President Cyril Ramaphosa travelled to Angola on Sunday, 28 August to attend the State Funeral Service of Former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who served as the second President of the Republic of Angola from 1979-2017.
President Dos Santos passed away on 08 July 2022, at the age of 79, following an extended period of illness and hospitalisation in Spain.
Paying tribute shortly after Dos Santos passing, Ramaphosa described the former president as an Esteemed Member of the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo – an honour bestowed on him by South Africa on Freedom Day 2010.
“I offer, on behalf of our Government and nation, our sincerest condolences to the Republic of Angola on the passing of an outstanding revolutionary and leader of a nation.
“Pres Dos Santos’ humble beginnings, his militancy, his exile from the country of his birth and his education in the then Soviet Union resonate profoundly with the journey many South Africans in our own liberation movement experienced.
“Indeed, José Eduardo dos Santos and the MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola) he came to lead extended their revolutionary solidarity and material and military support to our liberation movement.
“This support provoked the apartheid regime and its allies to violate the sovereign Republic of Angola by turning Angola into a battleground for preserving the apartheid regime.
“In the end, through the sacrifices of the Angolan people and the unwavering leadership of President Dos Santos, freedom dawned in a democratic South Africa.
“Today, our two nations are united in mourning as we were in struggle, and South Africa will continue to honour the contribution President Dos Santos made to building the Republic of Angola and bringing peace to our region.
“May his soul rest in peace.”
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