Former uMkhonto We Sizwe’s Vernon Moodley has been re-buried at the O.R Tambo Cemetery in Ekurhuleni. This comes after the remains of 42 MK military veterans, who lost their lives during training in Zimbabwe and Zambia were repatriated back to South Africa.
Speaking during the re-burial ceremony of the late veteran, Moodley’s nephew said the family had no regrets for joining the armed struggle of the ANC.
Vernon, whose MK name was Stanley Watson, was laid to rest in a service befitting a soldier. Moodley came from a family of political activists, his mother and aunt inspired his activism. With his mother’s blessing, Moodley left home at the tender age of 16 to join the liberation army. He died from drowning.
“We were fully mobilized, we became part of the struggle, and we don’t regret a moment and today we stand here with a great deal of joy, sense of relief that one of our own has been brought,” says Vernon’s nephew.
Speakers took turns to express their disappointment in the use of the name of uMkhonto We Sizwe’s for political gain. The ANC has been urged to regain lost ground and integrity.
“What kind of period are we in the name of sizwe of our liberation, army politics can be treated as the stuff of ordinary electoral politics struggling for votes trying to build political power,” says Firoz Cachalia, Gauteng Veterans League Convener.
Gauteng’s ANC Secretary-General said the outcome of the national elections should be seen as a warning that factionalism no longer serves the ANC. Thembinkosi ‘TK’ Nciza also acknowledged that the upcoming 2026 local government elections will be the most difficult for the party.
Moodley remains have been laid to rest in his country of birth 62 years after his death.
Video: Former ANC Veteran Vernon Moodley re-buried
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