Honour June 16 with free education
AZANIA (South Africa) was liberated by the sacrifice of blood shed by young people, and is now governed by a group of students who had against all odds stood for justice in South Africa’s education back in 1976. Catastrophic was the naked ambush and ruthless imprisonment of the youth that made a humble and peaceful demonstration to eliminate what they saw as weeds destroying their only seed of hope – education.
On June 16, 1976, Black Students of Azania (South Africa) made a profound protest against the Bantu Education Act which at its core wanted to push the black race further into squalor and degeneration. Those young people did not seek justice and sanity only for themselves, but for the future generations of our beloved country Azania. Most of these intellectual soldiers were the children of members of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and Students of South African Students Organisation (SASO).
They had subscribed to the most pertinent ideals and had been taught to honour the principled call for total freedom.
Today, South Africa (Azania) is haunted by the memory of the blood shed by thousands and the death of Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old boy who would have strutted on the firm grounds of a democratic land. Hector Pieterson would have been instrumental in implementing progressive educational and developmental policies on the African soil. He would have fought ceaselessly against the degenerate and shameful practice of convicting, incarcerating and condemning the consciousness of any young and future intellectuals. Pieterson would hold that illiteracy sends people into isolation – exiling them from the benefits of the anti-apartheid struggle.
Despite South Africa attaining freedom on April 27, 1994, free socialist education has not yet been fully implemented. Scratching on the surface you findwhites, Africans, coloureds and Indians attending the same schools, but when you look at it through an eagle’s eye, you will see the ANC government, which once promised free socialist education, chaining the ideals of free socialist education. One would say at least for two years attempts were made to bring about free education. The ANC knows all about free education. It learnt that through special provisions for the South African children born in exile who attended schools in Europe and at colleges such as Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (Somafco).
June 16 commemorations will mean nothing as long the government controlled by the ANC does not deliver the fruits of free socialist education. It is the very education that will help integrate the peoples of South Africa (Azania) and create job opportunities for all.
For instance, countries such Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Tunisia etc, and some other European countries, have benefited from free education. On the contrary, there are scores of those proudly South Africans who consistently make a wild cry that provision of free socialist education will impact negatively on our economic base. The above-mentioned countries boast about using meagre resources and have effectively increased their “univerliteracy” rates.
South Africa can only improve on the mistakes made by countries that provide free education for all. Everyone needs to rally behind this, which I believe is the best investment. Aristotle once said education is the best provision for old age. From any perspective, education will benefit South Africa and the African continent.
I dare challenge the ANC government to bring about free socialist education. I emphasise that education is a weapon in our hands. An educated nation is a liberated nation because knowledge is power. Professor Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe said education to us means service to Africa.
He said to achieve our vision Pan Africanism, Black Consciousness, African Nationalism, African Identity, African Scientific Socialism, Africanist Socialist Democracy, self-determination, self-definition, self-reliance and self-acceptance must be availed through free socialist education.
Professor Sobukwe said to reject or decolonise ourselves from apartheid, neocolonialism, neo-liberalism, neoccapitalism and neo-imperialism we must fight for free socialist education, because education to us means service to Africa.
There is no nation that can sustain its development on borrowed skills and a catastrophic brain drain.
Education must then be made free from primary schools to universities for at least more than 200 years. Today’s commercialisation of education is wrong. At best, it drives the poor to the periphery and at its worst condemns future generations. For instance, in 2005 Khethukuthula Cele hanged himself because his school refused to release his grade 10 results because he owed fees. That should be a disgrace to a country that purports to tread on the firm grounds of democracy, morality and liberal values.
Right now, more than 50 000 students at the universities in South Africa (Azania) have not completed their degrees and diplomas because they lack finance. Other students who had received study loans owe approximately R20 billion, and they are now blacklisted. That is why I’m calling the Pan Africanist Students Movement of Azania (Pasma) to do or die fighting for free socialist education.
Sinandile is a Pan Africanist Congress regional organiser for Greater Khayelitsha and writes in his personal capacity.