CHRIS Hani District Municipality (CHDM) hosted a memorial service for Nkosini Andries Ncube in Molteno yesterday. The event was attended by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Fikile Xasa.
In a statement by communications officer Lonwabo Kowa, he said Ncube, who served as a senior manager in the Municipal Support division of CHDM, would be remembered as an eloquent speaker, a leader with integrity and a man with good working ethics which earned him the nick name “Chief”.
He studied at the then University of Transkei (UNITRA) where he became president of SANSCO. During the time of the struggle in 1986, he was arrested for reading Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom.
Ncume was also a staunch member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and due to his love for the organisation he earned the nickname ‘Joe Slovo’ and contributed to the naming of Joe Slovo Freedom High School in Molteno. In the ANC and the SACP , he held many leadership positions on local, regional and provincial level.
He contributed to the formation of SADTU and the naming of Alfred Nzo District Municipality. Due to his passion, his teaching career at Joe Slovo Freedom High School was cut short in 1994, where he became Mayor of Molteno. In 1998-2008, he was the Local Electoral Officer of IEC and in 2008 till 2011, he was the Municipal Electoral Officer.
Apart from being an activist, he was ordained as a preacher at the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Kowa said he mentored many students, who hold different leadership positions in various municipalities around the country. Ncube was also described as all-rounder who inspired the youth in music and sport.
In 1993, he met his wife, Nomakhosazana Gantana, whom he married in 1995. They had a daughter Ntokozo and a son Sibongakonke. He is survived by his wife, daughter, parents and siblings.
