Northern areas riots remembered
TEARS flowed freely yesterday as the names of 48 people killed in the deadly 1990 northern areas uprisings were read out during a commemorative ceremony in the Papenkuil cemetery.
About 60 people paid their respects to those who lost their lives in a week of carnage, which saw the northern areas turn into a battle zone between angry residents and security forces.
The event, organised by the Northern Areas Uprising Committee, which was established in 2011, is used to ensure the legacy of those who lost their lives in the five days of rioting is not forgotten.
Flowers were laid at the site of a tombstone that lists the 48 names of people killed, although this is not the total number of people killed in the riots.
Tears flowed as the names were read out yesterday.
Northern Areas Uprising Committee member Godfrey Ackley, 53, said remembering that day brought back bad memories.
Ackley, who was a member of the Chatty Action Committee, was part of the group attacked first by police.
On August 6 1990, the Chatty Action Committee called a meeting at a sports field in Bloemendal to report back to residents after they had gone to a rent office to hand over a memorandum with residents’ grievances.
“We were still busy addressing the people when police arrived and told us to vacate the premises . . . chaos then broke out as police blocked two entrance points to the sports field.
“People were then running as they tried to evade the bullets,” Ackley said.
He lost his friend, Ronald “Dog” de Boer, on August 7 1990.
Missionvale resident George Sam Roberts, 68, said he was shocked when he learnt that his son, Nathaniel, 14, had been killed in the carnage.
“My son had gone to the bus stop at Windvogel – what exactly happened is still unclear. I just wanted him to return home as it was dangerous to be outside,” he said.
Northern Areas Uprising committee founder Gayle Solomon lost her son, Elliot Blommetjie, 21.
She recalled the feelings of disbelief when she heard of his death.
“It’s been such a long time since the incident took place, but I still find it difficult to talk about. I can’t describe how I felt that day, It was just a mad day,” she said.
Asked if conditions in the northern areas would likely improve in the future, former Chatty Action Committee member James Ferreira, 63, said: “It feels as if we [the coloured community] have been forgotten.
“We were the ones who stood and fought on the front line, and I just wish that our plight could be recognised in the manner it should.”