The ANC has bestowed an Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe award upon Struggle stalwart John Nkadimeng who played a pivotal role during the days of apartheid.

Speaking at Nkadimeng's house in Bramley, Johannesburg, on Monday, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the award befits him well as he was a selfless contributor to the party.

"The NEC [national executive committee] said we must come to you and visit you with mama. The national executive committee decided to give you the highest award that the ANC has to give to any of its cadres in recognition of the contribution you have made to our Struggle.

"We are giving you the Seaparankwe and you are going to be one of the very few in our movement to receive this. This is the highest recognition, as you know, and we thank you most profusely for the service you have given to our people," said Ramaphosa.

The president was accompanied by the party's top brass, with the exclusion of deputy president David Mabuza.

Nkadimeng quietly thanked the president for the prestigious award.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Shirley Nkadimeng welcomed the award which was  brought personally by the ANC top officials. She also thanked them for identifying her father with it while he was alive.

"Today we are so humbled to be in this occasion. It is very emotional for us and I think for my mom, father, brothers and sisters, to finally witness something as great as this accolade.

"It’s a few [people] that get bestowed with this kind of accolade and we really appreciate it. It just goes to show that the selfless contribution that my dad contributed to the Struggle for freedom has paid off.

"When you plant a seed, there is time for the seed to grow and then there is pruning time where you go through so many things… you go through wilderness and then there's time to reap and that is harvest time. So for my dad, it is time to reap the hard work that he has put [in] for the Struggle for freedom and we can see the fruits." 

Shirley is the last born of Nkadimeng's daughters.

During the ANC's election manifesto launch in Durban on January 8, Ramaphosa awarded Nkadimeng, ANC veteran and Rivonia trialist Denis Goldberg and anti-apartheid activist Sophie de Bruyn with the award.

The party also bestowed it posthumously upon Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, Ahmed Timol and Charlotte Maxeke