SA, Mozambique commemorate death of Samora Machel

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa hosted a commemoration 30 years after the death of Mozambican president Samora Machel, who was killed in a mysterious plane crash just inside the border of South Africa when it was under white minority rule.

Graca Machel, the widow of Machel who later married Nelson Mandela, was among those attending the ceremony yesterday in Mbuzini, a South African village close to where Machel and more than 30 others died on 19 October, 1986 when they were returning to Mozambique from Zambia.

There were widespread suspicions that the apartheid government was responsible for the death of Machel, an opponent of South Africa’s white rulers.

The South African government at the time blamed the disaster on the plane’s Soviet crew, saying it ignored safety procedures.

Atop a hill on the border that joins Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa 35 steel tubes mark the site where Samora Machel’s airplane crashed mysteriously in 1986. The hollow pipes — one for each person that died — seem to moan when the wind passes, as though in mourning.

A statue of the late statesman will be unveiled in his country’s capital Maputo tomorrow, the anniversary of his death.

The commemorations got underway yesterday with a memorial service at the crash site near the town of Mbuzini in northeast South Africa.

Mozambican students still sell DVDs of Machel’s impassioned speeches on Maputo’s streets, and the government declared 2011 “Samora Machel Year” as a testimony to his enduring popularity.

“The main thing about Samora is he had an extraordinary powerful common touch,” says academic Colin Darch, who worked at the country’s Eduardo Mondlane University in the 1980s.

“There’s something in his vision of what Mozambique could be like that speaks to young people today who weren’t born then.”

Born in Chilembene village in southern Mozambique, Samora Moises Machel worked as a nurse before becoming a revolutionary. He fought for liberation from the 400-year-long Portuguese colonial rule and became the first president at independence in 1975.

“He was very clear about creating a culture of discipline and hard work,” says his widow Graca, who served under him as education minister and later married the late former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Machel included women and people of all races in the nation-building project of the ruling party Frelimo, in stark contrast with Mozambique’s apartheid neighbour.

– Nampa-AFP

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.