Local News
Former ANC North West secretary laid to rest─── 07:35 Sun, 02 Dec 2018
African National Congress' former North West secretary, Ndleleni Moses Duma, who died on November 23 after a long illness, was committed to the ANC and not corrupt, mourners heard at his special provincial funeral on Saturday.
"He could not do anything but for the ANC. He committed all he had to the people of South Africa. He made sure South Africa was liberated," his brother Zwelindao Duma said at the funeral in Ikageng near Potchefstroom.
He said that although his brother had occupied a high position in the ANC and later in the provincial government, he never abused his position. "He was not corrupt. He does not know corruption. He respected the ANC and executed its mandate properly."
Despite Duma's powerful position, his relatives and family members were still unemployed and did not have low-cost houses. "He wanted people to have government assistance fairly, whether it was allocation of RDP houses or jobs," Zwelindao Duma said.
Ndleleni Moses Duma was born on August 26, 1958 at Collersfontein in the Free State. He was the ninth of 14 children in the family. He is survived by his wife Nolwendle Duma, two sons, Vali and Nkululeko, daughter Thembeka, and brother and sisters.
He was regional secretary of the ANC in the then Western Transvaal and became the first provincial secretary of the ANC in North West. He was appointed agriculture, environmental conservation, and tourism MEC in 2004.
In 2007 he was appointed MEC for sport, arts, and culture, and in 2009 he was deployed to the National Assembly. He returned to the North West provincial legislature as chairman of the portfolio committee on rural environment and agricultural development, and was also ANC chief whip.
On Saturday, several speakers at the funeral described him as a humble and disciplined person who believed in unity in the ANC. "Comrade Duma worked tirelessly for unity when it was not fashionable; he leaves behind a legacy," current ANC chief whip in the North West Legislature, Raymond Elisha, said.
Duma was buried at the Potchefstroom cemetery. Thousands of mourners attended the service at Ikageng Stadium, and although the service was delayed for two hours while a marquee was being erected, mourners waited for proceedings to start.
ANC secretary general, Ace Magashule, called for unity in the ANC and for members to resolve their differences and vote for the ANC in the 2019 general election.
African News Agency (ANA)
