Ex-PAC leader Kgosana dies
JOHANNESBURG — Former Pan Africanist Congress leader Philip Kgosana has died at the age of 80.
Kgosana led a 30 000-strong march against pass laws from Langa to Cape Town in 1960.
The EFF sent its condolences yesterday and said Kgosana’s actions serve as a reminder of the impact young people can make.
“With this, we are reminded that there is no such a thing as being too young to carry the baton of the quest of the revolution. In fact, it is the duty of the youth to guard the downtrodden from the fallacies of an oppressive government,” EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
Ndlozi said the EFF honours and celebrates the life of Kgosana and further reiterates his sentiments that under an African government “there should be no child who sleeps on an empty stomach or studies under a tree”.
“The compassion shared and shown by Kgosana towards the emancipation of black people in South Africa will live on beyond the grave,” he said.
Kgosana graduated from Lady Selborne High School in Pretoria in 1958. He was awarded a bursary to study commerce at the University of Cape Town.
He left his studies in January 1960 when he became regional secretary of the PAC for the Western Cape.
Meanwhile, President Jacob Zuma has joined the chorus of condolences for Kgosana.
Zuma extended his condolences to the stalwart, freedom fighter and former Tshwane metropolitan councillor.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of this former freedom fighter who dedicated his life to the liberation of the people of South Africa. We wish to convey our deepest condolences to the Kgosana family and his political home, the Pan Africanist Congress. May his soul rest in peace,” Zuma said. — Sapa BLANTYRE — A rights group in Malawi has reportedly slammed the government’s slow pace in prosecuting those who have been accused of persecuting and killing people who have albinism. Aljazeera reported that according to the national co-ordinator for the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi, Boniface Massah, the government was only committed in words to the fight against the scourge of murders and attacks affecting people living with albinism.
Massah said there was a rise in attacks against people living with the inherited genetic condition and this was causing people living with the condition to live in fear.
He added that the government’s failure in finalising cases was a clear indication that “security has not improved, leaving the estimated 10 000-strong community vulnerable and anxious”.
“We face a high risk of attacks and we have seen government commitment in words, but not in action,” Massah was quoted as saying.
A government official has, however, dispelled the claims saying that government is aware of the challenges but that there has been a reduction in crimes against those with albinism.
As in other parts of Africa, people with albinism in Malawi are killed for their body parts, which are sold for witchcraft.
According to rights group Amnesty International, people with albinism in the southern African country are being targeted in an “unprecedented wave of brutal attacks”.
The group blamed the police for failing to tackle “a scourge fuelled by ritual practices”.
At least 115 people with albinism — a hereditary condition that causes an absence of pigmentation —have been attacked across Malawi since 2015. The rights group further said that at least 35 cases have been prosecuted, while 43 others are under investigation.
No murder cases have been concluded. — AFP