Maputo church pays tribute to Verwoerd’s assassin

The Greek Orthodox Church in Maputo has commemorated the life and memory of Dimitri Tsafendas who assassinated former apartheid Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd in Parliament in 1966. The Daily Maverick reports that the church paid tribute to Tsafendas, who was raised in Maputo, with a service that coincided with the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. It was attended by government officials, the diplomatic corps and representatives from other religions and churches. A message from the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II, was read out, describing Tsafendas as ‘a real fighter for human rights, a missionary of freedom and a true martyr who experienced during the most part of his life unspeakable tortures’. Solly Mapaila, secretary-general of the SA Communist Party, said Tsafendas was hailed as ‘a people’s hero of our liberation struggle’. Legalbrief reports that Tsafendas ,who was found not guilty of murder due to insanity, died in SA in 1999.