By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
File Photo: Afzal Moolla (Left) , Former statesman Nelson Mandela(Middle) and Anti Apartheid stalwart Moosa (Mosie) Moolla right.
Veteran struggle activist Moosa ‘Mosie’ Moola has passed away on March 25 evening after a long illness. He was 88.
Born in the small town of Christiana, Moola joined the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) youth wing, playing an active role in clandestinely putting up posters protesting apartheid in a group that came to be known as the ‘Picasso Club’ because they produced hand-written posters.
Moola was elected as the executive of the TIC and also served as its full-time organiser.
Moola was arrested and jailed several times before he and three others escaped from the notorious Marshall Square Police Station, where he was being held in solitary confinement. He would recall 50 years later at a commemoration of what became known as the ‘Great Escape’ in struggle circles how a policeman had been bribed to achieve this.
Leaving South Africa illegally, Moola joined other exiled leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) in Dar-es-Salaam.
After the ANC took up the armed struggle through the formation of its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, Moola was sent to Odessa in the Soviet Union for military training, following which he spent six months in Moscow undergoing training in intelligence. Moola also handled the ANC’s publicity work on his return to Dar-es-Salaam.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Moolla.
“From a very young age, Mosie’s struggle was a selfless commitment to the liberation of the oppressed and a creation of a free, democratic society, founded on the principle of equality and human rights for all,” said Ramaphosa.
“The pain and suffering he endured during years of detention, treason trial and exile, away from his family has not been in vain. As we conclude marking Human Rights Month, we do so in honor to the contribution of many who perished in the quest for our freedom and to the sacrifices made by activists such as Mosie”, added Ramaphosa.
Following many years of dedicated activism against apartheid, Mosie was amongst a group of struggle luminaries that included Nelson Mandela, Helen Joseph, Ahmed Kathrada and Walter Sisulu, who were acquitted in March 1961 after five grueling years of the 1956 Treason Trial.
“After the promulgation of the the 90 day detention law, Mosie was held in solitary confinement at the Marshal Square Police Station. He would later escape and leave the country to join the exile leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1963. He became a member of Umkhonto Wesizwe and received military training in the USSR. During his exile years Mosie represented the ANC in India, Egypt and the World Peace Council in Helsinki, Finland.”
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri described as a revolutionary diplomat and gallant fighter for freedom.
With international relations experience and contribution to the CODESA negotiations, Mosie was appointed bylate stateman Mandela to serve as South Africa’s Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1995 to 1999. From June 2000 until 2004 he served as High Commissioner to Pakistan.
Ambassador Moolla is survived by his children Tasneem, Azaad and Afzal.