Garden launched to honour murdered activists
Anti-apartheid activists share their experiences
The four towers stand tall and proud on a hill overlooking the Lingelihle township in Cradock each honouring the Cradock Four who were brutally murdered in 1985.
The towers bear the names of Mathew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli who were murdered near Bluewater Bay by the security police while travelling back home from Port Elizabeth in 1985.
Yesterday, government leaders officially launched the Cradock Garden of Remembrance after a multi-million rand refurbishment of the memorial complex.
Goniwe’s widow, Nyameka, said the garden was long overdue.
“We as families even thought that it was not going to be done as the space was identified and left empty for years and ended up being vandalised,” she said.
She said the garden had been established for a purpose and it should be used to create culture, history and distribute knowledge to South Africans.
“This site should be guiding us as the Cradock Four guided the country before they were brutally murdered. This must be the light that stands on top of the mountain and sheds light for everyone,” Goniwe said.
Mhlauli's widow, Nombuyiselo, said there were parts of the history of the Cradock Four that needed to be edited.
“We urge those who are writing to consult with the families so that we can write our own history,” she said.
She still remembered the day the four activists died and how the attack by the state on the families did not stop there.
“The families were harassed after the death of the our husbands. I can’t even count the times they came to my house kicking down the doors and harassing us,” she said.
She said the garden of remembrance gave them strength.
“We must protect, guard and reprimand those who are vandalising the garden,” said Mhlauli.
Tourism minister Derrick Hanekom said the department had spent R28m on the project.
"This was built by the expanded public works programme workers and people will be employed to keep the site clean," he said.
Hanekom said the monument project had exceeded his expectations and would create jobs.
"The local economy will be boosted as tourists come to visit the site," he said.
He said the monument had potential for attracting people.
"The place is huge and has a conference centre, wall of remembrance and a small hall," he said.
Hanekom urged the people of Cradock to take care of the memorial.
Economic development, environmental affairs and tourism MEC Oscar Mabuyane said they had committed to help educate relatives of the Cradock Fourl.
“We want to make these families independent,” he said.
He also announced Standard Bank had contributed R20,000 to Solomon Akona Primary school to buy school uniforms.
We urge those who are writing to consult with the families so that we can write our own history
Two massacres, one infamous internationally, the other not, were recalled on Human Rights Day on Thursday.
The day was the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, but it is also historically linked to the the day when members of the South African Police opened fire on a crowd of funeral-goers gathered on Maduna Road between Uitenhage and Langa Township.
The police slew 20 people, at least, since numbers vary up to 28 in media reports, and 30 were wounded. The gruesome event sparked outrage and was burned into the memory as a day when the province and the country suffered gross human rights violations under the apartheid regime.
Working as an anti-apartheid activist and underground ANC member in Port Elizabeth at the time, Nelson Mandela University professor Janet Cherry recalled the chaos, terror and wave of protest that ensued.
“There were various incidents leading up to the Langa Massacre, local black authorities were threatened regularly before it happened and afterwards the violence escalated drastically,” said Dr Cherry.
“It was an incredibly violent experience because the state’s usual crowd control measures were rubber bullets, tear gas or a combination of both, but on that day the police officers had hard ammunition.
“The people marching to the funeral were singing songs and the police said they felt threatened by the songs. The crowd was completely unprepared for the mass shooting.”
Cherry was part of a group of activists who set up a crisis centre in the Langa Township the day following the massacre.
“Frantic parents would come to us and explain that their sons had been part of the funeral march and were missing. Our function was to find out what happened to people and help where we could – many were arrested, missing or dead.”
In 1987, only two years after the slaughter, the minister of law and order Louis le Grange paid out R2.3m to 51 people injured or widowed in the massacre, which amounted to an admission of liability.
Cherry said that this was a poignant moment because it meant that the police had been held accountable for their actions.
She said that, as South Africans it was important to remember the events of 1985 and to appreciate the human rights we were now all entitled to. Human Rights Day has a very profound meaning for me. It’s so important to remember the Langa Massacre and to remember what it means to have human rights,” said Cherry.
“Every person has a right to be protected by and from the state and now in a democracy we are protected.”
Fellow anti-apartheid activist, and former UDF PE firebrand Mkhuseli “Khusta” Jack said that the Langa Massacre had been a defining moment in the fight against apartheid.
“It was at the height of the country’s conflict, following the boycotts and stayaways organised by the anti-apartheid movement,” said Jack.
“The state and police were shocked and angered by the success and growing support of the democratic movement and it culminated in the Langa Massacre.”
He said that, to him, Human Rights Day highlighted that everyone, regardless of race or class, should be protected and treated with dignity by the state.
It was an incredibly violent experience because the state’s usual crowd control measures were rubber bullets, tear gas