Snubbing Mbeki was un-African: Analyst

Political analyst, Professor Sam Koma, says Thabo Mbeki’s exclusion from Tito Mboweni’s funeral programme creates the perception that the ANC is still divided and does not accommodate divergent views.

The former president decided to release his five-page tribute to Mboweni, dated 19 October 2024, after he was snubbed at the funeral on Saturday.

Mbeki expressed that he was informed by Mboweni’s family that one of the former minister’s final wishes was for him to speak at his burial service, but on the eve of the event, the final programme of the official state funeral omitted Mbeki’s name, something, he says, he graciously accepted and did not raise any objection to at the time.

The former president was among some of the officials invited by the Mboweni family to speak as a friend, mentor and leader.

Professor Koma says in an African context, it is unacceptable to ignore or overlook the wishes of the deceased.

“This should be a lesson for the ANC leadership in the future. It is public knowledge that the late Tito Mboweni and Thabo Mbeki were comrades, it would be fitting for Mbeki to be given a platform to pay tribute.”

Mbeki has been critical of the leadership of the ANC, particularly post the May 29 general elections, which really saw the liberation movement take a huge dip in electoral support.

While the former president’s scathing views may have rubbed some of his comrades up the wrong way, he remains relentless in his call for the ANC to shape up.

In a heartfelt tribute, Mbeki put on record the struggles of the apartheid years and Mboweni’s unwavering service to South Africa.

“When we say that Tito Mboweni was a tried and tested combatant for our liberation, we say so because we were together with him in the common trenches, when to oppose the apartheid regime was to invite death,” he said.