South African Communist Party

SACP message of condolences on death of former minister Nathi Mthethwa

Tuesday, 30 September 2025: - The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its heartfelt condolences to the family of Comrade Nathi Mthethwa, South African ambassador to France and former minister. The SACP further conveys its condolences to the African National Congress and the entire liberation movement as a whole and the people of South Africa for the loss.

The SACP recognises the role Mthethwa played in our liberation struggle, first as a teenager in the struggle against the apartheid system wherein he joined the Klaarwater Youth Organisation in 1982 and serving as its chairperson from 1987 to 1989 and also served in the ANC Youth League and the ANC.

Comrade Mthethwa also made his contribution in the trade union movement, serving as a shop steward in the Food and Allied Workers Union in the late 1980s, helping to galvanise and strengthen the working-class forces against apartheid rule. His active role in the underground, particularly in the “Operation Vula” in 1988 and 1989 was instrumental in weakening the apartheid regime, pursuant to which the oppressive regime detained him during the 1989 state of emergency.

In memory of Comrade Nathi Mthethwa, the SACP reiterates its call for the unity of the working class in the struggle for total social emancipation. The SACP makes the further call for grassroots development, and to this end the Party, through the People’s Red Caravan, is actively involved in empowering the people at grassroots level to take a lead in their own development.

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