Mrs Nambitha Stofile and the Stofile family,
Secretary General of the ANC
Former President Kgalema Motlanthe
Members of the National Executive Committee of the ANC
Premier of the Eastern Cape, Mr Phumulo Masualle,
Ministers, Deputy Ministers and MECs,
Traditional Leaders
Members of Parliament and the Provincial Legislature,
Members of Local Government
Members of the diplomatic corps,
Representatives of the religious fraternity,
Representatives of academia and the sporting fraternity,
Fellow South Africans,

We gather here today to bid farewell to one of the Eastern Cape’s finest sons.

Comrade Stof, a beloved comrade and friend, embodied more than most the values and qualities that we seek in ourselves.

His whole life, his personal, political and social consciousness, was shaped by the African National Congress, the organisation which he loved so deeply and to which he remained loyal.

He was a revolutionary reverend and a revolutionary politician.

He was unwavering in his faith and firm in his political convictions.

He lived his life in pursuit of the Biblical injunction that the oppressed shall be set free and the hungry shall be fed.

As we gather here on this sad day, we can say with conviction that Makhenkesi Stofile’s life was not given to regret, for he was an architect of hope and a combatant for social justice.

As we gather here, we celebrate a life lived in service and devotion.

We celebrate the outstanding contribution that he has made to our country and to its people.

Even as he can no longer utter a word, his remarkable life will continue to embolden the hearts of those who knew him to deepen the struggle for equality and dignity.

Even as we pay tribute to his outstanding contribution, we yearn at this moment in the history of our nation for people of the calibre and character of Makhenkesi Stofile.

Friends and Compatriots,

Rev Makhenkesi Stofile was a person of great courage.

He risked his life for his people and his movement.

He is one of the many leaders and members of our movement who endured persecution and imprisonment.
He fought for the people, no matter the personal cost, because it was what his conscience demanded.

When the apartheid security apparatus was at its most powerful, when its bantustan proxies were at their most brutal, he was prepared to stand up for what was right and good and true. He was prepared to endure pain and suffering and to sacrifice to protect others.

A week before he died he was visited by a comrade he worked with. They reminisced about the past but more specifically about how this comrade having been arrested refused to testify against Cde Stof. He heard about her dilemma and sent a message to her and insisted that she should testify because he was concerned that if she did not she would be sentenced to prison. Her testimony led to her committing perjury. He achieved his objective. She did not go to prison. He was sentenced to prison.

Leaders who are prepared to sacrifice in the way that he did are rare.

And yet, though that iniquitous system that persecuted, humiliated and degraded him has been consigned to history, our country still yearns for people like Makhenkesi Stofile.

Now, at this moment, we need people of courage like Cde Stof.

We need people who understand, as he did, that politics must be about putting the country first.

We need people who will stand up for what is right. We need people who will stand up and uphold the values of our movement.

We need people who will not only ask difficult questions of ourselves, of our movement, of our leaders, but people who are prepared to do the demanding and exacting work required to truly transform our society.

Makhenkesi Stofile was a person of outstanding integrity who lived his life based on the values of our movement.

He had an essential honesty rooted in his profound respect for the rights, dignity and humanity of others.

He was humble, unassuming, not given to affectation.

Now, at this moment, perhaps more than ever, we need people of integrity like Rev Arnold Makhenkesi Stofile.

Like him, we need people who reject the notion that politics is about the promotion of one’s narrow self-interest.

We need people who will not succumb to the temptations of public office; who will not take for themselves what rightly belongs to the masses.

In a society that prizes status and wealth, we need people who, like Comrade Stof, regard the lowliest among us as the most significant, the most valued.

He believed that politics should fundamentally be about morality.

Makhenkesi Stofile was a disciplined cadre of our movement.

He was a strong believer in the power of a popular mandate and the profound responsibilities that derive from that mandate.

He knew that leaders must earn the trust of the people by articulating a coherent moral vision that is compelling, that describes and exemplifies a national democratic society and that reflects the values enshrined in our Constitution.

He paid great attention to the detail of running an organisation, believing that his movement, the African National Congress, was only as strong as its branches.

He understood discipline not merely as a matter of rules and regulations, but the product of a deliberate decision to dedicate oneself to the struggle for freedom.

For him, discipline was as much about attending meetings, undertaking tasks and respecting time as it was about working hard and placing the interests of the people above one’s own.

If we are to be the honest leaders that Cde Stof urged us to be, we cannot lay him to rest without acknowledging the anguish that he felt at the state of our movement and our national democratic revolution.

In the weeks before his passing, he expressed a concern that the ANC may lose Nelson Mandela Bay and other key centres.

As the results of the local government elections came in, his fears were confirmed.

We must recognise, as he did, that unless we act with urgency and determination to correct our flaws, to address our weaknesses, we place many of the gains of our democratic revolution at risk.

It is at moments like this – as we confront new and difficult challenges – that we need people like Makhenkesi Stofile.

We need people who will rise above the petty jealousies that infect our public life, people who will work tirelessly for the unity of the oppressed and for the unity of the movement that leads them.

It is at moments like this that we need cadres who dedicate themselves not to the advancement of their own interests, but solely to the cause of freedom, equality and justice.

It is at moments like this that we need cadres who have the strength of character and the clarity of purpose to overcome the obstacles of the present and advance the struggle for the fundamental transformation of our society.

Compatriots and Friends,

Today we come in our numbers to witness the last mile of a brave freedom fighter.

We will always remember him as a selfless public servant, committed academic, devout spiritual leader and a dedicated father.

He was an astute diplomat, a passionate community builder and an avid sportsperson.

He was deeply committed to non-racialism.

He worked tirelessly to bring together South Africans of all races into a common effort to build a new, united nation.

He firmly believed in gender equality and in the advancement of women in all spheres of national life.

Many women, particularly in this region, remember how he encouraged them to stand for leadership positions at a time when that was rare.

His sense of humour was legendary.

Who can forget his mischievous chuckle, his belly-deep laugh, his love of life.

His was a life full of purpose and inspiration and an unrelenting quest to improve the human condition.

As we struggle to come to terms with our grief and loss, we are comforted by the profound impact that his life has had on so many.

We are comforted by the knowledge that his legacy will endure and that his memory will continue to inspire hope and courage and determination.

Friends and Compatriots,

As South Africans, we are fortunate to have been blessed with a patriot of the calibre of Reverend Arnold Makhenkesi Stofile.

On behalf of government and the people of South Africa, I convey to the Stofile family and friends our deepest condolences on this profound loss.

May you find comfort and strength, as we seek to do, in the fact that he lived his life to the fullest and served his people with courage and distinction.

Reverend Stofile has now joined the illustrious legion of departed stalwarts from this province who served their country with commitment, passion and selflessness.

Hamba Kahle Mkhonto.

Your struggle, our struggle, the people’s struggle, continues.

May your soul rest in eternal peace.

I thank you.