President Cyril Ramaphosa pictured bestowing the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo in Gold on Namibian Founding Father Dr Sam Nujoma.
Image: Kopano Tlape/GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa has conveyed his condolences to the government and the people of Namibia following the death of its Founding President Dr Sam Nujoma.
Nujoma died in Windhoek at the age of 95.
The loss of the founding father comes 12 months after the passing of President Hage Geingob.
“As neighbours and compatriots, South Africa is united in grief with Namibians who have lost the leader of the Namibian revolution, who is inseparable from our own history of struggle and liberation,” Ramaphosa said.
“Dr Sam Nujoma was an extraordinary freedom fighter who divided his revolutionary programme between Namibia’s own struggle against South African colonialism and the liberation of South Africa from apartheid,” he said.
Ramaphosa described Nujoma as an extraordinary freedom fighter.
“Dr Sam Nujoma was an extraordinary freedom fighter who divided his revolutionary programme between Namibia’s own struggle against South African colonialism and the liberation of South Africa from apartheid,” he said.
Ramaphosa further stated: “In exile and on home soil, he led the Ovambo People’s Organisation, the South West Africa People’s Organisation and the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia against the seemingly unshakeable might of colonial and apartheid authorities and forces.”
“Sam Nujoma inspired the Namibian people to pride and resistance that belied the size of the population,” Ramaphosa said.
He said Namibia’s attainment of independence from South Africa in 1990 ignited the inevitability of our own liberation.
“President Nujoma’s leadership of a free Namibia laid the foundation for the solidarity and partnership our two countries share today – a partnership we will continue to deepen as neighbours and friends,” Ramaphosa said.
“We are grateful for the extended lifetime with which Dr Sam Nujoma was blessed and we are grateful for the manner in which he dedicated the many decades of his life to serving his nation. May his soul rest in peace and may our neighbours find healing in his legacy,” Ramaphosa added.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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