The family members of the late former Umkhonto We Sizwe combatant Amos Mbulaheni Mbedzi said that they were very happy that ANC and South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa had finally paid tribute to their loved one. This was during Ramaphosa's deliverance of the ANC's statement on 8 January this year.
Mbedzi's younger brother, Rudzani Mbedzi, who is a freedom fighter in his own right, said things had changed when president Ramaphosa had become the president of the ANC and government. "During Jacob Zuma's time as president, some members of both the ANC and the SACP distanced themselves from Amos Mbedzi when he was incarcerated in Swaziland. When we approached them to help in facilitating his release from the dreadful King Mswati's regime, they never helped us. It was a very painful journey for the family, especially when visiting him in jail in Swaziland, because King Mswati also denied Amos the right to receive medical care," he said.
"But when President Ramaphosa took over, he asked the Justice and Correctional Services minister Ronald Lamola to start talking to Mswati's regime until his brother was brought back to the country. We are pleased that the president has now paid tribute to him with the likes of former Angolan president Eduardo do Santos, which means he is regarded as one of the internationally known freedom fighters, like Che Guevara," he said.
Born and raised at Ha-Luvhimbi, about 30 kilometres north of Thohoyandou, the late Mbedzi was a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) too. When operating underground in Swaziland, he also joined the Communist Party of Swaziland. Mbedzi was arrested in Swaziland and sentenced to 85 years in jail. He died last year while undergoing surgery at a hospital in Polokwane, barely two months after he was handed over to the South African prison authorities to serve the remainder of his 85-year jail sentence.