Summit recalls history
Stakeholders meet in bid to record legacy
Provincial massacre committees converged for an informative session hosted by the department of sport, recreation, arts and culture (Dsrac) held at the Steve Biko Centre in Ginsberg, King William's Town on Tuesday.
The summit aims to educate communities on the formation of the non-profit organisations (NPOs) in order to raise awareness about their history.
On hand to give invaluable expertise on running a foundation was Steve Biko Foundation board member Nkosinathi Biko.
“When establishing an NPO, one needs to base it on the needs of the particular massacre. The foundation did its research before it was establish to see which type of NPO they should form,” Biko said.
He added that the NPO needed to be of relevance to the community.
“It’s not about the benefits that are going to be derived from the organisation but about the cause that should be achieved, which is representatives of massacre victims and their families,” said Biko.
The northern areas of Port Elizabeth, represented by Christian Martin, have been plagued by violent deaths over recent years and there is a need to be included in the country's history.
“We as the Khoi and San were neglected in the past when it comes to massacres and our history was not heard. There were about nine massacres in the province,” Martin said.
Nine local massacres have been identified in Egerton, Bhisho, Duncan Village, Northern Areas, Uitenhage, Ngquza Hill, Bulhoek, Queenstown and Aliwal North. “The idea is to empower them with critical knowledge and skills to establish and register non-profit organisations to enable them to mobilise funds and material resources from public and private funding agencies and donors,” Dsrac MEC Bulelwa Tunyiswa said.