Jitsvinger’s new song for Youth Day
LOCAL rapper Jitsvinger will launch a song called Strategis on Youth Day as part of his tribute to those killed by police during the 1985 Trojan Horse Massacre in Athlone.
Quintin “Jitsvinger” Goliath said his song was about using strategies.
“The 1985 Trojan Horse incident was in my lifetime. I’m an ’80s baby. Three youths were lost but not much was said about the incident and about local youths’ contribution towards ending apartheid.
“This month is about recognising them,” he said.
On October 15, 1985, members of the security forces shot and killed three young people in Athlone, who were part of anti-government demonstrations.
A railways truck was loaded with crates, with a space in the middle for the police to hide.
The truck then drove down Thornton Road when the police suddenly sprang out of the crates and opened fire, killing three youngsters, Jonathan Claasen, 21, Shaun Magmoed, 15, and Michael Miranda, 11, and injuring several others.
Jitsvinger said he did a lot of research to create the song. He watched tapes from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and listened to interviews of people like Wouter Basson, an apartheid-era chemical warfare expert dubbed Dr Death.
“I used the music in the same way to create the opposite effect. Looking at the strategy, they had the resources, tax money, government to manipulate, so they could fund things like the Trojan Horse. Dark projects keep people imprisoned.
“When I discovered what they did with their biological warfare, I took the strategies and reversed it in the song. I used the recordings and wrote rhymes around those tracks.”
He said Cape Town heroes were diverse and he wanted to share that with young people.
“I wanted to share the narrative Cape Town’s legacy had in ending apartheid. We were involved in our own transformation. Youngsters need heroes from our own community. I am trying to use my music to honour the legacy of our heroes.
“There are two verses in the song, the first deals with the Trojan horse in the context of Greek mythology. It was given as a gift and was actually a covert operation, to hit the enemy from the inside.
“Today we find still such incidents. Music is like this, it is presented with a nice package but it’s the message what hits you afterwards,” he said.
The performance by Jitsvinger will take place at the Rollingwood Surf and Skate Store in Muizenberg on Saturday.
The event will headline Strategis, a track from the Jitsologie EP.
Strategis will be available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer and Tidal.