WeeklySA_AdminLOYAL: He played a central role in the establishment of the Department of Military Veterans
Kebby Emmanuel Ramaotoane Maphatsoe (Mosia ,Motubatsi), known as Kebby to all his friends and comrades, was born on December 31 1962.
He was the seventh of nine children born of the marriage between Everista Mota and Victoria Maphatsoe. He went to Kgugamashiu Primary School, and later at Mokotuli School in Evaton, in the Vaal in 1976. He completed his matric at Lebone High School in Lesotho.
After matric, Maphatsoe worked as a clerk at Tshiawello Clinic. His life, like that of many young people his age, was shaped by oppression under the apartheid regime. The events of the student revolt of 1976, and the subsequent heightened resistance against the apartheid system deeply impacted on him and formed the foundation of the political consciousness of the young Maphatsoe.
As a student he became involved in the activities of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), and was also a member of the Soweto Youth Congress. Because of his political activism, and outspoken opposition to apartheid, he was targeted by the apartheid regime and was forced to eventually flee the country of his birth to go into exile.
In exile, Maphatsoe joined the African National Congress (ANC), and became a member of its liberation army, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). He underwent training in Angola, and also received specialised training in the now-defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR), the former Soviet Union and Cuba.
Throughout his life in exile, living in the MK camps in Angola and Uganda, he was known as a highly committed soldier, with a clear and unwavering political consciousness.
In 1992, at the dawn of the new democracy in South Africa, he returned from exile. His life, and political activism, was preoccupied by a deep concern for the welfare his fellow MK veterans. He became the leading champion for the welfare of MK veterans, and military veterans, in general.
In December 2007 Maphatsoe was elected into the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) at the 52nd national conference in Polokwane. He used this position to advance the cause of MK veterans. His mission was always very clear: that, while the MK liberation fighters had played a central and critical role in the liberation struggle, and the subsequent ushering of democracy, they had not received recognition that they deserved. He was deeply concerned that the process to integrate MK liberation soldiers into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was flawed and unfair. He made it his duty to address this issue, and to correct it.
Throughout his life, Maphatsoe was an ardent advocate for instituted re-ranking processes, for what became known as the non-statutory forces within the SANDF and SAPS. He always ensured that MKMVA, once it was formed, gave its clear support for, and was centrally involved in ensuring that re-ranking succeeded eventually. Also, and that justice would finally be done to MK veterans who dedicated their lives to the achievement of our liberation.
His commitment and insistence that MK liberation soldiers must receive their full dues in the democratic dispensation began after the 1994 elections. It led him to play a leadership role in the formation of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Association (MKMVA), formed by MK veterans. He was always clear that MKMVA was formed by, and for, MK veterans in order to advance their own cause. Similarly, Maphatsoe played a central role in pushing for the establishment of the Department of Military Veterans (DMV), and also the overall representative structure for military veterans in South Africa, namely the South African National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA).
Together with the MKMVA, Maphatsoe also played a key role in the drafting and eventual adaption of the Military Veterans Act, Act Number 8 of 2011, that legalised the rights of military veterans. The adoption of this Act, and the establishment of the DMV during former president Jacob Zuma’s administration, represented great strides in the struggle for the recognition and full dignity of MK military veterans, and military veterans in general.
In 2014, Maphatsoe was appointed by Zuma as Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, a critical part of his responsibilities being the Department of Military Veterans. He remained in the position until 2019. After the 2019 national elections, he returned as a Member of Parliament, and was a Whip with specific responsibility for the portfolio committee of police.
Throughout his life, he remained a remarkably humble and loyal, member of the ANC. He was deeply committed to forging principled unity in the party. No matter the challenges faced by the party, he continued to implore his fellow MK veterans to remain loyal to the party.
Thus, Maphatsoe accepted with discipline and dedication the ANC resolution of the 54th national conference that unity must be forged in the ranks of all MK veterans, and also convinced the rest of the MKMVA leadership to accept it and to advance its implementation.
Together with the senior MKMVA leadership, Maphatsoe worked diligently together with the ANC NEC’s peace and stability sub-committee to ensure the preparations for the unity conference of MK veterans were put in place with integrity and democratic representativity. Great strides were made, and it should be possible to hold a MK unity conference sometime this month, on the basis of that excellent work, to which comrade Kebby made a leading and definitive contribution.
Throughout his life, Maphatsoe remained fully committed to the liberation ideals and tasks of the ANC. Under his leadership as president, the MKMVA took strong and principled positions in defence of the ANC’s historical task to bring full liberation to black (especially African) South Africans.
He was a true liberation soldier who understood the meaning of comradeship. He lived this out in his jovial, warm, comradely relations with his fellow comrades. His unwavering support for former President Jacob Zuma, and his pursuit for justice for him and all his fellow comrades, is legendary. In doing so, he set an example for all.
Maphatsoe was a man of faith, and a deeply religious person. As with everything that he did, his life as a leader in the St. John Apostolic Church of Prophecy was characterised by principled dedication. He is survived by his wife, Lerato, whom he married in 1995; five children, Mary, Victoria, Lehlohonolo, Thabiso and Neo; five grandchildren, four brothers, three sisters, and nieces and nephews. He passed on quietly in his sleep on August 31, aged 59, at his family home in Meyersdal. He will be sorely missed by his family, comrades and friends, for whom his remarkable life will continue to be a source of inspiration and dedication.
HAMBA KAHLE MKHONTO! source: Maphatsoe family
