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Pioneer diplomat and struggle stalwart George Nene, who died last week, will be buried in Soweto on Friday.
Nene, whose death was overshadowed by that of struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was one of South Africa’s first top diplomats to be deployed to the United Nations when the country transitioned to democracy.
He played a key role in integrating the new republic into the international diplomatic community as South Africa’s permanent representative to the UN’s nerve centre in Geneva where the major agencies and funds are based.
Nene was one of the early members of the South African Student Organisation.
He worked alongside the likes of Steve Biko in reviving the internal liberation struggle after it had been suppressed by the bannings of organisations and the exiling and imprisonment of senior leaders.
When Nene returned to teach at his alma mater Morrison Isaacson High School in Soweto after completing university, he was among the teachers who provided guidance to the students who led the 1976 uprisings.
He left the country after the 1976 uprisings to join the ANC’s uMkhonto we Sizwe military wing.
After undergoing military training in the Soviet Union, he served as an MK military instructor at the camps in Angola.
He was then deployed to Special Operations command posts in Maputo and Swaziland.
He rose through the ranks of the ANC and eventually became one of the top officials in the department of international relations, working directly under the leadership of then ANC president Oliver Tambo.
He also served as the ANC’s main point-man in West Africa in the final days of the ANC’s exile.
He continued there as High Commissioner to Nigeria before his UN posting.
After returning to South Africa from his UN posting, Nene became deputy director-general for multilateral affairs before taking over as the special advisor to the minister of international relations and cooperation.
Increasingly concerned about the future of the country and the ANC, Nene was one of the 101 ANC stalwarts and veterans who campaigned for former president Jacob Zuma’s exit and the renewal of the party he had spent his life serving.
Paying tribute to Nene, President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa had lost “a special patriot and career diplomat who flew our flag with distinction”.
“Through his leadership in our diplomatic service, ambassador Nene was instrumental in preparing South Africa’s emerging diplomatic representatives for the dynamics and demands of a rapidly changing world,” Ramaphosa said.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said Nene was among the top diplomats the ANC and the country had “ever deployed across the world”.
Former South Africa National Defence Force head and former MK chief of staff Siphiwe Nyanda described Nene as “a devoted, disciplined soldier and an esteemed ambassador for the country”.
• Nene’s funeral service will be at Morris Isaacson High School on Friday at 9am and he will be buried at Avalon Cemetery, Soweto.
