This is my final salute to an officer and a gentleman, a dear friend, comrade and colleague.
The Early Days
A Freedom Fighter, a Journalist, a Legal Mind and an Air Force Officer, Maokeng Daniel Kgwete (best known as Zetkin ‘Touch’ Nokwe in uMkhonto weSizwe [MK]), passed away on 29 April 2025 after a short illness.
Daniel Kgwete was born in Mamelodi township, east of Pretoria, on 1 October 1960. At the schools he attended, he was a prolific footballer, leading to his uncle, Dr Kgwete, the paediatrician, giving him the nickname, Touch & Go, shortened to Touch.
His football idol those days was Mecro ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe who played for the old Bantu Callies, renamed Pretoria Callies. Mecro was also known as Modimo wa bolo or the God of football. Touch got politically conscious early in life, getting involved in the anti-apartheid struggle, as he was active in the Mamelodi youth structures.
Fort Hare
Touch went on to enrol for a law degree at the University of Fort Hare in the early 1980s. He only had good memories of his time in the Eastern Cape, where he made a lot of friends. Among the people he met at Fort Hare then, he had fond memories of Mpumelelo Bond Nyoka from Port Elizabeth, who was also a law student. Bond Nyoka subsequently became a prominent attorney in P.E.
As was the case at high school, Touch was still engaged in robust student activism at Fort Hare, leading to his expulsion during his final year.
Journalism
He returned to the old Transvaal where he got employment as a journalist with the Star newspaper, covering court cases because of his legal background at university. He also wrote about the township uprisings of the mid 80s with the accompanying police brutality. Mamelodi township was one of the places that were on fire during this period.
The Security Branch elements of the police were watching Dr Fabian Ribeiro, who had a medical practice in Mamelodi. They accused him of treating wounded activists who had been shot by the police in the streets. They also alleged that he gave financial assistance to the youth to leave the country to undergo military training.
Thus, on 1 December 1986, a Special Forces Unit of the SADF, led by General Charles Robey, gained entry into the residence of Dr Fabian Ribeiro. They shot him with his wife, Florence, at point blank range, killing them instantly.
This was one story that disturbed and traumatised Touch. He covered it extensively from the start to the funeral and beyond. His investigative journalism came to the fore when he would visit a young boy who lived in the same street as the Ribeiro’s to get background information. The boy told him that several days before the assassination, police casspirs (armoured military vehicles used by police and defence forces) would be seen parked across the home of the Ribeiro’s at night, watching the property.
Touch said the police were aware of his reports in the Star and they began to follow him. In the chaos of the uprising, they targeted the boy and eliminated him.
The six SADF members who were involved in the assassination of the Ribeiro’s were later granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
From there, they were hot on Touch’s trail. They would look for him at home and at the offices of the Star newspaper.
The police feared the power of Touch’s pen within the context of the broader anti-apartheid struggle.
He initially escaped to Lesotho for a while. He came back and lay low in Peddie, Eastern Cape.
Exile
In 1987, he decided the time had come to leave the country to undergo military training with MK, the People’s Army of the ANC. Thus, he left for Zambia. He gave himself the combat name of Zetkin Nokwe. He used to say his name came from a combination of names of two prominent people, who came from two professions: Journalism and Law. Clara Zetkin was a German journalist who campaigned for women’s rights, while Duma Nokwe was the first African to be admitted to practice as an advocate in South Africa.
Tanzania
In 1988, Touch worked for the Department of Information and Publicity (DIP) in Dar es Salaam (DSM), Tanzania. The office was situated along Nkrumah Street in the DSM Central Business District. At that stage, the regional DIP was headed by Solly Rathebe. By 1989, it was headed by Manase Sefatlhe.
The DIP issued media statements for distribution to local and international media. The local media included Radio Tanzania, Daily News newspaper, the Tanzania news agency, Shirika la Habari la Tanzania known by its acronym, SHIHATA. The unit also distributed ANC publications to foreign diplomatic missions and other interest groups. The DIP office was always a hive of activity as many South African students came to peruse literature for research.
There was also Radio Freedom whose programmes were aired on alternate mornings and evenings over the External Service of Radio Tanzania. The programmes would be received by audiences inside the country on Short Wave radio frequency.
Occasions to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre, June 16 Student Uprisings and others, were also organized by the DIP. The unit would arrange venues, speakers, and musicians. They also wrote speeches for the Chief Rep’s office. There was also an ANC Printing Unit that was attached to the OAU Printing Press. It also worked closely with the DIP office.
Touch would always present good radio programmes that were well-researched, written and presented with lucidity. He would often introduce a legal angle to many of his topics. On the radio, he was known for his trademark greeting: “Good evening comrades and fellow countrymen, Welcoming you to this programme is yours in the struggle, Zetkin Nokwe.“
Owing to his reporting skills honed at the Star, he could be assigned to attend any conference and come back with a written report. The DIP environment gave Touch the opportunity to use the power of his pen to continue fighting for liberation.
Touch lived at Magomeni township where some of the DIP members shared a house with the Military Department that was headed by Charles Setsubi, who also held the post of Military Attaché. This was the time when all MK combatants had been relocated from camps in Angola to camps in East Africa – divided between Tanzania and Uganda.
There was no dull moment in Touch’s life. He worked hard and played hard. He lived life to the fullest. His culinary skills were excellent. No one wanted to miss a meal prepared by Touch. He was very meticulous with his variety of salads and meat dishes. Jazz would boom from the speakers while he cooked, cleaned the house or did washing.
Touch mixed well with the local people as he spoke fluent Swahili. He knew virtually all places of entertainment in Dar es Salaam, such as Kunduchi Beach and Tazara Club. He appreciated Tanzanian and other African music, and he was never the one to shy away from the dance floor. He could move to the rhythm of popular dances such as Kwasa-Kwasa; Rumba; Skokochi; Mdundiko and so on.
Touch was also known as a well-spoken, neat, trendy, and natty dresser. Indeed, he was a refined gentleman.
Back Home
At the beginning of 1992, Touch left Tanzania for South Africa via Zimbabwe, where he did a short course in journalism. He then returned to South Africa where he attended the Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit (RAU) and later, the University of Bophuthatswana (UNIBO) to finish the law degree that he never completed because of his expulsion from Fort Hare. He obtained a B. Juris Degree.
He also met the love of his life, Gloria Mmekoa, whom he married in 1993. They were blessed with a daughter, Nthabiseng, and a son, Gontse.
Integration and Military Career
At the dawn of democracy, the liberation armies such as MK and Apla were integrated into the military, forming the new SANDF.
Touch was part of a group of 24 ex-MK soldiers who attended an Officer Orientation Course at the South African Air Force College from January to the beginning of March 1995. He was then awarded the rank of Captain and deployed at the Headquarters office of the South African Air Force, along Dequar Road, Pretoria.
He worked in various capacities, including being the South African Military Attaché to Sudan, until he retired in 2021. By then, he held the senior rank of Colonel.
In the celestial world, a huge reception awaits Touch. His Guard of Honour will include many departed Mamelodi activists, MK guerillas, the media and legal fraternity, and members of staff of the Dar es Salaam office who include, Chief Rep: Manala Manzini; Treasurer: Dloks Madlokovu; Finance Officer: Johannes Dlamini and Secretary: Beatrice Stamper.
We take the final salute to a great officer and a gentleman.
