Long-time SA Communist Party member and prominent figure in the liberation struggle Wolfie Kodesh, was cremated in Cape Town on Friday. Kodesh died in Cape Town last Friday aged 84.
Kodesh, one of the stalwarts of the liberation movement, joined the communist party in 1938 and served as an African National Congress (ANC) cadre in many communist countries and in Africa.
He was especially known for organising safe houses for activists in South Africa during the liberation struggle.
He also served as former president Nelson Mandela’s driver who lived with him in his one-bedroomed flat in Berea, Johannesburg for two months while Mandela was on the run from the apartheid police.
During the funeral service for Kodesh on Friday Mandela paid tribute to the stalwart and said he was one of those who never changed his manners.
Mandela said that when he lived with Kodesh he found him to be a very impressive personality.
”We will miss him. As long as there are men and women like him, South Africa will continue to be a great nation,” Mandela said.
Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils who acted as master of ceremonies during the service said Kodesh had been a loyal and dedicated member of the liberation movement in its darkest and most dangerous decade.
The service was to celebrate Kodesh’s life which had been full of meaning and value. Also paying tribute to Kodesh was long-standing SACP member Denis Goldberg who said South Africa had lost someone truly great.
”His achievements will live forever,” Goldberg said.
Speaking on behalf of the ANC, member of Parliament Pallo Jordan said Kodesh had a deep and profound hatred of racism, having served with the South African army during the horrors of the World War Two.
Others who also attended the funeral included former MP and fellow communist party member Brian Bunting and Reg September, also a communist party member, and SACP deputy secretary general Jeremy Cronin along with several other former SACP members. – Sapa