Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, said on Tuesday that Samora Machel, Mozambique’s first president and founding leader of the State, is a universal hero.
The two statesmen hailed Samora Machel’s qualities at a ceremony in Mbuzini, in the South African province of Mpumalanga, where the presidential flight crashed on 19 October 1986 causing the death of 35 people on board. The aircraft was returning from a regional summit held at Ndola in Zambia.
Machel, the two leaders stressed, had left for Zambia on a mission for peace, brotherhood and development.
Nyusi praised the internationalism displayed by Samora Machel, when he gave Mozambican support to the struggles of the Zimbabwean and South African peoples to overthrow white supremacist rule.
Samora Machel, Nyusi added, supported Tanzania in its fight against the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, and also opened Mozambique’s borders to host refugees from Chile, Argentina and East Timor.
“The 35th anniversary of the Mbuzini tragedy should call our attention to the need to preserve the legacy of Samora Machel and praise the courage of the man who was a freedom fighter of the region and the world,” Nyusi declared.
The founding father of the Mozambican State has written his legacy with golden letters, through his great deeds, and became one of the most charismatic leaders in Africa and the world, as result of his ceaseless struggle against every form of oppression, discrimination and exploration, Nyusi added.
“The Mozambican government, inspired by the martyrs of Mbuzini, will do everything to preserve peace, harmony and social justice, values Samora Machel fought for,” Nyusi stressed.
Cyril Ramaphosa said the annual tribute by the South African government shows the importance his country attaches to the sacrifice Samora Machel made to the liberation of South Africa from the Apartheid regime.
Ramaphosa also regretted the fact that 35 years after the tragic accident, the root causes of the accident that murdered Samora Machel have not yet been cleared up, though it is widely suspected that the apartheid military caused the crash, by electronic interference that diverted the plane from its correct flight path.
“The tragedy remains a mystery. We always suspected that Samora Machel had been murdered. As people from South Africa and Mozambique we want to know the truth,” Cyril indicated.
In order to honour Samora Machel’s legacy, especially his commitment to the liberation of the South African people, Ramaphosa guaranteed that his country will grant unconditional support to the fight against terrorism in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
