South African Communist Party

Heartfelt message of condolences to the family of Rev. Dr Tshenuwani Simon Farisani

Friday, 30 May 2025: - It is with immense sorrow and deep revolutionary mourning that we convey our heartfelt condolences to the family of Rev. Dr Tshenuwani Simon Farisani, who departed from this life on Thursday, 29 May 2025. His death marks the end of a monumental chapter in the long and painful struggle for liberation, democracy and universal social emancipation in South Africa.

The General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, comrade Solly Mapaila, expressed the Party’s grief and solidarity with the family and the nation, stating:

“Comrade Tshenuwani Farisani was the embodiment of revolutionary struggle and unwavering commitment to justice. He merged the gospel of liberation with the scientific socialism of Marxism in a manner that inspired generations. His life was a sermon against oppression and a clarion call for the total emancipation of the working class. We salute him as a servant of the poor and a communist stalwart to the end. Hamba kahle, son of the soil.”

We extend our condolences to his family, our broader movement, and to all the people of South Africa who drew inspiration from his extraordinary life. May his revolutionary spirit live on in our struggles and in our triumphs.

Dr Farisani was more than a stalwart of our liberation struggle. He was a towering revolutionary moral figure, a torchbearer of liberation and emancipatory theology, and a courageous intellectual who used the pulpit, the prison cell and the political platform to challenge the cruelty of apartheid and inspire hope in the oppressed.

Dr Farisani was a lifelong servant of the people, a true son of the soil who emerged from the hardships of peasant life near the Soutpansberg mountain to become a giant in our movement for democracy and socialism. He was a fierce advocate of human rights and justice for all, especially the majority, the working class and poor.

Born on 30 August 1947, Dr Farisani’s journey began in hardship and dispossession, including the apartheid driven forced removals that stripped his family of their ancestral land, cattle, other assets and opportunities; this happened to many other families among the oppressed black majority. These injustices left a deep scar on his conscience and instilled in him an unyielding commitment to the cause of freedom.

Through the intervention of a German missionary, Farisani was finally sent to school at the age of 12 and, driven by intellect and determination, completed his studies with distinction.

His commitment to the struggle was forged at Maphumulo Theological Seminary, where he embraced a radical theology rooted in the liberation of the oppressed black majority. There, his friendship with Stephen Bantu Biko and others in the Black Consciousness Movement shaped his radical theological and political outlook, leading to his expulsion and later correspondence completion of his studies.

As one of the founding leaders of the Black Evangelical Youth Organisation, later known as ECHO, Rev. Dr Farisani inspired a generation of youth, including comrades such as the late Tshifhiwa Muofhe.

Dr leadership in the Black People’s Convention (BPC), especially after the murder of Biko by the apartheid regime, placed him at the centre of political mobilisation during a brutal period of repression. As President of the BPC from 1973 to 1975, he stood as a pillar of resistance while many liberation movements were banned and many activists silenced.

Dr Farisani’s resistance came at great personal cost. Detained and tortured multiple times by the apartheid regime, he survived near-death experiences and emerged each time even more resolute. His persecution was internationally condemned, with Amnesty International declaring him a prisoner of conscience.

In exile from 1980, he became a roving ambassador for the struggle, campaigning for sanctions and global solidarity against apartheid, pleading with governments and institutions around the world to recognise apartheid as a crime against humanity.

Rev Dr Farisani also served the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa with distinction, becoming the first black dean at Beuster Mission and later a Deputy Bishop. Even in this role, the harassment did not cease, but neither did his commitment to the people.

After the unbanning of the SACP, ANC and other organisations, and the return of exiles, he re-entered the country in 1990, taking his rightful place among the architects of a democratic future in South Africa.

In 1994, he entered Parliament after the first democratic election. He later served as a Member of the Executive Council in Limpopo and eventually as Speaker of the Limpopo Legislature until his retirement in 2009.

Dr Farisani also served as Treasurer of the ANC in Limpopo and, to his last breath, continued as an activist, with an outstanding commitment to the Communist Party and the struggle for universal emancipation, a key feature of a socialist society. He was the Deputy Secretary of the ANC Veterans League and Treasurer of the SACP in the Vhembe District.

As a proud communist and longstanding member of the South African Communist Party, Comrade Farisani embodied the values of service, honesty and unshakable commitment to the working class and the poor. His life was guided by the principles of Marxism–Leninism and the deployment of theology to advance the class struggle for liberation and universal social emancipation.

Comrade Farisani was a prolific scholar, holding degrees in theology, including a PhD from UCLA. He was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Venda.

Dr Farisani authored several important works, including Diary from a South African Prison, In Transit between the Image of God and the Image of Man, and Justice in My Tears – literary weapons in the arsenal of the people’s war against apartheid.

Rev Dr Farisani’s vision continued through the establishment of the Dr Tshenuwani Farisani Foundation in 2022. The foundation is structured to serve as a beacon of empowerment for destitute women and young boys, confronting abuse, corruption and injustice, while promoting education and dignity. Through its partnerships with the South African Human Rights Commission, the University of Venda and others, the foundation continues his work, dedicated to the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Comrade Farisani’s name is written in the red pages of our people’s liberation history and the South African struggle for socialism.

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ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.