A Special Memorial Dialogue will be hosted at 13:00 on Saturday 17 June 2023 at the Cliff Café in Temba, Hammanskraal to celebrate the Life and Times of Patrick Monageng Xoliso Mmakou (1962-1980) who was brutally killed in a bomb explosion around 03:00 on Wednesday 4 June 1980 at the ANC House in Manzini, Swaziland.
The Monageng Mmakou Memorial Dialogue will be attended by his family, friends and associates. The event will be addressed by, amongst others, guest speakers Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa Chairperson of the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) and Veli Mbele, a well-renowned Essayist and Black History expert.
According to his surviving siblings, the news of the brutal death of Patrick Monageng Xoliso Mmakou (1962-1980) was conveyed to the family by two priests from St. Peters Seminary who were sent to deliver the message of his death by Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa from Khanya House, the HQ of the South Africa Council of Churches (SACC) in Johannesburg.
Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa (80) recalls how his secretary Shirley Lou assisted the bereaved Mmakou family later visited Khanya House to seek assistance for the repatriation of the remains of Monageng Mmakou from a mortuary Mmakou in Manzini, Swaziland.
A few days before his funeral service on Saturday 21 June 1980, his late parents Louis Mogongwe Mmakou (1924-2007) and Franklina Nobambo Mmakou (1932-2000) accompanied by his eldest brother Thamsanqa “Big Shot” Mmakou, the late Grace Sebokedi (1933-2008), the late Mma Mokhele (Grandmother to the late Mashite Mokhele), the late Dora “Biki” Mashiane (1914-1990) and other family members went to identify and repatriate his remains back home for his burial at home in Temba, Hammanskraal.
Due to his status as a “terrorist”, his remains were kept for a few days at a mortuary in Pretoria after the local Tlhabane Mortuary refused to assist with the storage of his body. At the time, the late Ntate Tlhabane – the owner of Tlhabane Mortuary – was one of the Ministers in the Cabinet of Lucas Mangope of the repressive Bophuthatswana Bantustan. So, he refused to provide his funeral services even though the Mmakou family loyally contributed to the Tlhabane Mortuary funeral insurance plan, over the years.
Over 1500 mourners attended the funeral service of Monageng Mmakou on the morning of Saturday 21 June 1980 at the St John`s Anglican Church in Temba, Hammanskraal. After a sombre church service, the mourners hoisted his coffin shoulder high singing freedom songs with clenched fists all the way from the St John`s Anglican Church to the local Temba Cemetery, Hammanskraal. Five years after his death, the family hosted the unveiling of his tombstones in June 1985 at the Temba Cemetery where his remains are still interred.
So, what were the circumstances that led to the death of Monageng Mmakou?
On 1 June 1980, the MK Special Force operatives planted limpet mine explosives onto fuel tanks at the Sasol II Refinery complex in Secunda. Around the same time, another group of MK Special Force operatives planted magnetic mine explosives in the fuel storage tanks, gas cylinders ad refraction towers at the Sasol I Refinery complex 135 km away in Sasolburg. Just before midnight (23:40/20:45) that night both Sasol I and Sasol II went up in flames because of the explosives planted by the MK operatives.
On 2 June 1980, following the Sasol I and II explosions, the then Minister of Police, Louise le Grange vowed that “No stone will be left unturned to avenge the Sasol I and II terrorist sabotage”.
Speaking to a Reuter correspondent in Dar es Salaam on 3 June 1980, the President of the ANC Oliver Tambo predicted that the Apartheid regime will respond to the Sasol attacks with deadly raids on key ANC camps in the neighbouring states for “harbouring terrorists”. Indeed, on the same day (3 June 1980) that Oliver Tambo made his statement, Colonel JJ Victor of the SAP Security Branch instructed Dirk Coetzee, an Apartheid security policeman based at the Middleburg Police Station to report to Major Nick van Rensburg in Ermelo. Major Nick van Rensburg then ordered Dirk Coetzee, Warrant Officer Paul van Dyk and Sergeants Krappies Hattingh and Chris Rorich that they should prepare to blow up two targets in Swaziland.
The targets included a new ANC transit house and a small wooden house that was owned by Marwick Nkosi. According to Major Nick van Rensburg, Marwick Nkosi was involved in building false car panels with which the ANC smuggled arms and explosives into South Africa.
On 4 June 1980, at approximately 02:30 in the morning, Dirk Coetzee, Warrant Officer Paul van Dyk and Sergeants Krappies Hattingh and Chris Rorich, returned to their car after planting a bomb at Marwick Nkosi house and a small wooden house in Manzini, Swaziland.
They drove for a short distance and stopped near a house opposite a block of flats.
Then Dirk Coetzee and Chris Rorich carried explosives, consisting of dough that was wrapped around cordite, which was fixed to a detonator and a timing device in a plastic carrier bag. Dirk Coetzee also brought a sandbag, which was placed o top of the carrier bag containing the explosive device. Both took the cordite up a small embankment and across a neighbour’s lawn, close to the street, where they clipped the battery and made their way back to the car. They then drove the vehicle in the opposite direction ad stopped under a tree near Manzini jail, where they packed some beers and started drinking.
A few minutes later, between 03:00 and 03:15, a bright mushroom cloud shot out into the air, followed seconds later by an enormous explosion. Mrs Hlubi was awoken by the ceiling falling on top of her while sleeping in her bed. She fumbled in the dark to wake up a child sleeping in the house. She found several people walking about, confused. Blankets, sheets and clothing from the neighbouring home were scattered all over, and some were hanging from blown-up and twisted pieces of corrugated iron.
At the house, next door, four people, Seiso, Ali, Percy and Wonder-Boy or Wanda (Monageng Mmakou) were asleep at the time of the explosion. Monageng Mmakou’s body was split into two, the lower torso remaining in the debris scattered at the property, and the other half thrown into a neighbour’s house. The others were seriously injured.
The simultaneous explosion at Marwick Nkosi’s house reduced the house to pieces, killing a grandchild instantly. Marwick Nkosi’s daughter was severely lacerated and the bones on her left arm and right leg were left completely without flesh. Marwick Nkosi himself was unharmed.
This is part two of a series of articles to follow…
