Mortal remains of S. African anti-apartheid hero reburied

Mortal remains of S. African anti-apartheid hero reburied

JOHANNESBURG, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The mortal remains of South African anti-apartheid hero Moses Kotane was reburied on Saturday, with a grand ceremony attended by President Jacob Zuma.

The remains of Kotane were returned home from Moscow two weeks ago.

The man played a key and integral role in the liberation struggle of South Africa and formed part of the generation that paved the way for Nelson Mandela, first black president in the country, and his generation to usher in democracy and social justice.

Speaking at the reburial ceremony in Pella, North West Province where Kotane was borned, Zuma lauded Kotane for giving his whole life to the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

Kotane joined the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the late 1920s and quickly rose through the ranks of the SACP, becoming a member of the politburo and a full time functionary of the party by 1931 when he was only 26 years old. He died 1978 when studying at the Lenin School in Moscow.

Zuma described Kotane as a man "who was respected from Africa to Asia and Europe, because of his ideological clarity and commitment to the cause of freedom of the oppressed".

"We are laying to rest a towering figure in the liberation struggle. The story of South Africa can never be complete without mentioning this great son of our people, who guided our revolution, " said Zuma.

"Our children, the workers, women, youth and indeed all our people black and white, must know about this man who died in foreign lands, in the quest for the freedom we enjoy today."

The struggle continues to build a truly united, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa where the fruits of the economy and the wealth of the country are shared and enjoyed by all through inclusive growth and meaningful economic transformation, Zuma said.

South Africa, he said, belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.