Comrades
On Sunday, 17 October, I attended a memorial service in honour of Benny
Alexander (Khoisan X) organised by his family, his friends and comrades, his
business partners, his spiritual leaders, and the Griqua royal house whom he
advised on cultural and political matters. It was a touching ceremony held in
the garden of Benny's business colleague, and it affected the participants
greatly as speakers recounted their various experiences with him. An
arrangement has been made to coordinate the week's events that will lead up to
Saturday, 23 October, when this great son of Africa will be taken to his final
resting place.
On Monday morning, 18 Oct, SAfm will dedicate 09:05 till 10:00 to Khoisan X.
Phillip Dlamini, Mark Shinners, Lesaoana Makhanda and possibly his ex-wife,
Imani Milima Alexander, will discuss his political life including his
experiences as a personal aide to Uncle Zeph Mothopeng, as PAC Secretary
General, and how he was mentored in the philosophy and political theory of
revolutionary Pan Africanism. His interaction with the Khoisan people will
also be attested to. This is a talk show - we encourage all Africanists to
call in and express their condolences and fond memories of the fallen comrade.
On Wednesday, 20 Oct, a Memorial Service will be for at 11:00 for about three
and half hours at the Joburg City Hall on President Street. PAC stalwarts and
political allies will be on the platform. Again, we encourage all available
Party members and supporters to attend.
The funeral will take place in Kimberley on Saturday, 23 Oct. The coordinating
committee for the funeral is making final preparations for the programmes of
the day. However, the venue is on Long Street in Kimberly and is said to
accommodate up to a thousand people. An advance guard is today on the way to
the Northern Cape to work on final touches. The event on Sat will start at
07:30. We urge mourners to travel safely, to and fro.
In early September I was asked by a comrade and friend from the PAC branch in
Alex to arrange that Benny be interviewed on the women's television programme,
Motswako, on the cultural heritage of the Khoisan. He agreed without
complaining even though he was not well, and had lately been unable to attend
our own political sessions on the grounds of ill health. The programme was
flighted on the night of September 27, wherein Khoisan X in a feeble voice
articulated the cultural heritage of the Khoisan correctly in the context of
the PAC's position on the national question. We spoke about it the next day
and he wanted to hear my opinion. I merely said the brain drain in the PAC is
not doing us any good. We will live to regret our self-styled hara-kiri and
death wish. Except for sms messages, we never spoke again after that. Uncle
Zeph passed on in October 1990 - Benny Alexander (Khoisan X) died in October
2010. This is my sad and last memory of Benny.
My parting shot is that having worked with Khoisan X closely in the leadership
of the PAC in the 1990s, I have come to respect the man for his open-mindedness
and the ability to take debates and differences of opinion on any issue without
holding personal grudges. His infectious laughter and wit took him out of
tight corners most of the time, and he was always one man up in adversarial
circumstances. He was not a saint and he had his imperfections like all other
mortals. We can learn a lot from him and his entire life. All we must do, at
this stage, is work towards making his a decent funeral.
Uncharacteristic of the PAC, there has been a few loudmouths and liars such as
the statement attributed to Mfanelo Skwatsha in the media (SAPA) where he
refers to Imani on the wishes of the deceased. Imani says these are deliberate
distortions and she has never even spoken to Skwatsha. She then spoke to
Letlapa Mphahlele privately to set the record straight - and his apologies were
accepted. I say 'uncharacteristic' because never in our history have we used
death as a platform to further own personal ends. I don't understand how you
could say Benny was not a member of the PAC in public, and yet say in public
that his final wishes were that he should be buried by the PAC. This is
hypocrisy. What have we come to? We must cease with immediate effect from
such vile behaviour. We are all members of the PAC and we must act as such,
guided by the Basic Documents. And accept nothing out of character.
Izwe lethu iAfrika.
Jaki Seroke
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