The Order of Luthuli in Silver

Mr Moyisile Douglas Tyutyu Awarded for:

His excellent contribution to the fight for the freedom of all South Africans. As an underground operative of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), he proved to be a man of courage, living by his conviction that all are equal. He continues to be the fount of wisdom for young activists.

Mr Moyisile Douglas Tyutyu has lived and led the struggle against apartheid in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area, both as an African National Congress (ANC) member and an MK underground operative.

He joined the Struggle in 1952. He was constantly detained without trial under various apartheid laws. He was one of the first recruits of MK in 1963. In 1964, he was detained for 90 days and subsequently charged with furthering the aims of a banned organisation.

On 10 November 1964, Tyutyu was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and transferred to Robben Island prison on 5 January 1965. He became prisoner 87/65. On his release, he and his comrades were banished to various locations within the Eastern Cape.

He subsequently struggled to find employment to support his family. In 1977 he was approached by the late Mr Phakamile Mphongoshe (Mavimbela) to set up MK structures in the Port Elizabeth area.

He coordinated the infiltration of MK cadres into the country and the exodus of the youth to join MK. In 1978 and 1983 respectively, two of the MK cadres had been travelling in and out of Port Elizabeth on different military missions lost their lives when the explosives they were carrying exploded prematurely.

On 9 May 1983, Tyutyu was detained with 10 others under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act of 1967. The case was dubbed “Rufus Nzo and 10 others versus the State”. He was sentenced to 25 years and landed on Robben Island on 16 December 1984.

He was imprisoned until he was granted indemnity, after the then Justice Minister Kobie Coetzee initially turned down his application for indemnity. On his release, he joined other MK cadres for integration into the South African National Defence Force.

Tyutyu is a card-carrying member of the ANC in Ward 21 and the Deputy Chairperson of the ANC Veterans’ League. He is involved in the pilgrimage from Robben Island Museum that is searching for Robben Island inmates who passed on in the 1960s and were apparently buried Stikland Cemetery in Bellville, Cape Town.