Johannesburg: President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to the late Advocate Duma Nokwe for dedicating his life to the liberation of South Africa from the tyranny of apartheid. ‘In court, Duma Nokwe was an advocate for justice. Outside the court, in the streets of our nation, in the capitals of the world, he was a respected and beloved advocate for freedom,’ the President said on Saturday.
According to South African Government News Agency, the late struggle veteran and human rights lawyer was reburied in West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg, with his wife, Vuyiswa Malangabi-Nokwe who passed away in 2008. Nokwe passed away in Zambia in 1978, at the age of 50. He had lived in exile since 1963. His mortal remains were repatriated to South Africa in 2024.
‘Duma Nokwe’s legal expertise was brought to bear in shaping the views of the liberation movement around constitutionalism and democracy. He was a mentor to young black lawyers, and today this noble legacy lives on with the Duma Nokwe Group, the advocates’ chambers,’ President Ramaphosa said.
In recognition of the eminent position he occupied in the legal profession, the President on Friday honoured him with the posthumous conferral of the honorary title of Senior Counsel (Silk). ‘In doing so, we are correcting a grave injustice done to one of our foremost legal practitioners. We are making a declaration that his legal legacy did not end in exile, nor does it end today. We are confirming our belief in his conviction that the law is to be used not merely to secure courtroom victories, but to achieve profound, lasting change,’ the President said.
He described Nokwe’s voice as emphatic, compelling and sincere – resonating as powerfully through the halls of the United Nations as it did across the airwaves of Radio Freedom. ‘He wielded his words as instruments of liberation. He sought to persuade, to empower and to inspire. As a person, as an activist, as a leader, he was known for his humility and understanding, for his integrity and his unyielding commitment to the cause of humanity,’ the President said.
Nokwe was a youth activist who rose to become the Secretary General of the African National Congress. ‘The apartheid regime tried in vain to thwart his activism. He was jailed, banned and restricted. He was dismissed as a teacher for his involvement in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign. Yet nothing could crush his spirit nor temper his determination. He decided to enter the legal profession, believing in the power of the law as a shield for the vulnerable, as an instrument of change. He entered a profession that was designed to exclude black people. And yet he persevered, becoming the first black advocate to be admitted to the Johannesburg Bar,’ President Ramaphosa said.
The President noted that the late George Bizos said that Nokwe’s admission to the bar was a moment that cracked the fa§ade of white legal supremacy. ‘Even as he reached this pinnacle, the regime continued to hound him, refusing to allow him to take chambers with his white colleagues in Johannesburg. He would not be cowed. He used his legal skills to defend those who stood up against tyranny,’ President Ramaphosa said.
The President called on South Africa to embrace all that Nokwe represented and embodied. ‘At this time, when we strive to make a fundamental break with the many ghosts of our past, let us hold to the values that defined him and that make us so unique as a people: courage, empathy, understanding, tolerance. We still have many more journeys to undertake. Our freedom is not yet fully formed. Let us affirm that as South Africans we are all of the same soil. We will never renege on the promise of equality, justice and freedom for all, as promised by our Constitution,’ the President said.
He said government will continue to build a South Africa in which no-one – neither black nor white, neither woman nor man – feels themselves a pariah in the land of their birth. ‘We owe this to the spirit and legacy of the great Duma Nokwe, who stood for non-racialism throughout his life. May his spirit rise. May it guide us in the hard work that lies ahead and may it inspire us. Nokwe was a revolutionary. He was a servant of the people. He was a man of unwavering principle, of great courage and of unmatched selflessness. As we honour Nokwe today, let us rededicate ourselves to fulfilling his dream of a non-racial, non-sexist South Africa that will forever remain democratic and free,’ the President said.