The mark of the fallen cadres was also used to mark the 70 years of the Freedom Charter, delivered by the Deputy Minister of Police and ANC NEC member Cassel Mathale.

Amongst the attendees were the Peter Mokaba Regional leadership, some PEC members, ANC Women’s League, ANCYL, COSAS, and various stakeholders.

The fallen comrades bus, while en route to Mbombela Stadium in 2024, crashed on the R71 road ( Makgoebaskloof near Tzaneen). The ruling party was holding a 112th anniversary in Mpumalanga province.

The commemorative visits and paid to the families of the fallen:

• Setabola family
•  Makganyoga family
•  Rakubu family
• Mapfumo family
• Machaba family

It won’t be an ANC gathering without campaigns. Before, the key note address ascended to the pondium. A message of support by the ANCYL NEC member Douglas Ngobeni came with an endorsement and influence to the branches of the ANC

“We are going to be an ANCYL, which rises to the occasion when unemployment rises and which does not go around begging. We are to be an ANCYL that says young people want this, and young people get this. We want to lobby branches to go and convince members that John Mpe must become the ANC provincial Chairperson next year,” said Ngobeni

 The crowd seemed to agree with the endorsement by a show of hands and laughter, while the key speaker prepared his speech.

Mathale led the recognition ceremony and, by declaring that they are officially regarded as ” fallen cadres,” who died in the line of duty while serving the movement.

“The ANC bond with the families of the fallen 5 is permanent,” said Cassel Mathale

He stated that the movement will continue to reconnect with and support them.

“Their undying spirits will continue to guide the ANC,” said Mathale

Mathale emphasized that the ceremony served a dual purpose marking the 70th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter ( 1955_2025).

He linked the sacrifice of Molemole 5 to the struggle for the Charter’s ideals, specifically celebrating its key clauses.

Since the incident, the Peter Mokaba region has maintained a permanent relationship with grieving families by providing food vouchers and gifts to ensure dignified holiday periods for the survivors.

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Founded on 16 December 1961, a date now observed as the Day of Heroes, Umkhonto we Sizwe emerged at a time when all peaceful avenues for political change had been violently shut down by the apartheid regime. The ANC said the decision to form MK was not taken lightly, but followed years of brutal repression marked by the banning of liberation movements, the Sharpeville massacre, mass arrests, political executions, and the routine killing of unarmed civilians.

According to the ANC, MK was never about the glorification of violence. Rather, it was a disciplined and principled response to state-sponsored terror, firmly guided by political leadership and moral purpose. Operating under the leadership of the ANC and the South African Communist Party, MK remained committed to the vision of a democratic, non-racial, and just South Africa as outlined in the Freedom Charter.

From its first acts of resistance in December 1961, MK gave organised expression to the people’s right to resist oppression. It drew strength from a long tradition of African resistance and aligned itself with global struggles against colonialism, racism, and imperialism. Beyond being a military structure, MK served as a political school, shaping cadres grounded in sacrifice, discipline, internationalism, and unwavering loyalty to the people.

The ANC paid tribute to MK combatants who paid the ultimate price for freedom, honouring those who were killed, tortured, imprisoned, assassinated, or forced into exile. It also remembered those who trained under harsh conditions across Africa and beyond, and those who returned home to mobilise communities and confront the apartheid state alongside the masses. Their sacrifices, the ANC said, weakened the apartheid machinery and strengthened international solidarity that eventually isolated the racist regime.

The movement also acknowledged MK’s role within the broader African liberation struggle, noting that South Africa’s freedom was inseparable from the freedom of the continent. Through shared sacrifice and strategic alliances, MK contributed to regional victories against colonial and apartheid-backed forces.

Reflecting on the suspension of the armed struggle in August 1990, the ANC emphasised that it was a strategic decision aimed at securing a negotiated settlement in line with the will of the people. The democratic breakthrough of 1994, the party said, remains a powerful testament to the combined force of mass mobilisation, armed resistance, principled leadership, and international solidarity.

Today, the ANC says the responsibility of former MK combatants lies in defending and deepening the democratic gains achieved through struggle. This includes community involvement in fighting crime, strengthening street committees and community policing forums, combating gender-based violence and femicide, and passing revolutionary values to younger generations to rebuild a caring, people-centred society.

As the movement marks this milestone, it acknowledged that the legacy of Umkhonto we Sizwe places a heavy responsibility on the present generation. In a period of ideological contestation, internal challenges, and betrayal by former comrades, the ANC said MK’s example calls for renewal rooted in unity, discipline, selflessness, and service to the people.

The ANC stressed that remembering MK is not about romanticising the past, but about defending the hard-won freedoms of today and continuing the unfinished struggle for social and economic justice. The values that shaped Umkhonto we Sizwe, it said, must continue to guide the ANC as an effective instrument of the people.

On this Day of Heroes, the African National Congress saluted Umkhonto we Sizwe, Lerumo la Sechaba, and honoured all those who carried the spear of resistance so that South Africa could live in freedom and dignity.

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A Wreath-Laying Ceremony was held at the OR Tambo Memorial Site in Wattville, followed by a Memorial Lecture delivered by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, reflecting on Tambo’s enduring legacy and moral leadership.

Born on 27 October 1917, President Tambo is remembered for embodying the ideals of integrity, humility, unity, and principled struggle. As leader of the ANC in exile, he turned hardship into opportunity — rallying the global community against apartheid and keeping the movement united during its most difficult years.

In its statement, the ANC described Tambo as a moral compass whose life “remains an enduring testament that revolutions are sustained by discipline, not slogans; by truth, not expediency.”

The party reaffirmed its commitment to unity, ideological clarity, and renewal, echoing Tambo’s warning that “a nation that does not care for its youth has no future, and a movement that forgets its moral compass loses its soul.”

The ANC called on South Africans, particularly the youth, to draw inspiration from Tambo’s values and continue the fight against poverty, inequality, and injustice.

Long live the revolutionary spirit of Oliver Reginald Tambo!

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