Today we are not merely mourning a fallen comrade, but we are honouring a life that was woven into the very fabric of struggle, service and sacrifice.
We reflect and celebrate the life of Comrade Sicelo Mleve, a loyal son of the people, a disciplined cadre of the liberation movement, a cultural activist, a community servant, and an unwavering soldier in the long march towards justice and the emancipation of the African people.
The story of Sicelo Mleve is inseparable from the story of a generation of young activists who understood that freedom is not inherited, it is organised, defended and advanced through conscious political struggle.
His political journey began at Phakama Senior Secondary School, where he distinguished himself as a member of COSAS and the Student Representative Council (SRC).
He was recruited into the movement by comrades Xolani “Pizza” Sifali, Nqaba Bhanga, Sikhumbuzo Nkebe and Mongezi Motla Mantambo, and nurtured politically by the guidance and wisdom of stalwarts such as Thozama Balfour and Mzoli Nkewu.
Under their mentorship, Sicelo came to understand that political activism was not a hobby or a pastime, it was a calling.
From the zonal structures of COSAS to the ranks of the ANC Youth League, Sicelo distinguished himself as a thoughtful organiser and a dependable cadre.
He rose to become ANCYL Regional Secretary, again Secretary of the South African Youth Council, and later served as its Provincial Chairperson in the Eastern Cape, working alongside leaders such as Tebogo and Mboxela.
His activism was never confined to conference halls or organisational reports.
Sicelo believed that politics must find expression in the lived reality of ordinary people.
This conviction led him to serve as Coordinator of Youth Development in the Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality, where he worked tirelessly to create opportunities for young people and to bridge the gap between government programmes and community needs.
Within the ANC, he remained a loyal and trusted servant of the organisation.
He served diligently as an ANC Branch Secretary, later earning election to the Regional Executive Committee and subsequently serving on the Regional Working Committee. His rise within the movement was not the result of ambition or self-promotion.
Throughout his life, Sicelo remained convinced that the ANC was the primary instrument through which African people and the marginalised could pursue self-determination, dignity and social justice.
For years he worked tirelessly, often without recognition, in communities that many had forgotten. He listened where others spoke. He organised where others complained. He delivered where others made promises.
It was therefore no surprise that the people entrusted him with public office during the 2021 Local Government Elections, electing him as councillor for Ward 27.
His tenure as councillor became a living demonstration of servant leadership. The clearest testimony to the love and respect his community had for him is that Ward 27 witnessed neither protest nor instability during his leadership. Not because problems did not exist, but because the people knew their councillor would answer their calls, hear their grievances and stand alongside them in seeking solutions. Accessibility was not a slogan to Sicelo, it was a principle.
His passion for economic justice led him to serve as Chairperson of the City’s Standing Committee on Economic Development. He belonged to a generation of young activists who believed that political freedom without economic emancipation remains incomplete. He was part of that proud cohort that insisted that the wealth of this country must serve the many rather than the racialized privileged few. He dreamed of a South Africa where African people would not merely survive, but prosper with dignity and ownership of their destiny.
Comrade Sicelo was not taken from us by chance. He was not the victim of random criminality. He was targeted by forces that have infiltrated the bloodstream of our politics, forces that pursue power through violence, intimidation and bloodshed. These are forces that do not share Sicelo’s commitment to serving the people. They seek not to uplift communities but to exploit them. They do not seek to empower the poor but to rob them of resources, hope and opportunity.
The assassination of Sicelo Mleve is therefore not only an attack on an individual. It is an attack on democratic activism. It is an attack on ethical leadership. It is an attack on the very idea that public representatives should serve the people rather than prey upon them.
We refuse to normalise such barbarity.
We refuse to accept political killings as the price of public service.
We refuse to allow the memory of Comrade Sicelo to be buried beneath fear and silence.
We demand that those who planned, financed and executed this cowardly act be identified, exposed and brought before the full might of the law. We owe that to his family. We owe that to his community. We owe that to the values for which he lived and ultimately died.
Comrade Sicelo Mleve has completed his shift.
His hands may be still, but the work to which he dedicated his life remains unfinished.
His voice may be silent, but the ideas he championed continue to echo in the hearts of those he inspired.
His enemies may have taken his life, but they cannot kill his example.
History will remember him not as a victim, but as a fighter.
- Andile Lungisa, ANC NEC member and former ANC YL deputy president
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