Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Western Cape on Tuesday joined many around South Africa in honouring the memory of liberation icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who died a year ago Tuesday.
Madikizela-Mandela died on 2 April 2018 at the age of 81 at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg after a long illness and #RememberMamaWinnie was trending.
"We lost a mother, an activist and a real freedom fighter, and were denied a real President post-1994. Mama Winnie's contribution to the emancipation of South Africa from the murderous apartheid regime still remains unmatched. So was her unwavering spirit and vigour as she stood firm against patriarchy and erasure from her own Comrades and political home," said EFF provincial chairperson Melikhaya Xego.
"Her passing not only brought sadness but ignited a flame of a young, fierce and steadfast generation of black women who stand firm at the face of patriarchy, persecution and injustice."
Xego said the party reiterates the EFF's call for Cape Town International Airport to be renamed after Madikizela Mandela, widely regarded as the "mother of the nation".
"When celebrating our democracy and when honouring those who fought the apartheid regime and made it possible for us to enjoy some of the freedoms we enjoy today, as the country, we erased the role played by women and that must be corrected," said Xego.
He said Mama Winnie sacrificed her life in the quest for the liberation of the country and had earned her stripes locally and internationally, adding tha sking for an airport to be named after her was putting gratitude to her into action.
"The EFF Western Cape remains resolute to the call for revolutionary conscience to all people of South Africa and Western Cape to stand and support this token that Mama deserves so much. A token the ANC is fiercely fighting, as it did her existence and contribution to the struggle," said Xego.
Social media was flooded with messages of remembrance as South Africans and people around the world pay tribute to her.