“As we have said before Moses Kotane was the embodiment of the remarkable spirit and history of the dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship between the SACP and the ANC.”
Motlanthe said that today education was no different and should be used to tackle the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. - Sapa