Fabian and Florence Ribeiro: Catholic Martyrs for Justice

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · Published March 29, 2023 · Updated March 29, 2023

Florence and Dr Fabian Ribeiro in an undated photo. Their Catholic faith was the foundation for their activism in social upliftment and the struggle against apartheid — for which they were assassinated in their home on December 1, 1986.

In 1986, Dr Fabian and Florence Ribeiro were murdered in their home by apartheid killers. Daluxolo Moloantoa looks at the lives and impact of this devoutly Catholic couple.

For jazz legend Vusi Mahlasela, the Ribeiro home in Mamelodi township, east of Pretoria, was the place where his much-celebrated international music career begun in the late 1970s, with the music and poetry sessions held by the group Afro Poets in a small garage. Dr Fabian Ribeiro and his wife Florence did not live to see Mahlasela’s talent flourish.

The devoutly Catholic couple was assassinated by the apartheid regime on December 1, 1986 — just a few days after Mrs Ribeiro had told her children that freedom would not come in her lifetime. That warm Monday, the Ribeiros were relaxing in their courtyard when apartheid agents, led by General Charles Robey of the South African Defence Force (SADF), gained entry into the home and shot the couple at point-blank range. They both died on the scene.

In 1996 a sitting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) heard the full grisly details of the planning and the execution of the murders by the SADF. In 1997 all six members of the army who were involved in the murders were granted amnesty. Today, the Ribeiros’ name and legacy stands as a testimony to the heroic role they played in the struggle for a free and democratic South Africa.

“The Ribeiros were loved by the people of Mamelodi,” Mahlasela recalled. Beyond a shared love for music, a greater purpose brought Mahlasela and the Ribeiros together — a burning passion for the transformation of South African society through the ending of the system of apartheid.

The foundation of the couple’s pursuit of justice was their Catholic faith.

Both Dr Ribeiro and Mrs Ribeiro came from staunchly Catholic families. “This formed a strong religious foundation for their marriage,” daughter Dr Barbara-Anne Ribeiro, a former chief executive officer of the Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria, told The Southern Cross.

Fabian Ribeiro was born on June 19, 1933, in the Bantule slum area of Pretoria. His father was a migrant labourer from Beira in Mozambique, his mother was of Tswana origin from Brits, in today’s North-West province. As ardent Catholics, the Ribeiros sent their children to be educated at Catholic schools. Fabian did his primary schooling at Guardian Angels Primary School in Glen Cowie, Limpopo. He then attended a school at Roma, Lesotho, in preparation for the priesthood in the Church. Having changed his mind regarding the priesthood, Fabian matriculated at the Benedictine Inkamana High School near Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal. This is where Fabian met his future wife.

As a youngster in Hlobane village, a coal-mining settlement near Vryheid, Florence Mathe was known as “Vemba”, derived from her birth month. Born on November 3, 1933, Florence started her primary schooling at a school in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, where her mother had moved for work. She attended middle school at Inanda Seminary in KwaZulu-Natal, and completed her matriculation at Inkamana. Fabian went on to become a medical doctor, Florence a teacher.

In 1961 the couple settled in Mamelodi, with Fabian opening a medical practice in the township, and Florence a butchery. They had three sons and a daughter.

“My parents sent us to Catholic schools, with the hope that we would gain a good grounding for life. When we were home for school holidays, we would attend Sunday Mass at our local parish, St Raphael church in Mamelodi. We would always sit in the last pew of the church,” Dr Ribeiro recalled. “Because of my father’s initial calling, both my parents forged close relationships with the priests in Mamelodi and from some of the other parishes in Pretoria. At any given time, there would be a priest at our home, invited by my parents for dinner.”

Growing political consciousness

The early 1960s ushered in a period of a Total Onslaught on opponents of apartheid by the National Party government. As a medical practitioner, Dr Ribeiro witnessed the brutality of the system firsthand, having treated injured political activists at his practice. He grew increasingly sensitive to the plight of the people who suffered under apartheid. Similarly, a growing awareness was brewing in Florence. Although neither was aligned with any political organisation, an early political influence came from Pan African Congress founder Robert Sobukwe, who had married Florence’s sister Veronica.

In the early 1970s, Fabian opened a medical practice in the poor area of Winterveldt, north of Pretoria, where he often treated his patients for free. The increasing number of injured and brutalised young men entering his practice made him realise that the government’s repression was becoming more widespread and vicious.

In absolute secrecy, he later began to document the evidence of police brutality by recording a series of videotapes of victims of apartheid. The tapes were smuggled out of the country and sent to the BBC in London, which went on to create a documentary film from the videos.

Titled A Witness to Apartheid, the internationally televised film drew renewed international condemnation, not seen since the Sharpeville Massacre, of the cruelty of the apartheid system.

A couple of devout faith

Although Fabian had decided against joining the priesthood, he remained a committed Catholic. “My parents’ closeness to the Church and their strong faith made them very compassionate and kind people, and these characteristics strengthened their resolve to do all in their power to end the unjust system of apartheid,” daughter Dr Ribeiro noted.

In the late 1970s, the couple implemented social projects in Mamelodi (in conjunction with St Raphael parish), and in other areas, to help alleviate the impact of apartheid policies on black communities. In Winterveldt, Fabian expanded his community health programme in collaboration with Fr Michele D’Annucci CSS — who almost exactly 25 years after the Ribeiros would also fall to bullets.

In Mamelodi, the couple started a film projection programme at St Raphael parish. They would invite children to come to the church to watch films on Saturdays. One of the children was Prof Olga Makhubela-Nkondo, a former dean of students at the University of South Africa.

“I got curious about the Ribeiros as a young girl. I watched my very first film at St Raphael church, which was my home parish, and this had a great impact on me. The Ribeiros’ impact on my life compelled me to write a book, and some research papers, particularly on their role in public health.”

As a youngster, Malesela Masenya, now a retired training consultant, would help Florence deliver meat parcels from her butchery in Mamelodi. He remembers Fabian as going to great lengths to ensure that hymns were presented in the best way possible during Sunday Mass. “He availed his electric organ for use at Mass. I would help him transport the organ from his home to St Raphael church. After the service I’d help him transport it back to his house,” Masenya recalled. In 1985, Fabian bought a brand-new electric organ for the church, and taught Masenya how to play the instrument. It is still being used at Mass today.

As a couple, the Ribeiros attached much importance to the provision of a good education to young people. Through their own funds and through private sponsorship, they made it possible for many young people to study abroad in the United States, and also in Lesotho, where the couple had good contacts through the Church. Together with Sr Evangelina, a nun at St Raphael, the Ribeiros established an early learning children’s centre at the parish. They collaborated with the nun in the provision of primary healthcare and child recreation programmes at the centre.

A costly struggle against apartheid

In 1981 Fabian was arrested by the apartheid police on charges of treason. He was jailed for three months and was successfully defended by Advocate George Bizos. After his release, the couple’s involvement in the anti-apartheid movement became even more intensive. The couple would often leave their home to go on “holiday” or to attend to “important engagements” elsewhere.

They would often request Masenya to stand in as manager of the butchery and to watch over their home. “I was at first sceptical about the frequency of the trips, until I was told by Dr Ribeiro that they were both involved in the underground network of the liberation movement. I did not become actively involved myself. I was more of a backstage actor. When Dr Ribeiro had to go on a secret mission to Swaziland (now eSwatini), he would hire a car and park it at my home. To avoid police detection, he would instruct me to wake up at 1 am and drive the car to a secluded area in the Waltloo industrial area, where he would transfer files, books and other clandestine material into the hired car, and drive off to Swaziland.”

In February 1986, the Ribeiro home was gutted by a petrol bomb. The family escaped unhurt. It was the latest in a series attempts on their lives by secret operatives of the apartheid regime. They considered going into political exile but ultimately decided to stay. On December 1 that year, apartheid’s axe finally fell on the Ribeiros.

In 2004 President Thabo Mbeki honoured the couple posthumously with an Order of the Baobab Award in Gold for “dedicating their lives to serve the oppressed, and their outstanding contribution to the struggle for a just, equal and nonracial society”. The street on which the couple lived in Mamelodi has been renamed Dr Ribeiro Drive, and a street running through Pretoria’s upmarket Groenkloof and Waterkloof suburbs is named after Florence. A primary school in the township is also named after them, as is a government community clinic in central Pretoria.

Several books have been written about the couple. Perhaps it is the title of Prof Makhubela-Nkondo’s biography that best describes the couple: The Ribeiros: History on their side.