All the brave and selfless recipients of the Order of Luthuli in Gold

The late Kenneth Hlako Rachidi and Peter Cyril Jones are two of the nine Order of Luthuli in Gold recipients who will be honoured when President Cyril Ramaphosa confers national orders next Tuesday. 

The Presidency said the Order of Luthuli recognised South African citizens who had contributed to the struggle for democracy, nation-building, building democracy and human rights, justice and peace as well as for the resolution of conflict. 

Rachidi and Jones were nominated in separate forms by Nkosinathi Biko, the CEO of the Steve Biko Foundation. 

In his nomination form addressed to the Chancery of Orders dated August 28 2023, Biko said Rachidi was an intrepid political activist who fought against the oppressive apartheid system in pursuance of an open, plural society in which all would be treated equally before the law.

“Rachidi advocated for the emancipation of the black oppressed, universal suffrage and advanced black communalism as an economic system based on traditional African values modified for the modern and industrial economy,” Biko said. 

He said from his earliest days until he died in 2022 at the age of 78, Rachidi was inspired by and committed to the Black Consciousness philosophy.

“Expelled from schools and university for his student activism, detained on countless occasions by the apartheid regime for acting on his political beliefs, regardless of the personal cost, Rachidi remained committed to the cause of self-reliant community development until his passing.” 

He said Rachidi, a key motivator of the June 16 1976 Soweto student uprising, declared two weeks later that the riots had ushered in a new era of political consciousness.

“As a BPC (Black People's Convention) leader and part of the collective, Rachidi advanced the quest to unite against the Balkanisation of the country into Bantustans and to unify the liberation movements.”

Biko said without self-aggrandisement, Rachidi continued to serve his communities and his country with distinction through the transition and into democracy. 

In his motivation for the nomination of Jones, Biko said he was a fearless revolutionary, a dyed-in-the-wool Black Consciousness exponent, a community builder and an extraordinary South African who passed away in February last year aged 72. 

“Though widely known as the right-hand of struggle and Black Consciousness Movement icon Steve Biko, Jones was an unassuming freedom fighter in his own right who, at the height of apartheid repression in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, was a prominently constant thorn in the side of the white minority regime.” 

Biko said Jones mobilised communities across South Africa, preaching the Black Consciousness message of self-reliance, pride and self-affirmation.

Biko said among the list of exceptional milestones reached by Jones in his career were his contribution to the film Cry Freedom, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough which was screened in 1987, and that he was vice-president of the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) soon after his banning order expired in 1984. 

He said in July 1969, Jones was part of the establishment of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) branch of the South African Student’s Organisation (Saso) and attended its national conference at the University of Natal as a UWC delegate, which led to his first encounter with Steve Biko.

“In 1971, Jones took up the of the rapidly increasing number of black children who were out of school in the Western Cape and founded the Waterkloof Scholarship Fund through which scores of students were sent to further their studies at schools in the Eastern Cape,” Nkosinathi Biko said in his nomination.

Jones was arrested with Biko on August 18 1977 outside Grahamstown, and they were separated in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha). The day after his arrest he was handcuffed and taken to the sixth floor of security police headquarters at the Sanlam building. Jones’ interrogation lasted more than 20 hours.

Jones would later describe this experience and the murder of Biko as “a tear that refuses to drop”.

The Presidency said other recipients who will be conferred the same order on Thursday were:

• Mxolisi “Dicky” Jacobs (posthumously): For his ultimate sacrifice in the struggle for liberation. His life ended by defending the principles of a just and equal society. Though his life was cut short, he remains a towering stalwart of the struggle who laid down his life for the liberation of his people. 
• Benjamin Langa (posthumously): For his ultimate sacrifice for equality and social justice in South Africa.   He endured unimaginable pain and remained loyal to the cause until the end. His legacy remains a beacon of light and inspiration to many. 
  
• Thobekile “Tobsy” Madaka (posthumously): For his gallant fight against the oppression of our people. He fearlessly spoke truth to power and eventually gave his life for the democracy of South Africa. He lived by the courage of his convictions and faced the wrath of the oppressive regime. 
• Siphiwo Mthimkhulu (posthumously): For his gallant fight against the oppression of our people. His fearlessness and leadership belied his age as he boldly confronted the forces of oppression and eventually gave his life for the democracy of South Africa. He lived by the courage of his convictions and faced the wrath of the oppressive regime. 
• Prof Harry Ranwedzi Nengwekhulu: For his gallant fight for the liberation of the people of South Africa. He has straddled academia and political activism with the goal of a free South Africa always in his mind and has served as a source of inspiration for many Black Consciousness activists and others. 
• Annie Silinga (posthumously): For her commitment to the liberation struggle. She played a leading role in some of the liberation campaigns. She continued to campaign against passes at national and local events.
• Nokuthula Simelane (posthumously): For her incredible bravery in the face of brutal security operatives. She lived by the courage of her convictions and faced the wrath of the oppressive regime. Her ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of all South Africans will remain in the annals of our nation’s history. 

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