By Khaye Nkwanyana
As the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we have again learnt with much shock, the saddening news of the sudden passing of the former KZN member of the Provincial Legislature and the current chairperson of the Chief Albert Luthuli Museum, Mr Important Samson Mkhize, also affectionately known as Castro. Mkhize passed away on Sunday, in Durban.
It can only be out of a paradox that Important Mkhize, the veteran of the retail sector shop floor trade unionism, a former leader of South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) during apartheid era, died four days after the death of another veteran in the retailer – the founder of Pick n Pay, Raymond Ackerman – the employer that Mkhize negotiated against for workers wage increases.
Mkhize left Saccawu as its KZN Provincial Secretary around 1994, having been its Central Executive Member and a sector negotiator. Because of Saccawu leadership which is an affiliate of Cosatu, he was automatically a provincial executive member of the Cosatu federation.
When he left trade unionism after 1994, he focused his attention to something that he loved so much – workplace skills training. He worked with many former trade union education and training officials whom he had recruited as new technical cadres to work as training consultants for different companies, providing tailor made skills training for employees. This is what defined much of him in the post-apartheid life.
Important Mkhize was deeply involved in the UDF political activities in Durban and then ANC in the early 1990s. Towards 1994 elections, at the peak of elections campaign, Mkhize was staying in KwaMashu in a small section adjacent to the Thembalihle Hostel called Isulabasha. One day, while driving back home after electioneering assignment, a group of IFP hostel dwellers accosted his car and tried to burn him inside car, he fortunately had a narrow escape and survived, but not his car.
This was a volatile period when IFP was renouncing participation in the first national elections, putting forward what was called the demands for the Zulu monarchy as a condition for participation. One day in 2006, Mkhize took me to the spot where he survived that killing in early 1994. I could read the emotions in his face when he was retelling the story, and a generation of some flashbacks.
In the late 1990s he was part of the leaders that helped to rebuild the SACP in KZN after the 1998 provincial congress that elected Willies Mchunu and Sizwe Shezi as chairperson and deputy chairperson, respectively, Ben Martins and Smiso Nkwanyana as secretary and deputy secretary, respectively.
Mkhize was thereafter elected as district secretary of Durban South, the largest district of the province during that time. He sat in the provincial executive of the SACP, and in the mid-2000s, he was elected directly as the provincial executive committee member and then deputy secretary of the SACP in KZN.
He was a long serving secretary of the ANC in the Montclair branch. I had a privilege to have been invited by him a few times to conduct political education on various themes that he well-crafted during his tenure.
One thing about Important Mkhize was that he was an avid reader and very informative. I recall one day where he extended an invite to me in his Montclair home for an overnight reading session and a discussion.
Upon arriving, I realised that there were no other invited persons, and I thought to myself – this was going to be a long night. Needless to say, we did Das Kapital volume 3 until morning.
Another strength about him was his good command of English, while at the same time, he commanded very deep Zulu language, typical of a Nkandla-born and bred. This came handy for him as a skills development facilitator.
A few years ago, the former Minister of Arts, Culture and Sport, Nathi Mthethwa appointed him as the chairperson of the Chief Albert Luthuli Museum, and he has undoubtedly brought stature and integrity to the work of that institution.
Mkhize shunned publicity but was a diligent and dutiful leader. Those who worked with him in the Legislature of KwaZulu-Natal when he was a chairperson of the Human Settlement Portfolio are unanimous about his servant leadership that was coloured with verve and selflessness.
Those who could not agree with him would always complain that he was a true personification of his name – Important; he took himself very seriously and oozed confidence in whatever he did.
Like many others, I will count myself as lucky to have served in the PEC with such an unsung colossus. Drinking in his well and drawing from the fountain of his inspiration will forever remain with many of us who have traversed with him. A tall tree has fallen. Fare thee well, comrade Important Mkhize!
Khaye Nkwanyana is a former SACP Provincial Executive Member in KZN from 2007-2018.
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL