Poverty stricken MK veteran will vote ANC despite ‘betrayal’

Benson Ntlemo

He is poor, jobless and bitter but former Umkhonto we Sizwe combatant Elijah Shilubane, 61, who lives in a dilapidated one roomed mud hut with his wife and children says he will not abandon the ANC in the upcoming polls.

Shilubane who left the country to join MK in 1977 complains that although he spent his life fighting for liberation, he is now hungry in the land of plenty and most of the people who never lifted a finger to fight the apartheid government are living comfortable lives. Shilubane whose exile name was comrade Atlantic returned to SA in1991.

He never kept a job since he returned and alleges his comrades have been making promises that never materialised.

“Sometimes I blame myself and think I made a wrong turn in life. Maybe if I had done something for myself and not put my country first I would be