SACP to participate in 30th Commemoration of Assassination of Comrade Sam Ntuli

14 September 2021

The South African Communist Party (SACP) will participate in activities to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Comrade Sam Ntuli, a stalwart of our struggle against apartheid and for social emancipation.

The activities will be held on Wednesday 15 September 2021 in Thokoza township, Ekurhuleni.

SACP First Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Solly Mapaila, will represent the Party in these activities. Comrade Mapaila will be joined by the SACP Central Committee members and local leaders.

Three activities in remembrance of Sam Ntuli will take place this Wednesday, 15 September 2021, as follows:

• 08h00, Thokoza Youth Centre: Leaders of faith in Thokoza will embark on a walk from the Thokoza Youth Centre to the site of assassination of Sam Ntuli where they will conduct a prayer service.
• 09h00, old Natalspruit hospital site and Phola Park: Gauteng provincial leaders of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) will launch the Sam Ntuli Volunteer Brigades. One group of the brigades is expected to assemble at the old Natalspruit hospital site, and the other at the Phola Park sports ground. These two groups will march to the site of the assassination of Sam Ntuli.
• 12h00, Sam Ntuli Indoor Centre: The day’s events will culminate in a dialogue on the civic movement which will be held at the Sam Ntuli Indoor Centre. Participants will be past and current leaders of the civic movement, including those who led with Sam Ntuli in the East Rand People’s Organisation (ERAPO) in the early 1980s, and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Comrade Lechesa Tsenoli.

The SACP invites the media to cover the event.

Comrade Sam Ntuli: Brief background

Comrade Sam Ntuli was assassinated on 29 September 1991 at Khumalo Street in Thokoza, the township of Ekurhuleni.

Sam Ntuli was active in the trade union movement as the organiser and the leader of the United Metal, Mining and Allied Workers of South Africa (UMMAWOSA). At the insistence of COSATU, he was one of the prominent leaders in the negotiations and the subsequent amalgamation of similar unions to form the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in 1987.

On 15 September 1990 Sam Ntuli was elected the first General Secretary of the newly established Civic Association of the Southern Transvaal (CAST). He had played a role in the early 1980s as the community leader of the erstwhile East Rand, now Ekurhuleni, under the banner of the East Rand People’s Organisation (ERAPO). At the time of the formation of local civic movements from the mid-1980s, Sam Ntuli became instrumental in the formation of the Thokoza Civic Association which he led as its chairperson.

Premier David Makhura declared the grave of Sam Ntuli the Gauteng Provincial heritage site and subsequently unveiled the commemorative boulder at the site of his assassination on 20 October 2014.

President Zuma honoured Sam Ntuli with the Order of Mendy for Bravery in Silver for his excellent contribution to peace-building during a particularly violent and delicate time in the history of the liberation struggle. He paid the ultimate price for his dedication to peace and freedom. The award was conferred on him posthumously on 28 April 2016.

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