Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has extended his condolence to the family of struggle veteran Nokuhamba Nyawo who died on Monday.
Zuma awarded Nyawo the National Order of Luthuli in December 2009 for her selfless commitment and loyalty to the struggle for a peaceful, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.
"As we mark International Women's Day on Thursday the 8th of March, we will remember this outstanding compatriot. We are grateful to her, her brother and the entire family for fighting until the end, for a free, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the family, to the African National Congress and her community in Ingwavuma," he said in a statement.
Nyawo was born in KwaZulu-Natal and later joined the underground structures of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the ANC's military wing in 1983, at the age of 63, when MK had decided to start waging rural guerrilla warfare, as opposed to the urban guerrilla warfare which had characterised the struggle in the preceding years.
She was in the unit that operated in and around Ingwavuma. Her brief was to look after the guerrillas who were based in the area. This included gathering intelligence about the movements of the apartheid forces and identifying possible recruits.
Her brother Nongolozi Jameson Mngomezulu, who worked closely with her, died a gruesome death after being abducted by police from Swaziland and was severely tortured until he died. The police, needing to get rid of the body, blew it up at a missile range near Sodwana Bay. He was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver in 2010.
"We have lost a unique patriot and freedom fighter who defied stereotypes and perceptions and performed tasks that were hardly associated with women, especially at 63 years of age. She put her country first and nothing mattered most to her than to see her people and her country free from racism and colonial oppression," Zuma said.
