Most of us are multifaceted beings — we expose our different sides in our interaction with different people. Others might have known Ncumisa Kondlo differently, but I was among those who experienced her as an open, lively, engaging, funny, perceptive, determined person.
Ncumisa, who died on March 24, had deep insights into our struggle and especially its more recent complexities — though these emerged more in private conversations than in the public domain.
Not that she did not express her views in political debates freely. In fact, she could be quite direct, strident and forceful. But in private she was often more balanced, considered, reflective.
Her intellectual and political sides did not always find each other in the public domain — but when they did, she could be formidable. I found this most in our years together in Parliament’s public enterprises committee, where she served as whip and I as chairperson.
Despite being activists of the same generation, our paths crossed only in 1994. Over the years, in Parliament and the South African Communist Party (SACP), our comradeship and friendship grew. Of course, we fought at times but our irritations with each other would quickly evaporate.
Ncumisa enjoyed laughing and could be very funny. She was great at mimicking people and, mercilessly, my idiosyncratic turn of phrases. She was a very good judge of people and could, almost uncannily, see through them in a way you have to in politics today.
Born on August 27 1958, Ncumisa also had an imperious side, as you could witness on study tours outside the country. We called her the “Queen of Peddie”, after the Eastern Cape village she came from. She could be quite demanding and tiresome. But you overlooked this because she was such fun and could be so kind and generous. When she wasn’t around, you certainly felt her absence.
But there was also a deep sadness in her. She lost her husband, Thobile, in 2004 and never came to terms with his death. She would often talk about him in the present tense, “Thobile likes this … “, “Thobile won’t agree … “.
Recently we saw an old couple walking hand-in-hand in the street and she turned to me, eyes glimmering with tears: “You know, I thought Thobile and I would be like them. I never thought he’d leave me like this … ”
She lost some of her spark after his death and sometimes retreated into her own world. But she would always resurface and find herself again.
Born in 1958, Ncumisa was drawn into the struggle as a student at Fort Hare in the Seventies. After qualifying as a teacher at Rhodes, she became active in the National Education Union of South Africa, the South African Youth Congress and other United Democratic Front structures in the Eastern Cape.
From 1990 she served in regional and provincial SACP and ANC structures and was elected to the SACP’s central committee in 1998. She was elected deputy chairperson of the SACP last July and was recently elected to the ANC’s national executive committee and national working committee, as well as being appointed chair of the ANC’s parliamentary caucus.
An MP from 1994, she also served as Eastern Cape minister for social development between 1999 and 2002.
She was, many of us felt, underused in the movement. Sadly, just when spaces opened up for her to fulfil her potential and make a major contribution to our new democracy, she left us.
We are all the poorer for this. Hamba kahle, comrade Ncumisa. We will not forget you. How can we?
Yunus Carrim is an MP and serves on the SACP politburo Most of us are multifaceted beings — we expose our different sides in our interaction with different people. Others might have known Ncumisa Kondlo differently, but I was among those who experienced her as an open, lively, engaging, funny, perceptive, determined person.
Ncumisa, who died on March 24, had deep insights into our struggle and especially its more recent complexities — though these emerged more in private conversations than in the public domain.
Not that she did not express her views in political debates freely. In fact, she could be quite direct, strident and forceful. But in private she was often more balanced, considered, reflective.
Her intellectual and political sides did not always find each other in the public domain – but when they did, she could be formidable. I found this most in our years together in Parliament’s public enterprises committee, where she served as whip and I as chairperson.
Despite being activists of the same generation, our paths crossed only in 1994. Over the years, in Parliament and the South African Communist Party, our comradeship and friendship grew. Of course, we fought at times but our irritations with each other would quickly evaporate.
Ncumisa enjoyed laughing and could be very funny. She was great at mimicking people and, mercilessly, my idiosyncratic turn of phrases. She was a very good judge of people and could, almost uncannily, see through them in a way you have to in politics today.
Born on August 27 1958, Ncumisa also had an imperious side, as you could witness on study tours outside the country. We called her the “Queen of Peddie”, after the Eastern Cape village she came from. She could be quite demanding and tiresome. But you overlooked this because she was such fun and could be so kind and generous. When she wasn’t around, you certainly felt her absence.
But there was also a deep sadness in her. She lost her husband, Thobile, in 2004 and never came to terms with his death. She would often talk about him in the present tense, “Thobile likes this … “, “Thobile won’t agree … “.
Recently we saw an old couple walking hand-in-hand in the street and she turned to me, eyes glimmering with tears: “You know, I thought Thobile and I would be like them. I never thought he’d leave me like this … ”
She lost some of her spark after his death and sometimes retreated into her own world. But she would always resurface and find herself again.
Born in 1958, Ncumisa was drawn into the struggle as a student at Fort Hare in the Seventies. After qualifying as a teacher at Rhodes, she became active in the National Education Union of South Africa, the South African Youth Congress and other UDF structures in the Eastern Cape.
From 1990 she served in regional and provincial SACP and ANC structures and was elected to the SACP’s central committee in 1998. She was elected deputy chairperson of the SACP last July and was recently elected to the ANC’s national executive committee and national working committee, as well as being appointed chair of the ANC’s parliamentary caucus.
An MP from 1994, she also served as Eastern Cape minister for social development between 1999 and 2002.
She was, many of us felt, underused in the movement. Sadly, just when spaces opened up for her to fulfil her potential and make a major contribution to our new democracy, she left us.
We are all the poorer for this. Hamba kahle, comrade Ncumisa. We will not forget you. How can we?
Yunus Carrim is an MP and serves on the SACP politburo