President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday, 3 September, 2026, deliver the inaugural Nokuthula Simelane Memorial Lecture at the University of Mpumalanga.
Simelane was an anti-apartheid struggle hero who was abducted, tortured and murdered by apartheid Special Branch police in the 1980s.
“The Nokuthula Simelane Memorial Lecture is being established as a national platform to promote dialogue on democracy, social justice, ethical leadership, gender equality, human rights and nation-building, while preserving and advancing the legacy of Nokuthula Simelane and other heroes and heroines of South Africa's liberation struggle.
“The Memorial Lecture seeks to create a national conversation on justice, accountability, truth, reconciliation and the unfinished business of South Africa’s democratic transition,” the Presidency said in a statement.
The inaugural lecture will be hosted by the Nokuthula Simelane Foundation.
“Nokuthula Simelane dedicated her life to the struggle for freedom and democracy and paid the ultimate price in service of the people of South Africa.
“In 2024, she was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in Gold for her incredible bravery. President Cyril Ramaphosa described her disappearance as a wound that will never heal for her family,” the statement read. – SAnews.gov.za
