SACP dips its red flag in tribute to Umkhonto we Sizwe veteran and chaplain of our liberation movement, Comrade Moruti Maphatsoe

Wednesday, 12 November 2025: - The South African Communist Party (SACP) dips its red flag in tribute to Comrade Moruti Maphatsoe, a veteran of our liberation struggle who served diligently in the joint ANC-SACP military wing, uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK). The SACP conveys its message of heartfelt condolences to his family, the ANC and the working class for the loss.

Raised in an African working-class family, Comrade Maphatsoe formed part of the millions of Africans who became victims of the apartheid system which relegated African people to sub-human standards all while exploiting their labour power and the environment for monopoly capital and the apartheid system to prosper. Owing to the regime's racist subjugation of his people, Comrade Maphatsoe joined the liberation struggle and applied himself fully, serving with confidence and diligence as an operative in the MK.

Comrade Maphatsoe was a popular chaplain in many SACP and Alliance activities, not least the annual Chris Hani commemoration. Guided by Marxism-Leninism, Comrade Maphatsoe's stance on the necessity for the unity of the Alliance, on the one hand, and unity of the working class and poor in championing the struggle for socialism, on the other, was well known and cherished. He understood fully that real upliftment of the people necessitated their economic and political empowerment in the here and now, and that such should not be postponed.

In memory of Comrade Maphatsoe, the SACP calls for working-class unity in the struggle for social emancipation. To that end, the SACP will galvanise its efforts in the fight against the neo-liberal macro-economic policies in our country, in whatever form they manifest, to ensure material development of the people of our country, the majority of whom are working-class and poor.

Hamba Kahle Mkhonto!

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.

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