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Presidency Statement on the Death of Wycliffe Mlungisi Tsotsi The
death of Wycliffe Tsotsi has robbed South Africa and the African continent of
a hero of the struggle for liberation, non-racism, non-sexism and justice. Wycliffe
Mlungisi ("Wyckie") Tsotsi was part of a generation of resistance leaders
who fought for the widest possible principled unity among the political organisations
of the oppressed. Born in the Transkei and educated at Fort Hare in the 1930s,
Tsotsi became a teacher and headmaster, and later trained as a lawyer. As a political
activist from the 1930s, Tsotsi was associated with the All-African Convention
(of which he was president from 1948-1959) and the Non-European Unity Movement
which became the Unity Movement of South Africa (of which he served as acting-president
and vice-president in the late 1950s and early 1960s) and was the major impetus
behind the radicalisation of the Cape African Teachers' Association (CATA) in
the 1940s. As an activist lawyer and leader of the Transkei Organised Bodies
(TOB), Tsotsi was close to rural struggles of the peasants in the Transkei and
Eastern Cape and gave support to elected leaders (for example, in Tembuland) who
opposed the system of Bantu Authorities. Tsotsi also defended teachers who were
dismissed in the wake of the implementation of Bantu Education. In the early 1960s
he was arrested and detained. Together with his comrades, and despite overwhelming
odds and hardship, Tsotsi asserted his belief in the possibility of a non-racial
society and the innate goodness of humanity. He concerned himself with the unity
of the liberation movements, believing that unity served as a foundation for the
speedy defeat of Apartheid. He was from that rare crop of visionaries who displayed
forbearance under trying condition, yet dreamt of and worked for an alternative
future for the nation despite the harshness of the system. When he was forced
into exile in the early 1960s, Tsotsi enjoyed a distinguished legal career in
Zambia and Lesotho and he continued his political activities. During this time,
he devoted time to research and writing and published a history of South Africa,
From Chattel to Wage Slavery. He also completed two other manuscripts: Out of
Court, a study of the operation of Bantu Authorities and betterment in the Transkei
Bantustan, as well as an autobiographical study of repression and exile, I Was
a Refugee or Was I? On his return to South Africa, Tsotsi served his alma
mater, the University of Fort Hare, as a member of its council. Tsotsi
loved his country and its people and throughout his adult life, he worked tirelessly
for a free South Africa. In 1998, at the ripe age of 84 years, Tsotsi accepted
the demanding appointment as a commissioner on the Amnesty Committee of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In this position Tsotsi again served his
country with distinction, thus contributing to the establishment of justice in
the new South Africa, especially for the victims of Apartheid. Tsotsi was given
an honorary LLD degree by Rhodes University in 1999 in recognition of his contribution
to the birth of a new South Africa. With his passing we mourn the end of
an era, yet we take some pleasure in knowing that he lived through the first decade
of our democracy for which he had sacrificed so much. We would like to
express our deepest condolences to Tsotsi's wife, Mrs. Blanche Tsotsi, his surviving
children and family. Trevor Fowler
Acting Director General The
Presidency For further information contact Davis Hlabane - 082 561
9428 30 September 2005 | 
