/ 2 May 2002

Mourners pack stadium for Tshwete memorial

MOURNERS packed the main stand of the Pilditch stadium in Pretoria on Thursday to pay their last respects to deceased Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete.

Cabinet members, provincial political leaders, police of all ranks and others listened as speaker after speaker praised Tshwete, who died from post-operative complications last Friday.

African National Congress stalwart Walter Sisulu arrived late in a wheelchair, and proceedings were stopped as he was helped to a chair on the podium.

Performances by a military brass band and a police choir lent a solemn air to the official memorial service that lasted more than two hours. The main speaker, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, carried the audience with him in a rhythmic song, wishing Tshwete a peaceful journey.

”We are here not to mourn but to celebrate the life of a selfless hero,” Zuma said.

Tshwete was a giant in the liberation struggle, but also understood the concept of reconciliation better than many others.

Zuma said Tshwete’s forceful, yet kind, approach to life would be fondly remembered. As minister responsible for the police he did invaluable work to help turn the tide against crime.

”We will always cherish the memories of working with Steve. A warrior has fallen,” Zuma said.

Before he spoke, prayers were conducted by representatives of from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths. Leaders from the ANC’s two alliance partners also addressed the crowd.

The general secretary of the Congress of SA Trade Unions, Zwelinzima Vavi, hailed Tshwete as an articulate leader who had inspired his people.

”Our workers are with his family in this hour,” Vavi said.

SA Communist Party secretary general Blade Nzimande said Tshwete lived and died as organiser and an activist, adding: ”He embraced all sectors of our alliance.”

In a message on behalf of the diplomatic corps in South Africa, Libyan Ambassador Abdella Alzubedi said: ”We are sad like the rest of South Africa.”

Tshwete died on the eve of Freedom Day as if he had made an appointment with fate, Alzubedi noted.

Gauteng police commissioner Perumal Naidoo lauded Tshwete for having taught the police how to deal with crime.

”Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to leave the stage so soon?” Naidoo asked.

”His sudden departure has created a vacuum that cannot and will not be filled.”

The chairman of community police forums in Gauteng, Joseph Banda, singled out Tshwete’s role in turning the police service into a community-oriented one.

Gauteng premier Sam Shilowa implored the crowd to celebrate life, saying: ”Steve was a serious politician but he loved life.”

Tshwete’s body, accompanied by national police commissioner Jackie Selebi and three deputies, was flown on Thursday morning from Waterkloof Air Force Base in Centurion to King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape.

A night vigil, to be addressed by Zuma, will be held for Tshwete in King William’s Town on Friday evening.

The official funeral would take place at Bisho Stadium before Tshwete will be laid to rest at his nearby hometown of Peelton. – Sapa