29 August 2022
Angola bids farewell to the country’s former President, who passed away on 8 July 2022, at the age of 79.
The official ceremony was held with the participation of João Lourenço, President of Angola.
Angola’s former strongman President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was buried in Luanda on Sunday. The funeral was held at the historic palm tree-lined Praca da Republica in the seaside capital on what would have been dos Santos’s 80th birthday.
Dos Santos died last month following a cardiac arrest and will be remembered as a “statesman and devoted pan-Africanist”, said Namibia’s ex-president Sam Nujoma, 93, who told the hundreds of mourners in attendance.
The funeral ceremony of José Eduardo dos Santos was attended by several Heads of State including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s leader Felix Tshisekedi and Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Former Heads of State and Foreign Dignitaries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the State Funeral Service and paid his last respect on behalf of the Republic of South Africa to the late Former Angolan President, His Excellency José Eduardo dos Santos at the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Memorial, Republic Square in Luanda, Angola
South Africa and Angola enjoy strong bonds of friendship dating back to liberation Struggle.
Josiane dos Santos, the late leader’s daughter, sobbed while recalling her father’s love for music.
During Angola’s war for independence, the young “Zedu”, as he was called, began his career as a revolutionary by recording LPs that encouraged the fight against coloniser Portugal while he took refuge in neighbouring DRC, she said.
A 21-gun salute rang as a portrait of dos Santos was carried ahead of the coffin, supported by military-clad pallbearers, in a slow procession to a specially built tomb behind the Neto mausoleum where he was buried.
Under dos Santos, Angola became one of Africa’s top oil producers. He stepped down in 2017, appointing Joao Lourenco his successor, who now stands to win a second term in office.
Dos Santos passed a series of laws before his departure from government, granting himself broad judicial immunity.