Speaker, Chief Whip of the ANC, Ministers, comrades and colleagues, as the ANC, we are passing our heartfelt condolences to the family of Comrade Nomatyala Hangana. Comrade Nomatyala was born in the Karoo town of Beaufort West. She was the fourth of seven children to Nozenza Catherine Hangana.
Amabanga akhe aphantsi uwafunde eBantu Community School phantsi kukaMnumzana uDlikidla. [She did her primary grades at Bantu Community School, under principal Dlikidla.]
After passing Std 6, she left for Cape Town in pursuit of work in order to assist her family. She left Cape Town to further her education at Siseko Senior Secondary School in Debe Nek. This is where her political consciousness was awakened. She then obtained her diploma in paralegal studies in 1984, after which she found employment at the Legal Resource Centre as a paralegal between 1984 and 1989. She left the LRC to join Ngcuka and Mathana Attorneys, a law firm that was run by Bulelani Ngcuka and M S Mathana.
This is also a period in which she actively participated in the struggle against apartheid. During the repressive apartheid regime, she distinguished herself as an organiser and an interpreter, along with the late Rev Sikolakhe Marhawu. This she did almost weekly at the funerals of fallen comrades and also at rallies, particularly in the Gugulethu area.
She joined the United Women's Front and was part of the negotiations to merge it with the United Women's Organisation to form the United Women's Congress, UWCO, where she served as a member of the executive committee. She also organised for the United Democratic Front. She was elected by the ANC Women's League as its provincial secretary-general and served two terms. In 1993, she was elected to serve on the National Executive Committee of the ANC Women's League, where she served until 2003. During this time, she also served as the provincial chairperson of the ANC Women's League.
After the historic victory of 1994, she was deployed to serve in the National Assembly, the first woman from Beaufort West to do so. She was appointed the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Housing in 1997, where she ably demonstrated her passion for grassroots struggles. She was also a Whip of the ANC. In 2001, she was appointed as MEC for Housing, and she served until the national elections in 2004. It was also at this time that she was elected as deputy chairperson of the ANC in the Western Cape. She was then appointed as the Deputy Minister in the then Department of Provincial and Local Government, where she served until 2009.
In government, she was a convener of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, a task she performed very well. She was again deployed as a Member of Parliament in 2009 but due to ill health she resigned later that year. She returned to her hometown, where she continued to be of service to her community and served in the ANCWL local structures in the regional task team of the Karoo region.
Usutywe kukufa ngomhla wama-30 kweyeThupha. [She died on 30 August.]
She leaves behind her mother, her sister, her brother, her children - two sons, Mkhululi and Loyiso, and a daughter, Thandiwe - her cousins, nephews, nieces and grandchildren.
Lala uphumle MamQadi, Mphankomo ... [Rest in peace, MamQadi, Mphankomo] ... you have been called to a higher place.
I first met Comrade Nomatyala in 1977, a year in which many students were not at school because of the aftermath of the 16 June 1976 student uprising. At the time, she was working as a domestic worker. She was very active in the Domestic Workers' Association. When we met, we became part of the cultural group, in which we were writing poems. We decided to publish our poems and agreed to travel to Johannesburg by train to publish with Ravan Press. This group later became Amampondo, so Nomatyala was one of the founding members of the Amampondo group. In Johannesburg, we were accommodated by the likes of Ingoapele Madingoane and Matsemela Manaka in Diepkloof. Our journey to Johannesburg was the beginning of many years of comradeship.
Nomatyala joined the United Women's Front and became active in many campaigns that took place during those days, such as the fight against forced removals at KTC, Crossroads and Nyanga Bush. She was also part of the campaign that proclaimed "Akuyiwa eKhayelitsha" ["We won't move to Khayelitsha"] - but ended up staying in Khayelitsha! She was fearless, very brave and very articulate. Nomatyala always stated her facts without fear or favour.
On her retirement, she continued to work for the ANC in Beaufort West, building the structures of the ANC. Nomatyala is one of the outstanding leaders of our movement who worked tirelessly to improve the conditions of our people. Her joy was to see the ANCWL being able to take up the issues of gender-based violence. She was a pillar of strength to many comrades. She was a reliable comrade. She was selfless, robust and a dynamic leader.
Nomatyala was an activist who joined the struggle at a tender age, when it was not fashionable to do so. She braved the odds and became one of the outstanding leaders of our time. She believed that women had to be emancipated. As a gender activist, she continued to inspire women to take up their rightful position in society. She led the struggles of women from the front. She believed that no country was free unless its women were free.
Her strength in the organisation was political education. She convened many sessions of chairs and secretaries at Zolani Centre in Nyanga, giving members of the ANCWL umrabulo [daily briefings] on a regular basis.
Those were the qualities of this cadre of our movement, whom we will sadly miss. She believed only the ANC had the vision and will to improve the conditions ... [Interjections.] Just keep your mouths shut, please. [Interjections.]