Kebby maphatsoe biography of martin

Lungani Zungu

Kebby Emmanuel Maphatsoe joined the struggle against Apartheid at a young age, and even losing his arm in exile wouldn’t deter him from dedicating his life to the political struggle.

Maphatsoe, 59, died on Tuesday after an illness – bringing down the curtain on his decades-long struggle history. 

Maphatsoe cut his political teeth in Soweto – where he led the Congress of South African Students, Soweto Youth Congress and later the South African Youth Congress in the 1970s.

His fight was to see equality among all South Africans, regardless of race, and he did not stop until South Africa crawled into democracy in 1994.

During the 1980s, Maphatsoe joined the armed wing of the ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe, and later went to Russia for military training.

Before this, he crisscrossed many countries in Africa, including Angola and Uganda, where he lost his arm after he was shot in 1991.

In previous interviews, he said he was shot with a group of cadres from an ANC camp while travelling to South Africa. 

His relationship with former president Jacob Zuma – who was head of ANC intelligence at the time – can be traced back to his time in Angola and Uganda. 

Maphatsoe was among the freedom fighters who flocked back to the country from exile ahead of the historical 1994 elections. 

But the striking physical difference between him and other liberation fighters was that he was an appendage short.

“When he attained democracy in 1994, I said to myself losing my arm was not in vain,” he was previously quoted as saying in the ANC newsletter.

From 1994, he steadily rose up the ranks to later become president of uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association until the ANC disbanded the structure in June.

Maphatsoe did not dare to challenge this decision, while people like Carl Niehaus openly fought it. 

This pitted him against his allies. They turned into his enemies and accused him of selling them out in the battle for the soul of the ANC between Zuma’s and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s factions.

Maphatsoe had also served as the deputy minister of defence and military veterans from 2014 to 2019.

He leaves behind his wife, Lerato, and their children.