Ntando Makhubu
PRETORIA: Rebecca Kotane sat small and resolute in her wheelchair in the front row of the hangar at Waterkloof Airforce Base yesterday morning, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and family as she listened to tributes to her late husband Moses, whose remains had arrived from Russia 36 years after he had died there.
The 103-year-old widow listened as President Jacob Zuma spoke of the role her husband had played in the formation of international mechanisms to fight oppression in South Africa and how he, together with political activist John “JB” Marks, had helped to mould other heroes and produce Struggle leaders like Nelson Mandela.
Zuma said: “They played a fundamental role and shaped the political thinking of many cadres and leaders of the Struggle and the alliance. They also shaped the thinking of policies and the revolution, and Mandela is a product of these two.”
At the base yesterday were cabinet ministers, ambassadors and others from the diplomatic corps, supporters and a large number of SACP members, a body that the two had once been leaders of.
Kotane and her three surviving children joined the Marks family to receive the remains of the men who died and were buried in Moscow in what was then the USSR.
Marks died in 1972, aged 69, after a year-long illness, and Kotane died in 1978 while undergoing treatment for a stroke. He was 73.
Their bodies were repatriated from Russia after intense discussions with both families and the Russian government.
Kotane’s son Sam said his mother had initially not wanted his remains to be brought back because her husband had told her he wanted to be buried in the land where he died.
It had taken many discussions to convince her that bringing him home was right, he said, adding that when his mother and the rest of the family received the remains in a tent at the base yesterday morning, it had been an emotional moment.
Zuma paid tribute to the Russian government for its treatment of both men as well as its hand in fighting oppression in South Africa.
The two men were buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery, which Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said was reserved for high-profile people.
Zuma thanked both families for being part of the process of repatriating the remains of heroes who had died outside the country.
“We say to our heroes, you are welcome home. You will now rest in peace in the land of your forefathers,” he said.
Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said they would be given state funerals in their respective home towns in the North West, Kotane in Pella on March 14 and Marks in Ventersdorp on March 22.