ANC no letters.jpg ANC Statement, 25 January 2016 Passing of Hermanus Loots (a.k.a. James Stuart) The African National Congress is saddened by the loss of a stalwart, a revolutionary and its long standing member, Comrade Hermanus Loots (aka) James Stuart, who passed on this morning. Comrade Stuart ranks amongst the senior and highly experienced cadres of the ANC, both militarily and politically. Comrade Hermanus Loots was an outstanding member of the ANC whose activism dates back to his early days in uMkhonto WeSizwe where he participated in the much recorded Wankie campaign in the 1960s where he worked with Chris Hani. Comrade Loots served in the ANC NEC during the period 1985 - 1990 under the Presidency of Oliver Tambo. As an NEC member, he was appointed as the Secretary of the External Coordinating Committee under the Chairpersonship of Comrade Alfred Nzo. In exile, he was responsible for political education at Alpha in Lusaka, overseeing the library and classification of information and material. He was the ANC's knowledge base specialist. He Chaired the Stuart Commission appointed by the ANC NEC in the 1980s to investigate events in the camps in Angola. He also served as Chairperson of the National People's Tribunal. Comrade Loots has been an all rounder who led by example. Following his exposure to the military world, he became key in training many MK cadres thus reproducing a calibre of disciplined combatants. He was generally regarded as a link between the older and the younger generations. He played an effective and crucial role in the underground structures of the ANC and Mk. Comrade Stuart was both a father figure and a warm comrade who always gave guidance and advice to young recruits most of whom he mentored to leadership. He also served as the Chief Representative of the ANC during the exile period. After the unbanning of organizations he participated in negotiations as part of the ANC team and subsequently became a member of Parliament under the Presidency of Nelson Mandela. In parliament he served as a Member of Parliament from 1994-1999 and on the Joint Standing Committees of Defence. Hermanus retired in 1999 to pursue his interests in the private sector. His maturity in political and social dynamics has enabled development to occur in multi-cultural and diverse political environments. Comrade Stuart will be missed for his selfless and persistent commitment to the people of South Africa. His legacy will remain in the cadreship he developed over time. His ideas will continue to serve as a beacon to our movement. We take this opportunity to convey condolences to his family and loved ones. May his soul rest in peace! Issued by: Zizi Kodwa National Spokesperson African National Congress Enquiries: Keith Khoza 082 823 9672 Khusela Sangoni 072 854 5707 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
