Former deputy minister Kebby Maphatsoe passes away
Former minister of Military Veterans and president of the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans (MKMVA), Kebby Maphatsoe has passed away.
News reports confirm that Mapatsoe died on Tuesday afternoon, August 31, confirmed by the African National Congress (ANC) in a statement.
He served as deputy minister between 2014 and 2019 and was a member of the ANC National Executive Committee until December 2017.
As leader of the military wing of the ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe, he led as National Chairperson of the MK Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) since 2007.
Under his political direction, MKMVA became an integral component of the ANC and for the first time the association was in the central agenda of the ANC’s political framework with the achievement of progressive resolutions.
Maphatsoe is a former member of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), Soweto Youth Congress (SOYCO) and South African Youth Congress (SAYCO).
He went to Angola and the Soviet Union to receive his training and was also exiled in Uganda before returning to South Africa.
As a member of the uMkhonto weSize, he was instrumental in training many comrades during apartheid across various camps in Southern Africa.
A few months earlier, ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the disbandment of the MKMVA.
A dedicated comrade and public servant
Kebby Maphatsoe currently lived in Soweto, Johannesburg with his family.
During the apartheid years, he went to exile and became a trained Political Commissar of MK; he received further training in Angola, and in the Soviet Union and was also exiled in Uganda before returning to South Africa.
Mr Maphatsoe has led the ANC Greater Joburg Zone 7 where he served as zonal treasurer. He was also ANC PR Councilor in the City of Johannesburg, from 2000 to 2008.
Mr Maphatsoe also led the MK Military Veterans Association as regional chairperson, and was elected provincial chairperson in 2007.
During his tenure, the Ministry of Defence was changed to Defence and Military Veterans to accommodate military veterans, and to form a department separate from the Department of Defence with its own budget and administration.
Under his leadership, the South African National Military Veterans Association was re-launched and he was elected the president; this led to the unification of all military veteran structures.