BLOEMFONTEIN – The passing of struggle icon Dr Pule Elias Matjoa marked the end of a rich legacy in the struggle for freedom and democracy, as one of Nelson Mandela’s 12 Disciples. His death also closed a chapter of that generation, which was used as a vehicle to spearhead the liberation of South Africa abroad and shape the country’s political landscape as well.
One of the most respected freedom fighters to emerge from the Free State, Matjoa died at age 88 on 1 May – Workers’ Day. He was laid to rest in Bloemfontein on Saturday 9 May.
President Cyril Ramaphosa accorded a fitting Category 1 funeral honouring Matjoa’s rich legacy in the liberation struggle. His funeral service was held at the Gospel Workers Ministries Church in Heidedal. Matjoa was honoured for his service as a diligent public servant and dental practitioner at the Pelonomi Regional Hospital in Bloemfontein.
Matjoa served as the ANC’s deputy director of Intelligence and as an uMkhonto weSizwe combatant who once guarded Cuba’s coastlines. He studied dentistry in Cuba while in exile and worked in the Ministry of Communications in Tanzania.
On returning to Bloemfontein in the early 1990s, he decided to practice in the public sector, at the Pelonomi Hospital, becoming the first black dental surgeon in the Free State. In 2012, the South African Dental Association honoured him with a lifetime achievement award, recognising his contribution to mentoring scores of young black dentists into specialisations such as orthodontics and maxillofacial surgery.
Matjoa was the last surviving member of Nelson Mandela’s 12 Disciples, a group of young anti-apartheid activists from Bloemfontein who went into exile in 1960 as part of building the ANC abroad. The group included figures such as Benjamin Pule “Lee” Leinaeng, Joseph Shuping “Coaps” Coapoge, Selebano “Tlhaps” Matlhape, Theodore “Max” Motobi, Percy Mokonopi, Mochubela “Wesi” Seekoie, Billy “Marakas” Mokhonoana, Matthew Mokgele, Bethuel Setai, Peter Swartz, and Moses “Dups” Modupe. The group attended school at the Sehunelo High School, formerly the Bantu High School in Batho, Bloemfontein.
Their historic story of contribution to SA freedom as Mandela’s 12 Disciples was most notably documented in the 2005 award-winning film directed by Thomas Allen Harris, titled Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela: A Son’s Tribute to Unsung Heroes. Harris documented the film, calling it a “bittersweet eulogy, to pay tribute to these exiles who sacrificed their personal lives for over 30 years to build global support against apartheid. Leinaeng, was central to the document. He was Harris stepfather and raised him while in exile in America.
