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Skweyiya was loyal to ANC but an independent thinker – Mabuza

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The official state memorial of Zola Skweyiya. Picture: Tebogo Letsie/City Press
The official state memorial of Zola Skweyiya. Picture: Tebogo Letsie/City Press

Dr Zola Skweyiya was a loyal cadre but he was also an independent thinker, Deputy President David Mabuza has said.

Mabuza was giving the keynote tribute at the official state memorial of Skweyiya at the Tshwane Expo Centre on Wednesday.

Mabuza refered to Skweyiya as “a very loyal cadre of the ANC. He was a deep thinker, and very rational person, and yet disciplined in his own conduct, and in understanding the ANC and its reputation”.

In recent years Skweyiya was part of the ANC veterans who were critical of then president Jacob Zuma’s style of leadership and the endemic corruption, and wanted him to resign.

Possibly alluding to this, Mabuza said Skweyiya gave the organisation absolute loyalty but was “independent minded”.

“As a loyal member, he gave absolute loyalty and obedience to the leadership of the organisation. But he was also independent minded, but careful nonetheless as to how he expressed himself.”

Skweyiya passed away at Kloof Hospital in Erasmuskloof, Tshwane, last Wednesday.

He was first elected to Cabinet in 1994 when he served as minister of public service and administration from 1994 to 1999 and then took up the post of minister of social development from 1999 to 2009, where he served under former president Thabo Mbeki’s Cabinet.

Mabuza also paid tribute to the vast array of notable and distinguished traits Skweyiya possesed, including integrity, discipline and dedication.

The ANC’s deputy president also touched on Skweyiya’s youth days in Lovedale, calling the town “the heartbeat of political thought leadership and activism”.

“In all likelihood, these traits and character of Dr Skweyiya were shaped by his early years at Lovedale as a young student activist,” Mabuza said.

Mabuza praised the efforts of Skweyiya during his tenure at the social development ministry, saying that he deeply cared about the dignity of the people he served.

“To best honour the legacy of this gentle giant of our struggle for freedom, we must agree that the arrogance of leadership must give way to humility.”

Read Mabuza’s full speech below:

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