Flag tribute to mark MK veteran's funeral Staff reporter, Sunday Independent, Johannesburg, 10 January 2016 The National flag will be flown at half mast at all police stations in the Gauteng province today in honour of the funeral of ANC struggle stalwart Indres Naidoo, who has died aged 79. President Jacob Zuma on Thursday declared a special provincial official funeral for Naidoo, who died at the 2 Military Hospital in Cape Town last Sunday. He was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) 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. He was arrested following the attempted sabotage of a signal box on a remote part of the South African railways network, as a result of an informant in their group. Naidoo was sentenced to 10 years in jail and spent most of those years on Robben Island. His wife of 15 years, Gabriele Blankenberg, said despite all the hardships of the past, her husband remained humble. In a statement, the ANC said: "The ANC mourns the passing of a stalwart and a revolutionary comrade, Indres Naidoo "His passing has robbed us of a long-standing cadre who effectively lived his life serving our people." It is said that Naidoo was a leading member of the Transvaal Indian Congress as well as the SACP. "He served in the ranks of Umkhonto we Sizwe and spent 10 years on Robben Island for his organisational activities," ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said. "Subsequent to his arrest, he was subjected to banning orders. "His commitment led him to leave this country and serve the ANC headquarters in Lusaka before being sent to the German Democratic Republic as the Deputy Chief Representative of the ANC. "Comrade Indres survived numerous attempts on his life by apartheid agents while in exile." Naidoo was eventually elected to the Senate, a forerunner of the National Council of Provinces, following the first democratic elections in 1994. "His loyalty, commitment and sacrifices have endeared him to the historically downtrodden of our country," the ANC said. "As a true cadre, he has remained strictly consistent on being a member of the ANC. "The ANC takes this opportunity to send condolences to his family and community. "May his soul rest in peace," the party said in its statement. Transcribed -- -- 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.
