South Africa pays tribute: National flag to honour Sunny Girja Singh at half-mast in KZN

The national flag will be flown at half-mast in KwaZulu-Natal on the day of anti-apartheid veteran Sunny Girja Singh’s funeral, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval of a special provincial official funeral (category two) for the liberation stalwart.

Singh, a dedicated activist and freedom fighter, passed away on Thursday at 86.

In a letter dated 22 November 2025, Director-General and Secretary of the Cabinet Phindile Baleni informed the provincial administration that the President had granted KwaZulu-Natal’s request for Singh to be honoured with a provincial official funeral.

The directive includes formal instructions for half-masting the national flag in the province as a mark of respect.

Singh has been remembered as one of the province’s most dedicated freedom fighters. The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said he “never faltered” in his commitment to the struggle against apartheid and represented a generation that placed the liberation of South Africa above personal sacrifice. 

Born in 1939 in Cato Manor, Durban, Singh joined the Natal Indian Youth Congress as a teenager and later became active in the Natal Indian Congress. He was recruited into Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) in the early 1960s, participating in sabotage activities aimed at undermining apartheid infrastructure. His arrest in 1963 led to a 10-year sentence on Robben Island, where he played a role in keeping fellow political prisoners informed and politically engaged despite harsh restrictions.

Following his release in 1974, Singh continued to support community and labour structures in Durban even under close security surveillance. He later went into exile, where he received guerrilla training in Angola and East Germany and served in MK structures in Mozambique. He also represented the ANC in the Netherlands, helping to mobilise international support for the liberation movement.

Singh returned to South Africa in 1991 and contributed to youth development and the political transition. After the advent of democracy, he served in the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence division until his retirement in 2008.

Here are the Presidency’s directives on the national flag:

• The flag must first be hoisted to the top of the mast, then lowered to one-third of the flagpole.

• At sunset or the appointed time, the flag must be raised again to the top before being lowered for the day.

• No other flags (SAPS, SANDF, corporate flags, etc.) may be displayed when the national flag is half-masted.

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government is expected to release details of the funeral date and venue in the coming days.

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