Mayor Tau unveils plague for 1976 activist

13 June 2016

 

The current generation of youth needed to strive to be part of the solution to challenges such as unemployment, poverty and inequality facing the country, Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau said at the weekend.

 

Mayor Tau was speaking at the unveiling of a plaque in honour of slain 1976 student activist Abiel Lebelo during the South African Council of Churches’ interfaith prayer service outside Madibane High School in Diepkloof, Soweto, on Saturday.

“The generation of the gallant youth of 1976 was resolute and committed to a just, free and democratic South Africa. The only way to express our gratitude to that fearless generation is for the new generation to show the same zeal to ensure that the triple challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment are eradicated,” Mayor Tau said addressing hundreds of residents, including members of the South African National Defence Force Association.

The event formed part of the City’s commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the June 16 1976 Soweto uprising, which will reach its climax at Orlando Stadium on Youth Day on Thursday. Lebelo was a political activist and member of the Soweto Student Representative Council who was shot and killed by police at the height of the uprising on August 2 1976.

On June 16 1976 students from Diepkloof – led by Joy Rabotapi, Trofomo Sono, Lebelo and Matthews Mabelane – marched to Orlando Stadium for a meeting with their counterparts from other parts of Soweto to draw up a memorandum voicing their opposition to the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools. But they never reached their destination after Hastings Ndlovu and Hector Pieterson were shot dead in Orlando West and pandemonium broke out throughout the township.

The unveiling of the plaque on Saturday was followed by a march to Orlando Stadium.

Marchers sang as they filed past the “Flame of Reconciliation”, a symbol that the youth of 1976 had finally reached their destination. Candles were also lit as a symbol of peace and harmony among people of different races and cultures.

Reverend Gift Moearane said the flame would drive away the darkness of all the adversity the youth were subjected to.

Mayor Tau also said the City and religious leaders would open communication lines among the different races to start the reconciliation process.

“Religious leaders have said they would like to go back to white communities to confront the issues directly and say: ‘This is our past, this is our history but we have a task to work towards building a common future’‚” said Tau.

Member of Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Development Cllr Nonceba Molwele and City Trevor Fowler also took part in the 8km march. South African Council of Churches General Secretary Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana said the events of 1976 pushed a pause button in the lives of many because the things that had happened to their loved ones were never spoken of.

“Today some people are still struggling when they recall those things. This must not be taken lightly because it had been painful and difficult,” he said.

The prayer service attracted people from many corners of the country.

Michael Vorster, 59, came all the way from Glenwood in KwaZulu-Natal to commemorate the bravery of the youth of 1976.

“I think the damage that was done by the past regime in young white males is still reflected in a lot of their aggression and violence today and I think that has to be dealt with,” he said.