Note to Editor: These remarks were delivered at the memorial service of Dr. Ezrom Mathumbu this afternoon by ActionSA National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont.
Good morning,
Sanibonani,
Avuxeni,
My name Michael Beaumont, National Chairperson of ActionSA.
I stand before you today on behalf of all of ActionSA which shares in the grief for the tragic loss of Dr Ezrom Mathumbu.
Before I start, I would like to thank the late Dr’s family for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today and giving me the platform to speak on behalf of ActionSA members.
Tiveka, Nonlanhla, Hope and Makungu, I consider it an honour to share a few words about your late husband, father, and family man.
Thank you for your hospitality, and for affording ActionSA this platform to remember his legacy during this difficult time.
In ActionSA we have become a family. You grow close to people believing so strongly in an ideal for which you are willing to work, side by side, with others who work and sacrifice in the name of the same beliefs.
You often do this without sufficient resources and for long hours, but you do it alongside other South Africans who share your commitment. This is why Ezrom was so loved in ActionSA.
In the hit film, Braveheart, the hero of that movie famously said when confronted about whether he was afraid of death, “Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”
Whilst Dr. Mathumbu’s life WAS cut short, we can take some comfort in knowing that he lived a life which was indeed remarkable.
He was a man who treasured education, holding a PhD in Business Administration from North West University, and an MSc in Leadership & Change Management from the esteemed Leeds University in the UK.
He was a community man, well known in Bushbuckridge for his business work and activism.
He was also a spiritual man, and a pastor. He wore his faith on his sleeve, and it was what guided his love of his community and his country.
And looking at his work as Bohlabela Regional Chairperson of ActionSA – I know Ezrom was a patriot who loved his country, hated what had been done to it and wanted to be part of the efforts to fix it.
As a participant at our policy conference, he made pragmatic, sensible contributions to our policy framework. He even used this platform to tell 600 people at the policy conference that he was ready to be the Deputy Minister of Police to the applause and laughter of everyone present.
As a candidate during the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, he was placed 3rd on our provincial list. It is saddening that that the chambers of the Mpumalanga Legislature, nor the National Assembly, will ever witness the passion he had for service and his people on full display.
And I am proud to say that with the newly instituted membership system in place, Bohlabelo Region has the highest membership totals in the entire province of Mpumalanga. This was no coincidence.
His contributions, not only to the party, but to his country, have proven invaluable in the fight to build a better South Africa for all.
It is for this reason that we must continue the late Dr’s fight. We can never allow the work he did to be in vain.
To quote our President, Herman Mashaba – “a cold-blooded murder of a servant of the people on his way home will not and cannot be tolerated”.
It is tragically ironic that Ezrom, who was such a vocal critic of government failure to keep South Africans safe, would be taken from us by a violent criminal.
It is a painful reminder, close to home for ActionSA, just how our government has compromised our safety with a criminal justice system that is broken. It is the criminals who walk the streets safely and law-abiding South Africans who live in fear and it cannot be allowed to continue.
I remember at our policy conference in 2023, Ezrom spoke passionately in support of ActionSA’s tough on criminals policy proposals. Like so many others, Ezrom was fed up with our government being soft on criminals, and hard on ordinary South Africans.
At that policy conference, with Ezrom’s inputs, ActionSA adopted a policy that with violent offenders, life must mean life and we throw away the keys to ensure that that violent criminal can never hurt another South African. It went further to say that those locked up in our prisons must work for their keep, and labour programmes must ensure that they build in communities where they have broken families and communities with their crimes.
I have no doubt that the criminal that took Ezrom from us should never have been allowed to be free in the first place.
To honour Ezrom’s life ActionSA will pick up the baton he left us. We will engage the Police in Mpumalanga to ensure that your family receives justice. We will continue campaigning – as ActionSA members and community activists – for safer streets and we will lead the fight for a government that is tough on criminals and kind to law abiding South Africans.
We must continue to call for enhanced minimum penalties for violent crime, capacitation and training of our police force, and professionalisation of the NPA.
What I first noticed listening to Dr. Mathumbu’s story was the clear passion he had for serving South Africa.
A times, it is human nature to become disheartened by the road ahead, and by the mountains we have to climb to fix our country. We may often think, does my contribution mean anything to the bigger picture?
Let Ezrom’s life be a reminder that our contributions do matter. That someone would willingly end his life, seemingly for the work he had done, proves that the work you are doing for your country matters. That Dr. Mathumbu was clearly willing to put his life on the line should serve as inspiration for us to be more persistent and even louder in our calls for change.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Mathumbu family for so generously lending Ezrom to the world, to his country, and to his party. Let us embrace his passion for service, commitment to community, and unwavering belief in a better South Africa.
The example he set through his work will forever guide us.
Thank you.
Eulogy for Dr. Mathumbu
Note to Editor: These remarks were delivered at the memorial service of Dr. Ezrom Mathumbu this afternoon by ActionSA National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont.
Good morning,
Sanibonani,
Avuxeni,
My name Michael Beaumont, National Chairperson of ActionSA.
I stand before you today on behalf of all of ActionSA which shares in the grief for the tragic loss of Dr Ezrom Mathumbu.
Before I start, I would like to thank the late Dr’s family for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today and giving me the platform to speak on behalf of ActionSA members.
Tiveka, Nonlanhla, Hope and Makungu, I consider it an honour to share a few words about your late husband, father, and family man.
Thank you for your hospitality, and for affording ActionSA this platform to remember his legacy during this difficult time.
In ActionSA we have become a family. You grow close to people believing so strongly in an ideal for which you are willing to work, side by side, with others who work and sacrifice in the name of the same beliefs.
You often do this without sufficient resources and for long hours, but you do it alongside other South Africans who share your commitment. This is why Ezrom was so loved in ActionSA.
In the hit film, Braveheart, the hero of that movie famously said when confronted about whether he was afraid of death, “Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”
Whilst Dr. Mathumbu’s life WAS cut short, we can take some comfort in knowing that he lived a life which was indeed remarkable.
He was a man who treasured education, holding a PhD in Business Administration from North West University, and an MSc in Leadership & Change Management from the esteemed Leeds University in the UK.
He was a community man, well known in Bushbuckridge for his business work and activism.
He was also a spiritual man, and a pastor. He wore his faith on his sleeve, and it was what guided his love of his community and his country.
And looking at his work as Bohlabela Regional Chairperson of ActionSA – I know Ezrom was a patriot who loved his country, hated what had been done to it and wanted to be part of the efforts to fix it.
As a participant at our policy conference, he made pragmatic, sensible contributions to our policy framework. He even used this platform to tell 600 people at the policy conference that he was ready to be the Deputy Minister of Police to the applause and laughter of everyone present.
As a candidate during the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, he was placed 3rd on our provincial list. It is saddening that that the chambers of the Mpumalanga Legislature, nor the National Assembly, will ever witness the passion he had for service and his people on full display.
And I am proud to say that with the newly instituted membership system in place, Bohlabelo Region has the highest membership totals in the entire province of Mpumalanga. This was no coincidence.
His contributions, not only to the party, but to his country, have proven invaluable in the fight to build a better South Africa for all.
It is for this reason that we must continue the late Dr’s fight. We can never allow the work he did to be in vain.
To quote our President, Herman Mashaba – “a cold-blooded murder of a servant of the people on his way home will not and cannot be tolerated”.
It is tragically ironic that Ezrom, who was such a vocal critic of government failure to keep South Africans safe, would be taken from us by a violent criminal.
It is a painful reminder, close to home for ActionSA, just how our government has compromised our safety with a criminal justice system that is broken. It is the criminals who walk the streets safely and law-abiding South Africans who live in fear and it cannot be allowed to continue.
I remember at our policy conference in 2023, Ezrom spoke passionately in support of ActionSA’s tough on criminals policy proposals. Like so many others, Ezrom was fed up with our government being soft on criminals, and hard on ordinary South Africans.
At that policy conference, with Ezrom’s inputs, ActionSA adopted a policy that with violent offenders, life must mean life and we throw away the keys to ensure that that violent criminal can never hurt another South African. It went further to say that those locked up in our prisons must work for their keep, and labour programmes must ensure that they build in communities where they have broken families and communities with their crimes.
I have no doubt that the criminal that took Ezrom from us should never have been allowed to be free in the first place.
To honour Ezrom’s life ActionSA will pick up the baton he left us. We will engage the Police in Mpumalanga to ensure that your family receives justice. We will continue campaigning – as ActionSA members and community activists – for safer streets and we will lead the fight for a government that is tough on criminals and kind to law abiding South Africans.
We must continue to call for enhanced minimum penalties for violent crime, capacitation and training of our police force, and professionalisation of the NPA.
What I first noticed listening to Dr. Mathumbu’s story was the clear passion he had for serving South Africa.
A times, it is human nature to become disheartened by the road ahead, and by the mountains we have to climb to fix our country. We may often think, does my contribution mean anything to the bigger picture?
Let Ezrom’s life be a reminder that our contributions do matter. That someone would willingly end his life, seemingly for the work he had done, proves that the work you are doing for your country matters. That Dr. Mathumbu was clearly willing to put his life on the line should serve as inspiration for us to be more persistent and even louder in our calls for change.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Mathumbu family for so generously lending Ezrom to the world, to his country, and to his party. Let us embrace his passion for service, commitment to community, and unwavering belief in a better South Africa.
The example he set through his work will forever guide us.
Thank you.