Just like biblical Noah... On this day, 30 years ago - June 14, 1984, Batswana, Basotho and Zambians woke up to the terror of the apartheid regime. In the early hours, SADF raided and massacred scores of South African freedom fighters seeking refuge in those brave yet powerless countries. Among the dead were nationals, whose heart and love for fellow Africans caused them not just their lives but the future of their offspring. Among SA victims in Gaborone was a couple I had assumed were relatives coz I saw them around our home regularly, auntie Lindiwe and uncle George Phahle. I knew auntie Lindiwe as a good, loving mother whose relatioship to my mum went beyond chats of back in..and the politics, but their profession, social work. The early social workers who were called community development workers coz they spent their days and time in the most needy communities, providing and working with the real Ipelegeng projects - teaching and imparting skills in cooking, sewing, farming, gardening; working with different community structures to bring about real and tangible change. Everywhere they went, community projects were started and flourished to feed and sustain communities healthwise and financially. That was Ipelegeng of Seretse Khama and Masire; not the handout one of the sons. As I remember ausi Lindi and those who paid with their lives, I also recalled that a young MK operative who lived in Botswana then, Robert McBride, sneeked home the following year, and on this day, revenged the Gaborone bombings, hitting the SADF populated hangout, Magoo Bar in Durban. White South Africa never forgave McBride. Africa - Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho and many other countries - forgave the Boers for the trail of death and destruction they left behind on June 14 and many days before and after. It is befitting therefore that a revolutionary of our time, a man whose heart and works are guided by the spirit of God; community work and forgiveness for atrocities against his people, Cde Noah Salakae, is officially handed to his people, Gantsi North. Noah, like biblical Noah, is the son who left home decades back to go try make a living in the city; but was forced to listen to the voice of reason (God) to return to rescue his people from the clutches of poverty, and all sorts of human righrs abuse. His are the people whose land has been stolen and transformed into tracks of Afrikaaner-owned farm land, and CKGR whom the owners are being denied access to and are instead grouped into small settlements of dispair. Noah is God sent. His is on a Godly mission which can only be fulfiled with a vote to Parliament in October. His journey starts today, on this special day. May God richly touch and bless this day and the people of Gantsi North as they welcome the Sent. Aluta continua!
Posted on: Sat, 14 Jun 2014 13:20:34 +0000
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