Don't apologise over Shiceka - mourner

2012-05-09 20:57

Johannesburg - The ANC should not have to apologise for honouring former traditional affairs minister Sicelo Shiceka, ANC Youth League official Simon Molefe said on Wednesday.

"They [Shiceka's critics] say we must be worried that the ANC is honouring him. He must be respected and we are not apologetic."

If South Africans could forgive people who murdered their families during apartheid, they could forgive Shiceka.

Molefe, who is Gauteng ANCYL deputy chairperson, was speaking at Shiceka's memorial service in Ivory Park, near Midrand.

The backdrop for the speakers at the memorial was an enormous banner bearing Shiceka's face.

Earlier, a group of ANC Women's League (ANCWL) members sang a song praising Shiceka as a hero as they pointed at the banner.

Attending the service was Shiceka's wife Cleopatra Salaphi and his 12-year-old daughter Bonolo Mandisa.

ANCWL Gauteng member Patricia Chueu said a "dark cloud" surrounded Shiceka before his death.

"We know that people, including some of us, have labelled him as corrupt and all other sorts of names. People have forgot the good that he did."

Shiceka died in St Mary's private hospital in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, on April 30 after a long illness.

Zuma removed him as a minister in October after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found he had racked up over R1m in travel costs for himself, his staff and his friends, in violation of the executive ethics code.

This included a trip to Switzerland to see a girlfriend jailed on drug-related charges.

He continued serving the ANC as an MP, but had been on sick leave since February 2011.

- SAPA