Hamba kahle Philip Kgosana

PHILIP ATA KGOSANA – the world mourns. It is because of your indelible contribution to the liberation struggle of South Africa that the world became more aware of the atrocities of the apartheid regime.

As a young man, aged 23, you had the nerve to lead a strong mass of people, including hostel dwellers in Langa township, to protest against the hated pass system.

You compromised your studies at the University of Cape Town to serve the downtrodden people of South Africa.

Unlike others you had a bursary to pursue your BCom studies without fail, but you chose the Struggle above everything else.

You, like the founding president of the PAC, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were a shining example of a true leader in the course of the Struggle.

Sobukwe had a plum job as an African studies lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand at the time of his arrest on March 21, 1960.

He led the march to Orlando police station against the hated pass laws and handed himself over for arrest. So, too, did you – nine days later in Cape Town when you led more than 30 000 to the apartheid Parliament.

It is our wish that the younger generation take a leaf from your pages of courage, including the desire to selflessly serve the interests of the people of South Africa.

How can we forget that you played a major role in ensuring that the UN endorsed the declaration that apartheid was a crime against humanity? Indeed, it was.

You fought the battle. Rest in peace, Son of the Soil.

The EFF said the most prominent memory of Philip Kgosana was the emergence of his 23-yearold self in leading a march of 30 000 people from Langa to the Cape Town CBD to protest against the hated pass laws.

“With this, we are reminded there is no such a thing as being too young to carry the baton of the revolution. In fact, it is the duty of the youth to guard the downtrodden from the fallacies of an oppressive government,” it said.