As the city and the nation mourn the untimely passing of Serge Mokonyane, I feel like the Roman orator, writer and prose stylist, Marcus Cioara, when he said: “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living”.
I feel honoured to put pen to paper about my appreciation, and that of my family, of the friendship we shared with the Mokonyane family. Serge was our mentor, our adviser and our beacon of hope. It was in Serge’s warmth that many appreciated the shoulder to cry on when faced with the predicaments of life. It was from him that many sought advice on navigating through trying times in their lives. Never one to reject a request for his wisdom, Serge dispensed it with a smile when one was needed, but with equal sternness when such was deserved.
Serge Mokonyane may have long retired from his position of leadership, but there was a constant stream of members seeking his help and advice.
Many of us who cherished his dedication to the cause of our people are perturbed by the negative narratives being peddled during this period of mourning. We are emboldened by the fact that real revolutionaries, of which Serge was undoubtedly one, will invite their fair share of peddlers of false narratives.
Serge Mokonyane was not a saint. He never claimed to be one. When women and men are judged by the human eye, it is always the many good things they did over the few bad ones that are noted.
Serge was also the husband of Minister Nomvula Mokonyane. He was an activist in his own right and served the working class as a trade unionist at a time when there was a high price to pay as an activist under apartheid.
In 1986, I shared a cell in both the Krugersdorp and the Johannesburg Prison in Diepkloof, with Serge. He, me, and 12 other Kagiso and Munsieville community leaders faced trial for sedition, subversion and assault on property of white-owned shops.
The charges were quashed in 1989 after the State failed to give a reasonable degree of clarity on what the case was about. But while we were free, we couldn’t go home. We had been banned from entering Kagiso.
Serge Mokonyane was the first to be appointed as a Member of the Mayoral Committee in the transitional council which served for four and a half years.
The Mogale City Local Municipality come into being following the 2000 Local Government Elections, and that’s where I became part of the council, as a PR councillor for the ANC.
Sadly, Serge is no longer with us. Lala Ngoxolo Nkokheli.
