Remarks by President Jacob Zuma at the repatriation ceremony of Moses Kotane and J.B. Marks and arrival of the remains in Pretoria

01 March 2015

Members of the Kotane and Marks families,

Ministers, Premiers, Deputy Ministers, MECs and Executive Mayors,

The Leadership of the ANC, SACP and COSATU,

Excellency the Ambassador of the Russian Federation and all members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Comrades and friends,

Fellow South Africans,

Receive my heartfelt greetings on this historic day in the history of our country.

The last time I addressed the nation here at the Waterkloof Airforce Base was when we gathered to send off our icon, Former President Nelson Mandela, to Qunu where he would be finally laid to rest.

Today we meet during another historic occasion, sad but also joyous as we receive the mortal remains of two giants who played a very key and integral role in the liberation struggle of our country and who indeed formed part of the generation that paved the way for Madiba and his generation to usher in democracy and social justice.

Comrades Moses Kotane and John Beaver Marks, popularly known as J.B. Marks, have finally come back home.

We are receiving their remains from Moscow, Russia which was for them like a home away from home where they were cared for and treated warmly by the friendly people of the former Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation.

We express our sincere gratitude to President Vladimir Putin and the government of the Russian Federation for caring for our stalwarts in life and in death.

Their tombstones at the cemetery which became their temporary home in Moscow indicated the respect and the status that they were accorded in that country, and further the cemented the strong historic ties between South Africa and Russia.

The cooperation of the Russian Federation in our efforts to bring these two giants of our struggle back to their land of birth, and the remarkable and stately send-off yesterday when they left Russia will also forever be remembered by the South African people as a gesture of true friendship.

Today we have brought them back home, to a free South Africa.

South Africa is today a democratic country based on the rule of law and fundamental human rights, largely owing to the sacrifices made by Moses Kotane, J.B. Marks and all other leaders as well as activists of their generation.

We live in our country as free men, women and children, without the colour of our skin determining our station in life, determining where we may work, live or even be buried.

Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that these two stalwarts were great visionaries who were way ahead of their time in terms of understanding the true meaning of non-racialism and that it would be the cornerstone of a democratic South Africa.

In this year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to advance Economic Freedom, we declare that we are proud of the legacy of Comrade Marks and Comrade Kotane.

Their homecoming is a beginning of a new chapter. It enables us to celebrate their contribution, and to raise awareness amongst our people especially the youth, of what these two great men did for this country.

Compatriots

Although Comrades Marks and Kotane were unflinching members and leaders of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party, we must as South Africans, across all political lines, celebrate their home-coming.

It is a major milestone drawing us nearer to finding closure to our painful past as a nation.

This homecoming should remind us that we have achieved a lot in just a few years, more especially the vision outlined in the Freedom Charter, that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority, unless it was based on the will of all the people.

This service should thus sharpen our resolve to deal decisively with the legacy of apartheid and to fight against the demon of racism which rears its ugly head from time to time in our society, and all other related intolerances.

We must do everything within the bounds of possibility to deal decisively with anything and everything that would undermine the gains of freedom and democracy that came through so much pain and sacrifice.

Compatriots

As I conclude, we would like to call on all South Africans to participate in the programmes which will take place as part of the build up towards the ultimate reburial ceremonies which will lay these icons of our struggle to their final resting places.

Both these icons are from the North West province, and they will be reburied in that province.

The reburial ceremony of Moses Kotane will take place on the fourteenth of March in Pella. A week thereafter, we will attend the reburial ceremony of JB Marks on the twenty second of March in Ventersdorp.

Usuku olubaluleke kakhulu impela lolu emlandweni wezwe lethu, nasemlandweni wenkululeko yabantu nezwe laseNingizimu Afrika.

Abaholi bethu babuyile ekhaya emva kweminyaka eminingi bengcwatshe kude eRussia, lapho bebephethwe kahle kakhulu uhulumeni nabantu baseRussia.

Sithi kubaholi bethu, namukelekile ekhaya, siyajabula kakhulu ukuthi senizolala niphumule ekhaya eNingizimu Africa emuva kweminyaka eminingi kangaka nahamba.

Compatriots and friends let me thank the Marks and Kotane families for sharing these stalwarts with the people of South Africa. We thank them for their resilience during trying times of persecution and separation from their loved ones.

Mama Kotane you are 103 years old this year, the same age as the ANC.

You have waited long to see this day. We are glad that it has finally come and that you have witnessed the return of the remains of your loved one.

Fellow South Africans, the words of the late Dr Yusuf Dadoo about J.B Marks applies to both of these icons of our struggle when he said,

"In the life of every nation, there arise men who leave an indelible and eternal stamp on the history of their peoples; men who are both products and makers of history. And when they pass, they leave a vision of a new and better life and the tools with which to win and build it".

We say welcome home to these two outstanding men who gave so much to this country.

Welcome to a free and democratic South Africa. Your sacrifices, dedication, commitment and hard work were not in vain.

I thank you.

Issued by the Presidency, March 1 2015

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