TRIBUTE TO MAJOR GENERAL SIYAYA NKONYENI!
Photo by Xola Tyamzashe
It is with deep sadness, for many of us that the Nkonyeni family should lose such a son so unexpectedly. Your son is a great loss also to this nation and to the liberation movement of which he was highly respected, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. Major General Siyaya Nkonyeni has departed to eternity at a critical time in our history when we need more warriors, for our authentic liberation, like him. He has served the African national liberation struggle of our country with distinction and tenacity.
This is a soldier who knew his military science well and understood that its ultimate objective is the equitable redistribution of land and its resources in our country according to population numbers. This African case was put to King George V of England by Sol Plaatje, John Dube and their three colleagues in July 1914. Our Kings had already fought heroic wars for it. Political giants of this country such as Lembede, Mda, Sobukwe and Mothopeng endorsed this land issue and articulated it without compromise.
Major General Siyaya was a brave soldier. Long before he joined the South African National Defence Force in 1994, his name was associated with the song “Siyaya ePitori” – We are going to Pretoria. This was when he lived in the forests, mountains and hills of Africa where he was being trained as a guerrilla fighter for this country to be liberated from colonialism and apartheid. This was during the darkest times. But far away from his country, where he was suffering the gruesome life of guerrilla warfare, he became famous for the freedom song, “Siyaya ePitori.” This sounded like a manifestation of mental disorder – insanity.
But he did go to Pretoria – Tshwane, not as an apartheid colonial slave. He joined as a free man and he rose in the ranks of the South African Army to the rank of Major General. He served with honour and earned trust to be deployed in our sister Democratic Republic of Congo to perform his Pan African obligation there, as taught by Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe, that visionary who was imprisoned on Robben Island without even a mock trial.
I want to convey my personal appreciation to M-Afrika Siyaya’s family and to all his relatives for contributing to our national liberation struggle, a politico-military cadre of Comrade Siyaya’s calibre. Without such men, the indigenous owners of this country would have ended in the 11 Bantustans called “home lands” by the colonialists. They had the audacity to tell us where we may live in the land that God, Qamata, Modimo, Mvelingqngi gave to our ancestors.
Let this generation and coming generations derive inspiration and wisdom from our heroes such as Major General Siyaya Nkonyeni. The liberation journey he was involved in is still long. Cde Siyaya was in the class of General Makhanda colonially called Makana. He defended land rights for Africans in this country under King Ndlambe. On 25 December 1819, he stormed the British colonial garrison in Grahamstown – eRhini isixeko seNgwele!
General Siyaya walked the road of General Makwanyane of Moshoeshoe’s Army who wiped out those who were trying to climb Thaba Bosiu and dispossess Africans of their country and land. Makwanyane demonstrated political clarity and military prowess when he said: “Tshwara thebe e tie wa Rasenate, Wa bona fatshe leno le yaya.” (Hold firm your shield son of Rasenate, You see the land of your ancestors is taken away).
General Siyaya “ePitori”: Sobukwe, Mothopeng, Pokela, Jafta Masemola and many other heroes of our authentic liberation are proud of you.
The architect of Battle of Isandlwana, King Cetshwayo – Uphaqa nje ngelanga; Inyathi yasenhlakanhlakeni; Unokuzila ukudla kwamagwala; Impunzi kaNdaba! is full of joy for your sacrificial national service.
King Hintsa was also a great soldier – Njonga ntshiyini bathi uqumbile; Inkunzi abayikhuzu ukuhlaba ingekahlabi; Uzigodlwana zemazi endala; Zingalala endleni yazini kunyembelekile. He too, is smiling with joy upon your patriotism.
WHAT REMAINS NOW IN OUR COUNTRY IS EQUITABLE REDISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND ITS RICHES ACCORDING TO POPULATION NUMBERS. LIBERATION OF A LAND DISPOSSESSED PEOPLE WITHOUT REPOSSESSION OF THEIR LAND IS A GIGANTIC COLONIAL FRAUD.
General Major Siyaya Nkonyeni Rise in Honour and Glory!
HAMBA KAKUHLE QHAWE LAKOWETHU!
Izwe Lethu! Fatshe la rona! Shango lashu! Tiko ra hina! The Land Is Ours!
By Dr. Motsoko Pheko
It is indeed sad for all of us to experience the sudden going away of Cde Siyaya Nkonyeni. I form a picture in my mind of one autumn day in Johannesburg in the year 1994, to recall when I witnessed the coming together of Cde Siyaya with his three sisters after a long period in exile. One of the sisters, Sheila Sisulu, told me how happy they all were to see their brother again – since the 1976 uprisings. It certainly will be particularly sad for them and the rest of the Nkonyeni family to see him to his final resting place.
Cde Siyaya made the adage that dynamites come in small packages very real. His height belied his military abilities. As chief of operations in 1986, he was behind the popular campaign of the Azanian Peoples Liberation Army (APLA) using the Scorpion machine pistol. His combatants were acknowledged by the enemy as very good and highly lethal commandos. They fought at eyeball to eyeball level with the enemy, and they never surrendered or compromised each other. iApla beyishaya enyameni. He thereafter took the responsibility to train the forces at the Zeph Mothopeng Military Academy. He choreographed the drill at the funeral of Sabelo Phama. He was a dedicated military officer.
I believe that in this vein, he became a major asset to the new South African National Defense Force when he took the reins at the infantry school. He administered the military veterans process before he led the peace-keeping contingent in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He served with distinction.
a true son of the soil who was dedicated in building a discipline force
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