26 December 2020
The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] has learned with great sadness about the passing of the South African Communist Party (SACP) Central Committee member and Member of Parliament, Comrade Nomvuzo Francisca Shabalala. Comrade Nomvuzo Francisca Shabalala passed away at 01h00 am on the 26th of December 2020 after being hospitalized the previous week.
Our National Democratic Revolution once again bleed at the behest of death which has robbed the people of a dedicated servant of the working class. Comrade Nomvuzo Shabalala is known as a long-serving councillor of the eThekwini Municipality. She served as the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini Municipality nourishing the principle of putting people first.
She served in various structures of the oldest and largest communist movement on the African continent – the South African Communist Party. Prior her election to the highest decision-making structure of the organization in between congresses, which is the Central Committee, she served as the Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the SACP in Moses Mabhida Province (KwaZulu-Natal), a position she held from 2015 until 2018. She served in the Provincial Executive Committee of the SACP in Moses Mabhida Province since 2012.
At the time of her passing, she was serving the Central Committee of the SACP, which is the highest decision-making structure within the organization in between congresses. She was elected into the Central Committee by the 14th National Congress of the SACP in 2017. The Central Committee is considered to be composed of highly intellectual and advanced leaders of the working class. It is without any form of doubt that her activism and contribution to the working-class revolution earned her the status to serve in such an advanced structure of the people’s movement.
Her early political activism is rooted in the trade union movement through the Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa (CCAWUSA), which is the predecessor to the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU). Comrade Nomvuzo Shabalala was also an activist of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of this great giant of our movement. Her inspiring activism leaves lessons for many of us, especially during a time when the purpose of selflessly serving our people is contested by personal greed” – said the YCLSA National Secretary, Tinyiko Ntini.
As we mourn her passing, uFasimba also conveys its deepest condolences to her family, our Party – the SACP and the trade union movement.
Issued by the Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba]
Dloze Matooane
National Spokesperson
066 570 3902
Whatsapp: 0826920127
Email: dmdmatooane@gmail.com
Dineo Mokoena
Media and Liaison
073 969 8532