Cape Town – Struggle stalwart Denis Goldberg says he is grateful to have been bestowed the Isithwalandwe Award, the ANC’s highest honour for his contribution to the liberation Struggle.
“I’m grateful that we’ve returned
to the values of the ANC and our
struggle for freedom that I went through with my colleagues, like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba and all the others,” the Rivonia Treason Trialist told the Cape Times.
He was announced as a recipient of the award by ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s manifesto launch in Durban at the weekend.
Other recipients include anti-apartheid icon Sophia de Bruyn, and late party stalwarts Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Ahmed Timol, Albertina Sisulu and ANC Women’s League founder Charlotte Maxeke.
They were hailed for their outstanding contribution and sacrifice to the Struggle.
“If you look at the names (of the award recipients) there are men, women, Africans, coloured, Indians and white people on the list.
"It reflects the attitude of the ANC, going back to the Freedom Charter and the Youth League of 1943,” said the 82-year-old.
He said he had not seen the citation and believed that the award was because of the Rivonia Trial.
Goldberg still spearheads social upliftment projects in Hout Bay - where he lives - and elsewhere, despite suffering from cancer.
Goldberg said he had been involved in the ANC and the SACP since he was a young boy, and everything that had happened was connected to his belief that South Africa belonged to all who live in it, black and white.
“It has to be a country for all our people,” he said.
@CapeTimesSA