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Gauteng: Address by Gauteng Premier, on the occasion of the official renaming of the Natalspruit Hospital to Thelle Mogoerane Hospital, East Rand (20/08/2015)

David Makhura
Photo by Duane Daws
David Makhura

21st August 2015

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Programme Director
Members of the family of our martyr, Thelle Mogoerane, their friends and relatives
The MEC for Health, Qedani Mahlangu and other MECs present here The Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni, Councillor Mondli Gungubele Members of the Mayoral Committee,
Councillors
Leaders of political parties
The staff and management of the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital
Our honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen.

On that fateful day, the 9th of June 1983, three young, brave members of Umkhonto Wesizwe: Thelle Simon Mogoerane, Jerry Semano Mosolodi, Marcus Thabo Motaung, lost their lives at the brutal hands of the apartheid hangman.

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They died because they dared to fight a system that had unleashed unbearable terror on the oppressed people of South Africa.

In the eyes of those who hanged them, Thelle Mogoerane and his comrades were “terrorists”. But to the overwhelming majority of the people of South Africa and to the people of the world they were heroes, patriots, freedom fighters, martyrs.

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Thelle Mogoerane and his comrades were executed despite many calls for clemency by the global anti-apartheid movement and the United Nations.

These finest cadres of the liberation movement, then known as the Moroka three, were part of the G5 Unit of Umkhonto weSizwe, the People’s Army.

This was the first unit to conduct assaults on police stations in Soweto, Johannesburg and the Tshwane areas, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This they did in retaliation to the brutality of the apartheid state at the time.

The G5 Unit was one of the units that made former ANC President OR Tambo so proud that he is reported to have said that it would be among the first MK units that recognition should be given to, after unbanning and the liberation movement’s return from exile.

Accordingly and in recognition of the unit’s bravery, in 2010 the unit was awarded a National Oder, one of our country’s highest honour, The Order of Mendi for Bravery in Gold.

Even as they were facing death, Thelle and his fellow comrades, remained defiant. Boldly they said they were ready to die for justice and freedom in the country they loved so dearly.

Programme Director, all of these things come to mind especially today as we bestow a befitting honour to one of our own who paid the ultimate prize for our nation’s liberation: Thelle Mogoerane.

By renaming this state-of-the-art health facility in honour of Thelle Mogoerane, we are acknowledging his immense contribution to our struggle for liberation and his generation.

We are engraving his name in our nation’s collective memory, ensuring that it continues to occupy a place among our heroes and heroines.

We are once again making the point that our freedom was not free; that it came at an enormous cost to martyrs such as Comrade Thelle Mogoerane, martyrs who were prepared to give up everything for us to be a free people.

On this special day we are also paying tribute to the family of Thelle Mogoerane. We are saying to the family: your beloved son’s supreme sacrifice was not in vain. We honour you and thank you for your son’s contribution to the struggle to free the people of South Africa.

Your son was a part of a popular movement for good. He was part of a people’s struggle, a struggle that drew overwhelming support from freedom loving people across the world. He took part in a noble and worthy cause. He died for us all.

We will continue to draw inspiration that when Thelle and his fellow martyrs were told by Justice David Curlewis that he was sentencing them to death, they shouted Amandla, with their fists clinched.

To us this was an act of extra-ordinary bravery. It was an act of selflessness, of fearlessness and an act of unparalleled patriotism.

It is such acts that continue to inspire those of us tasked with the responsibility of defending and spreading the gains of the freedom and democracy that Comrade Thelle and many others fought so bravely for.

Programme Director, it is a fitting tribute to the sacrifices that Comrade Thelle made for our freedom that we are today renaming this modern, state of the art health facility in his honour.

As we have said before this facility represents the future of public health care in Gauteng!

It is a sign of things to come as we push ahead with our programme of radical Transformation, Modernization and Re-industrialisation, in particular as we modernise the provision of public healthcare services.

It is by providing facilities such as these that we are gradually, step by step, changing the manner in which our people are experiencing government services. Indeed facilities such as these help in changing public perceptions about government services.

In line with our overall commitment to improve access to quality health care, we continue to register important strides in the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme.

We are encouraged that according to the assessments conducted by the National Office of Health Standards Compliance, as part of monitoring the implementation of the NHI, Gauteng achieved the highest score and has been rated number one in the country for three consecutive years.

At the Steve Biko Academic Hospital for instance, we continue to register high levels of compliance with National Core Standards, with compliance at that facility standing at 96%, the highest in the country. Our goal is to ensure that this high level of compliance becomes the norm throughout the province.

As a caring government we are determined to provide state-of-the-art public facilities, especially in our townships and in those areas that were previously underserviced.

We take this opportunity to urge the staff of this hospital to play their part in honouring our martyr Comrade Thelle Mogoerane, after whom this hospital is named, by providing superior service to those who come to this hospital.

In honour of Comrade Thelle Mogoerane, let this be the best health facility in the province and in our country. Let this facility bring an end to the long queues, neglect and general poor service that continue to plague our health system.

Let there be no community members and children who die unnecessarily from this hospital. Let this hospital be a source of hope for the community of Natalspruit and surrounding areas. Let this be a shining example of what a dedicated public service can deliver.

We also take this opportunity to urge community members to look after this facility. To members of the community we say this is your facility. It is your asset.

We remind you also that it is you, through a public participation process, who decided to name this facility after a great hero, Thelle Mogoerane.

We therefore trust that you will make sure that this hospital through the level of service it provides, lives up to the attributes of the giant it is named after.

We urge you to report incidences of theft and vandalism to the police! We call on you to isolate and expose those in your communities who seek to destroy and weaken the ability of this facility to offer proper and high quality services.

Long Live the Spirit of Thelle Mogoerane, Long Live!

Thank you!

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