By Nangamso Mabindla
2 February 2004

BUFFALO City will honour four prominent individuals on Valentine's Day by presenting them the city's highest accolade - the Freedom of the City.

The four to be honoured are: ANC Youth League founder Alcott Gwentshe, struggle veteran Wilton Mkwayi, Anglican Bishop David Russell and DaimlerChrysler boss, Christoph Köpke.

Each of these four had each played a major role in making Buffalo City what it is today, Executive Mayor Sindisile Maclean said.

"We're here because some of these individuals risked their lives during the dark days of apartheid, fighting for a better tomorrow for us and our children."

Köpke would be honoured for his contribution in improving Buffalo City's economy by creating jobs for people from the impoverished townships surrounding the city.

The mayor said he could not think of individuals more deserving than the four who were "carefully selected to celebrate our 10th year of democracy."

Alcott Gwentshe will receive his accolade posthumously. Gwentshe, who was married to woman's rights activist Walele Irene, was the founder of the African National Congress' youth league. He died in 1966, leaving his wife to raise their four sons, two of whom, Mzwandile and Mzimkulu, died in exile. Their other two children, Zwelibanzi and Duke, continued their struggle at home. Duke will receive the award from Councillor Maclean on behalf of his father.

The mayor said that the youth needed to be introduced to and learn to honour "principled, death-defying combatants such as Gwentshe".

Another veteran, former trade unionist Wilton Mkwayi, will also receive the Freedom of the City. Mkwayi was imprisoned on Robben Island for more than 20 years with Nelson Mandela following the Rivonia Trial. Mkwayi took command of the internal military wing of the ANC for 13 months after the capture and trial of Mandela and his fellow Rivonia trialists. He was finally captured in 1964, imprisoned on Robben Island, and released in 1989. He later became an MPL in Bisho before retiring in 1997.

Another man, who fought his struggle from a spiritual standpoint and armed with the word of God, Anglican Bishop David Russell will also be honoured by the city. Born in 1938, the bishop's struggle for a non-racial South Africa was characterised by numerous acts of solidarity with those oppressed by the apartheid system.

The deeply religious Xhosa-speaking priest intensified his struggle when he lived on the "Dimbaza Diet" for six months in solidarity with pensioners who received R10 a month. His diet consisted of samp, mealie meal, peanut butter and bread. On 19 October 1977, the cleric was banned following a crackdown after he had highlighted incidents of police brutality and killings in Nyanga, Cape Town.

DaimlerChrysler boss Christoph Köpke, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, but raised in South Africa, completes the quartet of heroes to be honoured this month. Köpke joined Mercedes-Benz SA as a distribution clerk before his meteoric rise through the ranks to national passenger-car sales manager. He left Mercedes-Benz SA and spent five years with the South African importers of Porsche, LSM distributors.

Köpke later rejoined Mercedes-Benz SA, which later became known as DaimlerChrysler SA, in 1989 as chairman of the management board. The 57-year-old Köpke moulded DCSA's management staff relations with social responsibilities. For example, the DCSA-sponsored Border Cricket boasts the biggest cricket academy in South Africa.