Nakasa ‘no longer a native of nowhere’

Nat Nakasa was finally laid to rest at Heroes Acre, Chesterville. Photo: SANDILE MAKHOBA

Nat Nakasa was finally laid to rest at Heroes Acre, Chesterville. Photo: SANDILE MAKHOBA

Published Sep 14, 2014

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Durban - A “Native of Nowhere” is now back home, resting among his people. Fifty years after his death in New York, anti-apartheid journalist Nat Ndazana Nakasa has found his final resting place, in the area he grew up in, buried alongside renowned Struggle heroes.

Nakasa’s remains were buried at Heroes Acre in Chesterville after a moving memorial service at the Durban City Hall on Saturday.

Nakasa took up a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1964. The government refused to give him a passport, so he left with an exit permit, meaning he could not return to South Africa.

He wrote for Drum magazine, the Golden City Post and the Rand Daily Mail.

A year after he left, he died after allegedly jumping from a high-rise building in New York City, and was buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery.

There were no tears among those who gathered to celebrate his life and his passion to see an equal society. Instead, a jovial, triumphant atmosphere prevailed as attendees at the ceremony celebrated his life through words and song.

The city hall was filled to capacity. Among the crowd was Nakasa’s only living sibling, Gladys Nakasa-Maphumulo, his extended family and a number of politicians, including Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, deputy mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, MEC for Health Sibongoseni Dhlomo, MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works Ravi Pillay, and US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Dr S Masondo said Nakasa was a special gift given to them by God.

“He was a good man who always saw the good of others.”

He said when he graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1993 with Miriam Makeba, he had an interesting talk with her.

“When I went to speak to her after the ceremony, she told me she was with Nat on the eve of his death. He was in her flat, along with Hugh Masekela, interviewing her for her autobiography that he was writing for her.

“During the course of the interview, a call came in and Nat left soon after. The next morning, he lay splayed on a pavement in the street of New York near Central Park.”

Masondo said when the family went to repatriate his body, they insisted on visiting the site of his death. “As we stood on that street corner, something deep in my soul was settled.”

 

Mathatha Tsedu from the SA National Editors’ Forum said that Saturday was a good day to be an African.

“There is a physical manifestation of our humanity – the spirit of ubuntu in bringing him home,” Tshedu said.

 

Family friend Don Mkhwanazi said Nakasa refused to be silenced by apartheid, choosing instead to speak his mind boldly and freely.

 

Premier Senzo Mchunu said he was inspired by the overwhelming support given to the family.

 

Mthethwa said the Nakasas and the nation had closed a painful chapter in its history.

 

He added: “We salute you, Nat Nakasa, and we are proud to say you have returned to your ancestral land.

“You are no longer a native of nowhere, but a true son of Africa.”

Sunday Tribune

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