AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has led nationwide tributes to John Nkadimeng, the ANC liberation stalwart and veteran trade unionist who has died, aged 95.
To honour Nkadimeng, Ramaphosa has declared a special official funeral for him and ordered that the national flag must be flown at half-mast until the evening of August 14.
Nkadimeng was among the 156 Congress activists who were detained during the Defiance Campaign in 1952 and charged with treason in the 1956 Treason Trial. He also went to exile, taking refuge in numerous neighboring countries.
Ramaphosa said: “We have lost a remarkable veteran of our country’s liberation struggle, who was a selfless, exemplary and courageous stalwart who contributed immensely to South Africa’s democracy.”
Nkadimeng led the then underground South African Congress of Trade Unions where he also played an instrumental role in the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
The ANC Cosatu, the South African Communist Party, the South African Federation of Trade Unions and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation paid warm tributes to Nkadimeng.
In August 1995, he was appointed by then President Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s ambassador to Cuba.
Nkadimeng’s funeral, to be held in Johannesburg on August 14, 2020, will entail ceremonial elements provided by the South African National Defence Force.
