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Transnet would like to express its profound sadness at the passing away of MaMbeki – Epainette “Piny” Mbeki – who died on Saturday, 7 June 2014 at the age of 98.
 
MaMbeki exemplified the sacrifices many in our country made to free South Africa from the tyranny of apartheid.  Her entire life was in service of our nation. Equally importantly, she placed this selflessness ahead of her commitment to her own family. MaMbeki was the widow of Govan Mbeki, and mother of our former president, Thabo Mbeki, and his siblings, Moeletsi, Linda and Jama.
 
She was born on the 16th of February 1916 in Mangoloaneng in the Eastern Cape and graduated as a secondary school teacher from Adams College in Durban. Whilst teaching at the Taylor Street Secondary School in Durban, she met the man who was to become her husband, Govan Mbeki.
 
MaMbeki joined the Communist Party in 1937 – making her only the second woman to join the party at that time.
 
From an early age, she was an active and committed member of the liberation movement. She practiced what she preached – volunteering to work for the Child Welfare Organisation, organising boycotts, working as an agent for Inkululeko (the Communist Party newspaper), as well as running the party’s night school.
 
She moved to Transkei in 1940 with her husband and never left the area, serving her community selflessly over the decades, right until her passing. During this period, she suffered deeply. Her husband was sent to prison for twenty-four years and her children were exiled. She bore the brunt of her pain with dignity and fortitude.
 
Even after our country was liberated, she refused to leave her humble surroundings and continued to serve her people in the area. In the process, she taught all of us lessons in humility, courage and dedication.
Now, more than ever, we need to look to her as an exemplar of how best to serve our country.