By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described Dr Tshenuwani Simon Farisani as an extraordinary leader, revered cleric, and tireless anti-apartheid activist whose legacy will endure for generations.
Ramaphosa delivered the eulogy at the funeral service of Farisani at the University of Venda in Limpopo.
Farisani, the activist cleric passed away last week at the age of 77.
He was then a senior member of the Lutheran Church clergy, serving as Dean of the Beauster Mission at Maungani Village in Vhembe District, Limpopo, and popularly known as “Vho-Dean”, the Dean.
“When he was released from prison and he went into exile to the United States, he could have easily put the entire experience behind him and led a quiet life, “Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said Farisani campaigned against the Apartheid regime abroad.
“When Venda was proclaimed a so-called independent homeland by the Apartheid regime, he was one of those who were outspoken in his opposition. Even when this brought him into conflict with church leaders in his circuit,” he said.
Ramaphosa said Farisani’s activism continued into the democratic era, where he became an MEC and speaker of the legislature in Limpopo province. He said those roles placed him in a position of power and influence, yet did not change him.
He was a servant leader who came, served and left. When he saw corruption being perpetrated by those who are trusted with public funds, he was vocal and scathing in his criticism, and that is why he was one of those when the VBS looting happened who spoke out.
Limpopo Premier Dr. Phophi Ramathuba honoured the memory of the late liberation hero, Farisani, describing him as a fatherly figure and a pillar of the community.
Ramathuba reflected on his lifelong solidarity with the poor, noting that he not only served them but chose to live among them, embodying the values he preached.
Farisani was born at Songozwi Village — a hairsbreadth from Louis Trichardt, a small town at the foot of the Soutpansberg mountain range — once the seat of the Mphephu Ramabulana Royal House. The royal court had migrated from nearby Luaṱame after the brief November 1898 Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) war against King Makhado’s successor, Aḽilali Tshilamulele Mphephu, over the latter’s refusal to submit to the ZAR’s authority, specially by way of paying taxes to the regime.
The war led to the establishment of Louis Trichardt roughly three months later in February 1899. The outcome of the war had been a quintessential example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. It came after the 1867 defeat of Great Trek settlers in the Battle of Schoemansdal, 16km west of Louis Trichardt, by King Makhado. The vanquished settlers fled Schoemansdal, whereafter they founded Pietersburg, today Polokwane, in 1886.
By the early 1970s, Farisani had cofounded the Black Evangelical Youth Organisation with figures such as [current] President Cyril Ramaphosa, Lawrence Khorommbi and Tshifhiwa Muofhe, who was murdered in detention by the Venda security police on November 12 1981. From 1973 to 1975, he served as president of the Black People’s Convention and closely worked with eminent personalities such as Steve Biko and Saths Cooper.
After 1994 he was repeatedly elected as a public representative on behalf of the ANC, which he had joined during the years of its illegality, when doing so also meant he could be signing his life away.
Though Farisani retired from formal politics in 2009, he remained involved in ANC-SACP activities and his community, specially after the establishment of The Reverend Dr Tshenuwani Farisani Foundation in 2022.