Memorial for apartheid heroes
2008-05-09 18:43
Marble Hall - The Freedom Park Trust (FPT) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Greater Sekhukhune district municipality in Marble Hall, Limpopo, on Thursday to formalise a partnership that aims to honour liberation heroes from the area.
Trust chief executive Dr Wally Serote said the trust had been tasked with making sure that those who played an active role in the liberation of South Africa are recognised.
"We fought a war in this country and very little is being said about it. It is like a jacket that was once in fashion and has been forgotten," said Serote.
He said the Sekhukhune "heroes and heroines" needed to be remembered for starting the rural movements against the introduction of Bantustan laws by the apartheid government 50 years ago.
The names of the Sekhukhune stalwarts who participated in the Sekhukhune Uprisings would be archived at the Freedom Park monument in Pretoria, where visitors will be able to read about their heroic acts.
He said information gathered by researchers could also see some names engraved in the park's Garden of Remembrance.
"Out of this agreement must come a programme of action that will in no way contradict what King Sekhukhune I and the participants in the 1958 revolts stood for," said Dr Serote.
He said the official commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Sekhukhune Uprisings would be held at Freedom Park on May 23.
Greater Sekhukhune mayor Dickson Masemola said many struggle heroes such as Flag Boshielo and John Phala emerged from Sekhukhune during the uprisings.
"The Sekhukhune liberation fighters were involved in armed combat long before the formation of Umkhonto weSizwe (the ANC's armed wing)," he said.
"People of this region made sure they fought apartheid and that is a legacy were all proud of," he added.
He said a memorial lecture will be held on May 27 at the Jane Furse Comprehensive School, where the Kara Institute's founding president Dr Mathole Motshekga will give a keynote address.
The Kara Institute advocates for the recognition of African values by revisiting the history of African people.