SACP Message of Sincere Condolences to Nicolas Wolpe's Family

Wednesday, 28 August 2024: - The South African Communist Party (SACP) conveys its message of sincere condolences to the family of Nicholas (Nic) Wolpe (61) for the monumental loss the family has encountered. Born on 16 April 1963, Nic Wolpe, chief executive officer of the Liliesleaf Trust, breathed his last on Saturday, 24 August 2024.

Through the Liliesleaf Trust, Nic Wolpe dedicated his attention to make and develop the Liliesleaf Farm as a key centre of memory for our liberation and social emancipation struggle. About this, in “Memory, Legacy, Heritage and Monuments define us as people and a nation” published by The Thinker (Vol. 52, 2013, pages 50–53), preserved by the University of the Witwatersrand as part of Historical Papers, Nic Wolpe had this to say:

“Today, therefore Liliesleaf takes on more significance and meaning as the passage of time can blur and distort our recollection of events. It ensures that events and actions that influenced and shaped today’s South Africa are not lost or forgotten. As time passes it is easy to forget where we have come from and what we, as a people have been through. With each generation the gap gets wider and the importance of our past has the potential to fade from the historical landscape and narrative.”

Wolpe defined the main aim of Liliesleaf Farm Heritage Site as a key site of memory dedicated to preserving the history of a significant and seminal period in our liberation struggle. He expected the Liliesleaf Farm Heritage Site to keep the historical liberation and social emancipation memory alive in public consciousness and to make it serve as a bridge connecting the past to the present and guiding us into the future.

Our entire democratic movement needs to continue this profound effort in memory of Nic Wolpe’s dedication to preserving the history of the struggle. Targeted membership and leadership and mass political education is essential as part of this effort, also drawing lessons from the May 2024 election results.   

Going back, Nic’s father, Harold Wolpe, was a prominent member of the SACP. Among others, he played an important role, together with Arthur Goldreich, in the SACP’s purchase of the Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, Johannesburg, the underground headquarters of the Party. Among others, at Liliesleaf Farm the Communist Party offered sanctuary to revolutionaries like President Nelson Mandela, who used the alias David Motsamayi, the name of one of his former clients as a lawyer.

It was from the underground headquarters of the Communist Party that the constitution and founding strategies of the people’s Liberation Army, the real uMkhonto weSizwe, (MK), were written by President Mandela and communist leaders Raymond Mhlaba, Joe Slovo, Rusty Bernstein and Michael Harmel, a revered strategist. Together with Mandela, Mhlaba and Slovo formed the true MK high command, chaired by Mandela. The MK was a joint ANC and SACP armed struggle formation and it was at Liliesleaf Farm, which also served as the headquarters of the MK, that a raid by apartheid security police on 11 July 1963 led to the arrests of 19 stalwarts of our struggle for liberation and social emancipation. This culminated in the Rivonia Trial from 1963 to1964. This resulted in, among others, Mandela, Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada, Andrew Mlangeni, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Govan Mbeki sentenced to life imprisonment.

Issued by the South African Communist Party,

Founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa.

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