If Tsietsi Mashinini had stayed to lead us...

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WHEN Soweto Student Representative Council president, Tsietsi Mashinini “disappeared” into exile, the precious centre that held the students struggle was dislocated.

My sister, Totsi, was part of a cadre of a new student leadership appointed to replace him.

Some members of the family thought she was crazy to get involved in “politiks”, but we admired the courage and selflessness that saw her step into Mashinini’s shoes.

To be a student activist opposed to Afrikaans as a medium of instruction was not treason, but to side with the masses that desired liberation.

However, it was the self-exile of Mashinini that took something away from the glory and heroism of the struggle.

He epitomised a new daring and bold spirit destined to challenge white supremacy and replace it with black self-determination.

Here was a young black political star, who so deeply loved black people that he was to galvanise young people into a force that was willing to confront armed men with nothing but bricks and stones.

I was on the streets and not in class when some time in August or September 1976 the news came that Mashinini had left the country.

There was a House of Exile in Dube those who were involved in the SSRC frequented.

But it was the name of Mashinini that aroused and urged us, at different levels of political consciousness, to lay down our lives for freedom.

Since the banning of the ANC and PAC in the early 1960s, it seemed blacks had been cowed by the apartheid regime and resigned to white supremacy and oppression – until Mashinini came on the scene.

If not for his reputation that preceded him, inspiring us to take responsibility for our own future, we might not have gone out into the streets to confront the military regime. It was the only name on our lips. Not Nelson Mandela. Not Robert Sobukwe. And not Steve Biko.

We were determined to follow Tsietsi in an unrelenting struggle that transmogrified from challenging the introduction of Afrikaans to reclaim our pride in our African identity and asserting our ownership of this land.

He did not have to be present. We just had to hear that “Mashinini was here” and we would be recharged.

Something in us, an essential nucleus of the Soweto Uprising was lost when Mashinini went into exile. Yes, we would continue and replaced him with a young Khotso Seatlholo, but it was not the same.

How is it possible for one young black star, not even 20 years old, to be the glue that bound so many students from disparate backgrounds and schools? It is not easy to understand where his inspiration came from. We were 12 to 19-year-olds who had no link to the liberation movement.

There were thousands of boys and girls that followed suit as soon as Mashinini went into exile.

For some of us, it was his departure or loss that plunged us into a crisis of leadership. He was charismatic and magical.

Something in the momentum of the struggle died when Mashinini left.

We had lost a leader who was fearless and confrontational. He was daring and inspirational for being so courageous and bold.

He was a young man who epitomised the spirit and resilience of the June 1976 generation. He was a gift of history and the future to us young black pupils who were condemned to Bantu Education in township schools.

Of course, there were other talented young leaders: Seth Mazibuko, Sibongile Mkabela, Murphy Morobe and others. But they were not Mashinini.

For a strange reason, it looked like the students did not know what they were fighting for. There was an unmistakable class with parents and loss of respect. The elders were condemned as too meek.

There were tensions and clashes between students and hostel dwellers that exploded into violence, destruction of property and death. This was now black on black violence. Also, there was doubt in our minds. Mashinini remained that centre that held us together. We seemed to beat a retreat in our struggle to take “the system” head on.

There was disunity and a dislocation with the student movement divided on the issue of going back to class. Some peddled reformist politics of “half a loaf is better than no bread”. This only happened because Mashinini was gone. A true leader must be embedded in his community to be a part of that pulsating energy that will take the people forward.

A real struggle cannot be conducted from abroad. It must happen where the people are.

If Mashinini had remained and chosen to go to jail like Mandela, he would have led the negotiations for the future of this country.

The centre could not hold with his departure.

May the spirit of Mashinini walk this beautiful country that black people cannot yet enjoy.

• Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer and cultural critic. His essays Living Mandela’s Dream will be published soon.