Johannesburg – The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is mourning the passing of former student leader, Tiego Moseneke, who died in a car crash on Wednesday.
Wits said it “has learnt with sadness of the passing of Tiego Moseneke – a Wits alumnus, business leader, and former president of the then Wits Black Students’ Society (BSS) in 1985/6”.
Tiego – the brother of retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke – was later to become a respected business leader.
At the time of his passing, Tiego was the Executive Chairman of Encha Group Limited and served on numerous boards in the country.
In Tiego’s student leadership days, the BSS was a structure that represented black students at Wits during a time when there were two separate student representative councils.
Tiego was also the national president of the anti-apartheid student movement and served as the United Democratic Front leader in the mid-1980s.
The university remembered Tiego as a natural leader who assumed a key role at the forefront of the struggle during a tumultuous period in the country’s history.
“He used his voice and position as a youth leader to agitate for the end of the apartheid regime and for access to Wits for all qualifying students, irrespective of race,” Wits said of its illustrious alumni.
“Tiego was proud of Wits’ position as a signpost of what could be possible in a more equal and progressive society, and symbolised an era of brave activism by the Wits community.
“Along with other Witsies, he did much for disadvantaged students, driving fundraising initiatives aimed at assisting students in need.
“Tiego was passionate about leadership and intergenerational dialogues between past and current student leaders.”‘
He was a founding chairman of the South Africa Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (SASSFE), a fund started by a group of former student leaders in April 2016.
It led the way in supporting the Masidleni Daily Meal Project under the Wits Food Bank, which provides meals to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and aims to combat hunger and food insecurity on campus.
The university said it was “deeply saddened by his passing and extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues and loved ones. We thank the Moseneke family for always being friends of the University and advocates of democracy”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday visited the Moseneke to pay his respects to the family.
