INDEPENDENT MEDIA Anton Fransch, an underground anti-apartheid activist and freedom fighter, was killed by the police and apartheid-era soldiers after a seven-hour siege in an Athlone house on November 17, 1989.Cape Town - Slain Umkhonto we Sizwe commander Anton Fransch, killed by the apartheid regime’s forces, will be honoured in a special service by the Department of Defence and Military Veterans commemorating the 25th anniversary of his death on Saturday.
Fransch, an underground anti-apartheid activist and freedom fighter, was killed by the police and apartheid-era soldiers after a seven-hour siege in an Athlone house on November 17, 1989. He was 20 years old at the time of his death.
The service will be held at 9am at Kromboom Park, on the corner of Jan Smuts Drive and Kromboom Road – a few hundred metres from where Fransch was killed.
Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Kebby Maphatsoe will be the main speaker.
Fransch, aka Mohamed Slamdien, joined MK in the 1980s and chose military training over education in a bid to fight for his country’s freedom, according to a statement from the department.
He has been hailed as “one of the many unsung South African heroes who fought and lost his life” at the hands of apartheid’s security forces.
“The freedom the country enjoys today did not come free, nor cheap, many South Africans paid with their lives,” the statement said.
Fransch’s brother Marc said on Wednesday: “It’s a long-awaited honour of my brother after 25 years.”
Maphatsoe’s spokesman, Mangaliso Khonza, emphasised it was important to commemorate events in the history of the liberation struggle.
“This month, MK celebrates (what would have been) its 53rd anniversary. As part of those activities, we are celebrating the life of Anton Fransch, one of the unsung heroes who fought and lost his life for the liberation of the country,” Khonza said.
Cape Times
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