Tributes flow for activist Polly Slingers
STIRRING tributes from relatives, former pupils and colleagues filled the funeral service of the former Trafalgar High School teacher and revered politico, Polly Slingers, at the Central Methodist Church in Greenmarket Square yesterday.
One of Slingers’ sons, Bryan, fondly described his father as a teacher, thinker, political activist, Christian, father and husband, who found a way of integrating all those elements into one.
“So as we pay tribute to my father and take leave of him, we have a great task on our hands, because it’s being able to find a point of integration of all of those things that presents a challenge,” said Bryan.
“People who speak here today will reflect that complexity that was my father, that convoluted, multifaceted individual that was my father.
“One of the things he was, was a Trotskyist.
“He was a member of the Unity Movement and its sister organisations in its many manifestations,” added Bryan.
Marcus Solomon, who was taught history by Slingers in 1957 and 1958 at Trafalgar High, said Slingers had a profound influence on his life.
“What was wonderful about him was that there was no difference between his activism and his role as a teacher and as a wonderful human being,” he said.
“He had a great influence on many people, many activists – (such as) Basil February, James Marsh, James April, Tilley Abrahams and many others.
“I used to tell him (Slingers) that he started me on that road that eventually landed me on Robben Island (as a political prisoner) in 1963 and 1964.
“And of course I’m not sorry about that, because I still regard myself as an activist,” Solomon said.
Other speakers included Mike Titus, who read a message from the New Unity Movement, Charles Thomas, Slingers’ son Clive Slingers, and his grandchildren, Gaby Slingers and Oliver Slingers.