I move that the House -
1) notes with great sadness the passing of one of the most respected anti-apartheid struggle veterans and ANC Member of Parliament for 20 years, Mr Nelson Diale, on Thursday, 8 January 2015, in the Jane Furse Hospital in Limpopo;
2) further notes that he passed away at a time when the ANC, the party for which he made colossal sacrifices and which he selflessly served for close to 60 years, marked its 103rd year of existence;
3) recalls that Mr Diale joined the ANC in 1956, following the adoption of the Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People in 1955 which he believed represented the vision of a truly united, democratic, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous South Africa and for which he was ready to lay down his life; 4) further recalls that not only was he one of the heroes who dedicated his life to the battle against the demon of apartheid and racial segregation so that the goals enshrined in the Freedom Charter could be achieved, but throughout his 20 years' parliamentary tenure he tirelessly worked for its practical implementation;
5) remembers that Mr Diale endured police harassment, countless arrests, persecution, torture and banishment due to his activism in the ANC, Umkhonto weSizwe, which he joined in 1962, the SA Communist Party, SACP, and the SA Congress of Trade Unions, Sactu;
6) further remembers that in 1964 he was imprisoned on Robben Island for eight years under the notorious Sabotage and Terrorism Acts, along with fellow combatants such as Peter Magano, Andrew Mashaba, Melifi Makinta and Peter Nchabeleng, all of them legally represented by stalwart Bram Fischer;
7) recognises that among the liberation fighters alongside whom he served on Robben Island, were President Jacob Zuma, Comrades Harry Gwala, Steve Tshwete, Steven Dlamini and Lawrence Phokanoka, and it was during his imprisonment on Robben Island that his political education was developed and internalised;
8) further recognises that not even his torture of eight years, and other harsh conditions which he endured on Robben Island, could break his tenacious and resolute spirit;
9) acknowledges upon his return from prison, and despite his banishment to the homeland of Lebowa and the constant harassment of his family, he continued fearlessly and defiantly to carry out the political programmes of the ANC;
10) further acknowledges that he retired from Parliament in 2014, having served on many committees over the past two decades, most notably -
a) the Portfolio Committees on Correctional Services, Transport, Defence and Military Veterans, as well as Safety and Security; and
b) during the final five years of his parliamentary tenure, he served as a member of the political committee of the ANC parliamentary caucus, a National Executive Committee subcommittee that oversees the ANC's parliamentary work;
11) believes that as a result of his passing, the ANC and the people of South Africa have lost a great fount of knowledge, a foremost intellectual, a struggle giant, a humble revolutionary and a selfless warrior.