Deputy Chair, I hereby move without notice:
That the Council -
1) notes with a deep sense of loss the passing away of ANC struggle veteran and a former Chief Whip of the Council, Comrade Henry Makgothi, who died after a stroke in Johannesburg at the age of 82 last week;
2) further notes that -
a) Comrade Henry Makgothi was a humble, selfless and gallant fighter for the freedom of the oppressed masses of our people and a champion of the poor who served the ANC with the utmost dedication in the fight against oppression in South Africa;
b) he joined the ANC's Youth League in 1944 and was arrested and sentenced to 10 years on Robben Island in the early 1960s for trying to leave South Africa without a passport and, on his release in the 1970s, he was restricted to Mabopane, outside Pretoria, from where he later escaped to Swaziland and joined the staff of the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College at Mazimbu, in Tanzania;
[Interjections.]
Excuse me, hon Ntwanambi. May I please plead with hon Bloem? We are in session and you don't have permission to hold a secret meeting whilst everything is going on.
I move further that:
(c) while in exile, he was elected to the national executive committee of the ANC, and also served as the ANC's deputy secretary-general until his return home in 1990; and
(d) on his return, Comrade Makgothi worked in the ANC's finance office and later served as the first Chief Whip of the NCOP, from 1997 to 1999; and
(3) takes this opportunity to dip its head in sorrow with the family, friends and comrades of Comrade Makgothi and requests the House to observe a moment of silence for this gallant fighter and founding member of the NCOP.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
The Council observed a moment of silence in honour of the late Mr Henry Makgothi, former Chief Whip of the NCOP.