Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has declared a Special Provincial Official Funeral for the late Former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) commander, Lieutenant-General Lehlohonolo Moloi who passed on in Gauteng last Monday.
General Moloi is also former chief of service corps in the South African National Defence Force.
The President has ordered that all flags in the Gauteng Province fly half-mast during the funeral on 03 January 2014. Moloi was born in 1932, in Quting, Lesotho. In 1940 his family moved to South Africa to join his father, who was a railway worker in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
He attended school in Soweto until 1963, when he left the country to join the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
He returned to Lesotho, where he lived in exile, and worked there with assassinated South African Communist party general secretary Chris Hani until he was transferred to Lusaka in the early 1980s. He served as an MK commander the entire time.
He worked in MK's operations department, responsible for the deployment and infiltration of members into the country.
On his return to South Africa, he played a major role in the negotiations to ensure MK members were integrated into the then newly-formed SANDF, which he joined as a senior officer.
Meanwhile, Zuma extended condolences to the family of Thembekile Ntombizamani Shangase, 61, who died tragically on 27 at the President’s Nkandla village. She had attended the year end Christmas party for older persons hosted annually by the President. The circumstances of the incident were still being investigated by the Ministry of Social Development.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the family and relatives on the passing of their loved one during what was meant to be a joyous occasion for our senior citizens. The Minister has assured me that the matter is being looked into," said Zuma. – SAnews.gov.za
