Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday marked the 20th anniversary of independence hero Samora Machel’s death in a mystery plane crash, hailing him as an ”African hero”.
Guebuza, who laid a foundation stone for a memorial to Machel in the heart of Maputo, said: ”The decision to build this monument shows up the role Machel played in mobilising his people and others for noble causes.”
Guebuza and South African President Thabo Mbeki will later on Thursday jointly pay homage to Machel at the site of the plane crash in South Africa, near the Mozambican border.
Machel, who helped Mozambique to gain independence from Portugal and became the first post-colonial president, died in a plane crash with 34 other people, at Mbuzini in northern South Africa.
He had signed a non-aggression pact with the erstwhile apartheid regime agreeing that he would not let his country be used by the then banned African National Congress, while Pretoria pledged to withdraw support to rebels fighting Machel’s government.
However, many Mozambicans believe the government in Pretoria was behind the accident by jamming the plane’s radar.
Others speculate that the pilot had mistaken a South African airstrip for the Maputo airport.
Guebuza said the best way to pay homage to Machel was to ”consolidate national unity, to uphold the country’s cultural and linguistic diversity and to rid the country of poverty”. – Sapa-AFP