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'His spirit can be laid to rest'
23/03/2007 20:28 - (SA)
Pretoria - The Freedom Park Trust handed over the remains of four former freedom fighters to their families in Pretoria on Friday, 20 years after their deaths.
Harold Sefolo, Andrew Makupe, Jackson Maake and Justice Mbizana, who were suspected of being internal Umkonto we Sizwe fighters, were tortured and killed by apartheid-era police in the old Northern Transvaal in 1987.
Sefolo, Maake and Makupe were held at a private farm, north of Pretoria where they were tortured and shocked to death. Mbizana was also tortured like his three compatriots but he was drugged.
The four men's bodies were taken to a lonely road and placed on explosives that were then detonated. There body parts were taken to the Garankuwa mortuary where the undertaker put all the remains in one coffin.
Their bodies were exhumed in July 2005 at the Winterveld cemetery.
For the men's families, it was a "relief" to finally get the remains of their loves ones.
Christina Maake, who was a year old when her father Jackson left, broke down in tears when the coffins of the four men were brought into a tent at Freedom Park.
Still attending counselling
"It was difficult growing up without him, but I got used to it. I'm happy now as I can go to his grave and communicate with him, just like other people," said the 22-year-old.
Mable Makupe, widow of Andrew is still attending counselling to come to terms with the "horrible" death of her husband.
"I wouldn't have survived if I had seen his body after the explosion. There were times when I asked God why it had to be me but after finding out I wasn't alone, I felt better.
"Today I can feel his presence and his spirit can finally be laid to rest," she said.
Most of the relatives wept while about 60 mourners sang hymns.
The families donated the clothes that were worn by the deceased to the Freedom Park.
"We feel deeply privileged that the families of the freedom fighters would honour us in this matter. These fragmented pieces of clothing are a symbol of the violent death that many were subjected to so that we can all enjoy freedom," Freedom Park chief executive, the poet Wally Serote, said in absentia.
He said the clothes would contribute to telling the story of the liberation struggle at Freedom Park.
The four men will be buried at the Mamelodi cemetery on April 1.
- SAPA
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