Comrade Programme Director, Students from Wits Members and leaders of the ANCYL, Leaders of the ANC Esteemed Pastors and church ministers who are here today, The bereaved family, Sabelo’s mother and dad, His brother, and sister

The community and people of Standerton have lost their hope; a young man who went to Johannesburg to study Law. Comrade Sabelo was a bright young man dedicated to his studies and work in both the ANC YL and SASCO. He served the movement with distinction and put his energies and abilities at the disposal of the ANC. In so saying, we are reminded of the oath that Sabelo took when he joined the movement of the people, as follows:

“I solemnly declare that I will abide by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution, the Freedom Charter and other duly adopted policy positions, that I am joining the organisation voluntarily and without motives of material advantage or personal gain, that I agree to respect the Constitution and the structures and to work as a loyal member of the organisation, that I will place my energies and skills at the disposal of the organisation and carry out tasks given to me, that I will work towards making the ANC an even more effective instrument of liberation in the hands of the people, and that I will defend the unity and integrity of the organisation and its principles, and combat any tendency towards disruption and factionalism.”

Death has indeed robbed us of a future leader of this country. Without a doubt, Sabelo would not have failed us, his family and the ANC. In him, we could see the spirit, bravery and intellect of Oliver Tambo the late President general of the ANC. I say this because Sabelo at all times was obsessed with perfection and gave serious attention to detail.

The first time I met him with his comrades was for an official lunch, however, he had a notebook and took notes of the conversation we had. I hope his friends will find that notebook and publish the contents which are all the political meetings he had. He was working with his comrades to help the ANC Greater Joburg REC in organising a training course on Project Management for all branch secretaries of the ANC. We were almost concluding the programmes plan when he passed on.

Sunday the 21st of February will go down in the history of the Ngubeni as the day they will never forget, but it will also be a day that will bring them together in remembrance of the life of this great young man. It will be the day in which his organisation and peers will always remember, it will bring them together in celebrating his life and contribution to the life of the ANC YL and the student body.

He was present when we said fees must fall and he was present when we said poor students must not be financially excluded. He understood what it meant to be the hope of the family and led a responsible life. He was indeed a very responsible young man. I’m personally grateful to have had that opportunity to meet him, know him and interact with him and his comrades.

Wits University remains a theatre of struggle and consistently produces the best cadres of the ANC. Comrade Sabelo can therefore be counted amongst the true greatest minds that came from this university and amongst we can remember Derrick Masoek, Napo Kekana, and many more giants of our struggle for freedom and justice.

Together with his comrades, they organised books to donate to a primary school in Meadowlands which we visited in January this year. The teachers were happy at the gesture from these comrades – Luyolo, Dlamini, Masego and the Zulu boy from eMs- inga, Sicelo Kubheka.

This month marks the start of Human Rights Month; a month into which South Africa will be celebrating and affirming its position in protecting the human rights of all its people, black and white. It is also a month that reminds us of the brutality of the Apartheid state which we saw with the indiscriminate killing of innocent or rather peaceful protestors against the passed laws on the 21st March 1961. It was on that day that over 69 unarmed protesters were killed and over a hundred more injured and some are the scares of that fateful day in Sharpeville. The Sharpville Massacre became a day to be celebrated by the oppressed till 1994 when we adopted the calendar day as a Human Rights Day. This is to ensure that at all times South Africa should ensure the protection of human rights.

We stand on these solemn grounds here today at the instance of comrade Sabelo Ngubeni, who has passed on as a result of a car accident, which we hear was a head-on collision and all occupants of both cars passed and no one was left to relate the story to their families and friends, with the exception of the experts that will try piece the scene together to interpret what could have happened. The bigger challenge that remains is to continue to preach Road Safety and educate our motorists to act responsibly on the road. Secondly, we have to take responsibility to manage our roads and ensure they are usable and safe at all times.

I won’t say to the family of Sabelo and his comrades that they should find solace in knowing that Sabelo was amongst the greatest forward foot soldiers and intellectuals of the ANC. He gave his life to the fight for the betterment of our people.

I would like to thank you, Ntate Ngubeni and Mme Ngubeni, for this revolutionary act of allowing your son to live his life for the poor people of this country.

Sabelo Ngubeni entered the struggle in his early youth. He was 20 years old when he entered Wits University and got exposed to difficulties that African students experience when they arrive there. Those challenges included lack of accommodation, lack of access to resource and generally challenges of getting to understand the way in which the curriculum is delivered and the gap between those from township schools and those coming from middle-class schools.

We, therefore, today, would like to honour you comrade Sabelo for your bravery and most importantly, for deciding not to be selfish and only think about your own success and ignore the struggles of others, but you chose the struggles of the African Child and you stood up and took the fight. We salute you and for that, we shall forever remember you.

As I conclude, we would therefore appeal to the people assembled here, to the people of this country, to take serious pre-caution as Covid-19 is real and is deadly. Let’s at all times wash our hands with water and soap, use a sanitiser, keep social distance and avoid crowds. We are now entering a period of vaccination which will take through to 2022 before the country can return to normality.

The future is bright. Let us not give up hope but believe that all will be well and we will finally achieve the strategic objectives of the NDR.

Robala ka Kgotso Sabelo

“Sabelo Ngubeni entered the struggle in his early youth. He was 20 years old when he entered Wits University and got exposed to difficulties that African students experience when they arrive there.

Those challenges included lack of accommodation, lack of access to resource and generally challenges of getting to understand the way in which the curriculum is delivered and the gap between those from township schools and those coming from middle-class schools”.

“To merely exist in these institutions for black professionals is a privilege that is unattainable without some gut-wrenching sacrifices. For those who have been baptized with the literary works of Steve Biko, the deep meditations of Prisoner Number 1323/69 – Winnie Mandela in ‘491 days in prison, the vocalized guttural cry of a Nina Simone in Strange Fruit, the politically motivated tunes of a Fela Kuti and finally the blue notes of a Miles Davis – it never entered my mind, Jonas Gwangwa on Foreign Native and the soothing voice of Thandiswa Mazwai on Wakrazulwa’, can understand the need to be an advocate”