A letter from PNG on Senior's 92nd birthday
Key Dingake | Friday February 21, 2020 14:29
And as you testified to me, later that day, you were overwhelmed by good wishes pouring in! Reviewing your life I think you have worked with sufficient integrity and dedication to advance the cause of freedom to deserve all accolades coming your way.
Last year on the occasion of your 91st birthday, you retraced your steps, in the company of many of your blood relatives, to Robben Island, some of whom have never in their lives travelled outside Botswana, to celebrate your 91st birthday and to see for themselves how Robben Island looked like and inspect the cell that was your abode for 15 years.
This year, it gives me great pleasure to write you a public letter and congratulate you on this milestone. In congratulating you, I once again hasten to make clear to you my feelings of deep respect and admiration of you, for devoting your entire life to advance the cause of freedom and social justice in our country and beyond.
When I came into this world, you were already deep in the trenches of the liberation struggle in South Africa, executing the political instructions of your organisation: the African National Congress (ANC) and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. Our Dad simply told me of your existence and your daring foray into South Africa, to “fight wars that did not concern you”.
You were an enigma, my father’s poster boy, the torchbearer, the very sibling against whom my performance at school would be measured.
We were told endless stories, including your ability to vanish from a place at the shortest possible time. Every plane that flew over our skies in the village, could have been you carrying on some reconnaissance mission; trying to identify with the precision of an eye surgeon where to detonate the fatal blow to the underbelly of the apartheid monster.
We, your blood relatives, Batswana, and the people of the world are proud of your contribution to the liberation of South Africa.
We thank God for keeping you, as healthy as you can possibly be. We are greatly honoured to celebrate your 92nd birthday and to wish you good health and happiness. You have been an extra-ordinary brother, father, friend and keeper to me.
Your life journey, your thoughts, inspire many of us to strive to make this world a better place for everyone. You are a member of an admirable generation of freedom fighters that include Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Nelson Mandela, Mac Maharaj and Josiah Jele. You have always regarded yourself as first and foremost an African, a citizen of the world, and your foray into South Africa was a living testimony of that belief.
The apartheid regime locked you up for 15 years for your uncompromising stance and belief in freedom and social justice for all. You were humiliated and separated from us, your family, for fighting for the rights of all South Africans, and for humanity.
You lived a life of an outlaw in order to secure freedom for humanity. After your release, in a different terrain, you found your people politically free but far from enjoying anything close to economic justice. Inequality, hunger, poverty and unemployment stalked your people, and continue to date.
You were not deterred to immerse yourself in the trenches to liberate your people because of the scars, physical and mental, you bore.
I wish I had enough space to take advantage of the opportunity presented by your birthday to interrogate the question: what should and must be done to ensure that poverty, inequality and unemployment are a thing of the past among our people? If only we can borrow from you the spirit of selflessness and the tenacity to mobilise for a better society and the total absence of greed, we will in time be a model society, a happy and prosperous people.
I admire your commitment to justice for all. I admire your democratic credentials. I remember that when your time came to hand over the baton to a younger and more agile leader, you did so voluntarily, with no one having to pressurise you to do the right thing. The story in the rest of Africa is different. You may have read about one leader who suddenly discovered that his birth certificate suggested that he was older than he was and had to be corrected to enable him to run for another term in office.
We have a situation in many of our countries, including workplaces, where those of advanced age are not willing to let go and give the younger generations the chance to do things differently and better.
I hope you spent your special day basking in the pride of knowing the indelible impact you have made to advance justice for all; and that our people spoilt you with love and presents. I hope too that Prince Tebogo slaughtered a cow or goat to commemorate your day, to appease the Sejiye ancestors and to celebrate your many works and wonderful deeds for all of us and for humanity. If he has not done so someone must whisper to him gently that it is in his interest to remedy the situation fast, at least before I ascertain the facts, if he does not want to incur the wrath of Rrangwane and his ancestors.
I hope you had the opportunity and time to share tales about your 92 years’ journey and that Princess Thembi, Letsweletse, Lesedi and their siblings and cousins paid attention to the oral history you shared with them whilst at the same time recording it for posterity and also for purposes of accounting to Rrangwane, who is currently trapped in the bowels of the Pacific, at the right time. Thembi informs me she is busy at work to conclude a few projects that would immortalise you. She is a star amongst stars! To say she is God-sent would be an understatement!
I wish you many more years of good health and happiness, and that you continue to inspire us to believe that a free and just society is possible, and to understand that poverty is manmade as there is enough (wealth) in this world to (go around and) feed everyone.
I promise you, on behalf of the Sejiye clan, our family members, that we will always honour your legacy, we shall always honour the cause of freedom and social justice. You have been the most tenacious force for equality and freedom I have known in my entire life! You inspire me even in my sleep!
You taught me values of honesty and fidelity to the law. Our old man believed in the rule of law; mainly his law and commandments, his favourite being: “though shall not lie”. There is a striking similarity between you and Dad. You detest dishonesty with a passion and so did he. You insist on the truth at all times. Your weapon of choice in any argument is reason, facts and truth.
Your inspiration lives on. You taught me that what counts is the welfare of the people and that each of us, taken in isolation, is worth nothing. And so dear brother, if you hear the trees and shrubs whispering aided by some winds blowing from the Pacific of this and that and if my final hour finds me in any other jurisdiction in the world, take pride that you led from the front and by example. I am proud of having followed you without hesitation, identified with your pro-poor values, and imbibed the notion that values have to be lived and not just recited at ceremonial gatherings.
As I conclude my letter, Senior, please accept the infinite gratitude of a kid brother who adores you deeply. I wish you many more years Sejiye!
With warmest regards and best wishes,
Junior
*Key Dingake is a former justice of the High Court. He is currently Judge of the Supreme and National Courts of Papua New Guinea. This is his tribute to Michael Kitso Dingake, his elder brother.