More than four decades after her disappearance, the search for truth behind Nokuthula Simelane’s fate continues. President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to uncovering what happened to the struggle heroine.

Addressing the inaugural Nokuthula Simelane Memorial Lecture at the University of Mpumalanga on September 3, Ramaphosa said: “We will not rest until those responsible are held to account.”

He also called on South Africans to confront the painful realities of the past and ensure that the sacrifices of those who fought for freedom are never erased from national memory.

An empty chair with a lit candle stood on the stage while Simelane’s life story was told. Those who knew her, including university friends, family members and political and justice commentators Prof Helen Scanlon, Yasmin Sooka and Jaxx Amahle, served as panellists debating her case.

Lecture creates platform for dialogue

To preserve the legacy of Simelane, the lecture creates a platform for academic engagement and public dialogue, and a repository for her image and story. It aims to unite scholarship, teaching, heritage preservation and public engagement to reflect deeply on democracy, human rights, ethical leadership, gender equality and social justice.

Beyond commemoration, the initiative seeks to strengthen nation-building, deepen historical memory and advance African-centred scholarship, reinforcing the newly established Nokuthula Simelane Foundation’s role as the custodian of her legacy.

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Activist disappears in 1983

Simelane was the first of two daughters, born in 1960 in Mzinoni, Bethal. Her sister, Thembi Simelane-Nkadimeng – also known as the current Minister of Human Settlements and patron of the foundation – has been at the forefront of fighting for the truth.

While at university, Simelane joined uMKhonto weSizwe as a courier and became an ANC activist in Eswatini. On September 10, 1983, she was allegedly lured to a meeting at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg by an undercover branch officer and was kidnapped.

She would have graduated with a Bachelor of Administration in Social Sciences from the University of Swaziland on October 15, 1983, and had already secured a job at age 23.

Post-apartheid, several former security police officers applied for Truth and Reconciliation Commission amnesty for Simelane’s abduction but were denied amnesty for torture because they allegedly failed to make a full disclosure of facts.

Furthermore, none applied for amnesty for Simelane’s murder.

Simelane’s case and others are being heard by the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry to determine whether attempts were made to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes. The inquiry is chaired by retired Constitutional Court judge Sisi Khampepe, assisted by retired Northern Cape Judge President Frans Diale Kgomo and Advocate Andrea Gabriel SC. The inquiry is still under way and expected to conclude on December 16.

New school honours struggle heroine

In five months’ time, construction of the Nokuthula Simelane High School will commence. This was announced by Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu at the lecture.

“Long after our demise, this school will remain a living reminder to our children and future generations that their freedom was not free, but was built on the sacrifices of Comrade Nokuthula and other freedom fighters.”

He said the foundation approached both government and the ANC to implement this initiative, and both have fully embraced it.

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Simelane’s life has been honoured in various ways, including a life-size statue in Bethal in 2009, a 2006 documentary titled “Betrayal” and an oil painting by South African artist Christa Myburgh titled “Ode to Nokuthula”. The ANC Women’s League launched the Nokuthula Simelane Brigade in 2019, and she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Order of Luthuli in Gold in 2024.

The trailer for a new documentary, “Still Missing: The Nokuthula Simelane Story”, was officially released at the lecture, but an exact public release date for the full documentary has not yet been announced.