SABC.png Condolences pour in for anti-apartheid activist Indres Naidoo Amos Phago, SABC, Johannesburg, 4 January 2016 Late veteran anti-apartheid activist Indres Naidoo has been described by his colleagues within the African National Congress (ANC) as a dependable member of the ruling party. Naidoo passed away at 2 Military Hospital in Cape Town on Sunday night at the age of 79. He suffered from hypertension, diabetes and had a hearing problem. He was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MKMVA) and also served as a Member of Parliament between 1994 and 1999. Naidoo was one of the first MK soldiers to go into action and was also one of the first to be jailed. Click Here to Listen to an Audio File of SABC Radio News <http://dl.iono.fm/epi/prov_135/epi_242361.webm?client=oembed> He was arrested following the attempted sabotage of a signal box on a remote part of South African railways as a result of an informer in their group. Naidoo was sentenced to 10 years and spent most of these years on Robben Island. His wife of 15 years Gabriele Blankenburg says despite all the hardships of the past, her husband remained humble. "He was a man who even after the hardest times we had in Berlin, attempts on our life, he would put on some beautiful music and say let us have a drink and dance. He was dancing the stress away and I learned to dance the stress away with him." His brother Murti Naidoo says his brother's health had deteriorated over the last eight months. "He was a vibrant person, very jovial and extremely friendly and a pleasant type of fellow. Being deaf and unable to communicate, one gets very frustrated. Wearing a hearing aid also irritated him. He could not get used to wearing a hearing aid." President Jacob Zuma has also sent condolences to the Naidoo family. Indres Naidoo.jpg Indres Naidoo, 26 August 1936 - 3 January 2016 "The President says our thoughts and prayers are with the Naidoo family and his comrades in the liberation struggle at the moment. Indres Naidoo will be remembered for his fearlessness in the face of the most brutal of oppressive systems. We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences on his sad passing and may his soul rest in peace," says Presidential spokesperson Bongani Majola. MKMVA President Kebby Maphatsoe says they are saddened by Naidoo's passing. "We were really caught off guard; we are very shocked on the passing of comrade Indres Naidoo. We know of course that he has not been well and as the department of military veterans we have been taking care of him but he is one of the tried and tested leaders of Umkhonto we Sizwe." Before his release in May 1973, after 10 years in Robben Island prison, Naidoo was served with stringent banning orders. He was confined to his home each day from dusk to dawn and on weekends and holidays. He could not attend gatherings or receive visitors, and could not leave the magisterial district of Johannesburg. In 1976, Naidoo then left South Africa to work for the ANC in Maputo, Mozambique. He was transferred to the ANC Headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia in 1987 and later sent to Germany. Maphatsoe has described Naidoo as a dependable member of the ANC. "This is the old generation of Umkohnto we Sizwe and this is the generation that we draw wisdom from and these are the people who never sold out the revolution. Even when things were difficult they never turned their backs against the ANC. They were always a source of inspiration to us as the young generation of Umkhonto we Sizwe." After the democratic elections in 1994, he was elected a Member of Parliament from 1994 until 1999 and later retired from active politics. President Zuma awarded Naidoo the National Order of Mendi for Bravery in 2014. From: http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/795a1d004b30c4c78788ef445cadceaa/Condolences-po ur-in-for-anti-apartheid-activist-Indres-Naidoo-20160104 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
