10 Apr 2024

The demised anti-apartheid icon, Dr Michael Dingake was an outstanding African patriot.

This is how the former South African president, Dr Thabo Mbeki, described Mr Dingake who died on Sunday aged 96.

“He is an outstanding African patriot, even when he came out of Robben Island, Mike (Dingake) played an important role in Botswana in terms of development of politics in Botswana,” he said in an interview with a South African television network.  

He described Mr Dingake, who died after falling ill on Friday, as an important leader of the South African struggle for freedom.

“South Africans need to know more about Mike Dingake,” Dr Mbeki said, adding that dr Dingake did not look at apartheid as a South African problem but a problem for the rest of humanity, and chose to fight the injustice, which earned him a 15 year jail term as a political prisoner in Robben Island Prison.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) in its condolences message described Dr Dingake as “an internationalist who wholeheartedly embraced the struggle for freedom in South Africa and across the continent”, and that he would forever be remembered.

 The ANC said Dr Dingake’s commitment to the cause of liberation was unwavering, despite enduring arrest, torture, and a lengthy imprisonment of 15 years.

“His resilience in the face of adversity inspired generations of activists and freedom fighters,” the ANC statement said.

The party said even after his deportation to Botswana, Dr Dingake continued to contribute to the struggle, playing a pivotal role in establishing a base for the organisation’s guerrilla army Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and ANC underground operatives.

It said his passing was not only a loss to Botswana and South Africa but to the entire African continent, adding that his legacy would continue to inspire all those who strive for a more just and equitable society.

Mr Dingake who was born in Bobonong in 1928 where he attended primary school between 1936 and 1941 and later moved to South Africa to further his studies.

He joined the ANC in 1952, serving in various structures and capacities and was arrested in 1965 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, which he served in Robben Island Prison alongside other political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Dikgang Moseneke, as well as Govan Mbeki, Thabo Mbeki’s father, among others.

He will be buried in Gaborone on Sunday. Ends