‘85 Siege of Sinton remembered

FORMER pupils and staff at Alexander Sinton High School will mark the 30th anniversary of the Siege of Sinton, an event when pupils and staff engaged in rallies where they called for equal education and the release of Nelson Mandela.

Alexander Sinton history teacher Fazilet Bell said the school had invited a number of the former teachers to tomorrow’s commemoration.

On September 17, 1985, while schools reopened, the school in Athlone was targeted by the apartheid police. Assisted by soldiers, the police surrounded the school and prevented pupils and staff from escaping. Some were assaulted and injured.

Several people, staff

– including a pregnant teacher – and pupils were arrested.

“It (the commemoration) is a history open mic. Our speakers are Leonard Gentle, a former teacher, and Professor Premesh Lalu from UWC, who was on Belgravia’s Student Representative Council. We have also invited Hoosain Kagee and any interested members of the community,” said Bell.

History pupils will perform in a sketch-and-poem drama on anti-racism to show that “we are still agents of change, carrying on with our traditions and any member of the public can speak”.

“We also hope to lend our support to education stalwart Mr Brian Isaacs, who we hope will be present on the evening,” she said.

In 1985, the apartheid government had imposed a state of emergency and the police responded in a heavyhanded manner to protests at the time.

“Burning barricades and confrontation with the police and soldiers were the order of the day. More than ever, 1985 saw the co-operation of students and workers in militant action to end apartheid,” said Bell.

She added that the call went beyond equal education to include the release of Nelson Mandela and for a true democracy.

“Education for liberation” and “liberation for education” was an issue students grappled with.