Theres a song that used to be sung by young men and women who were leaving the country to go and train for Umkhonto weSizwe in faraway lands. As they walked through steep inclines, facing the possibility of an attack by the brutal guns of the apartheid regime, theyd sing these painful words: Sithi salani, salani, salani ekhaya Sesyongena kwamanyamazwi Lapho kungazikhona ubaba nomama Siyolwelinkululeko... Some of these young men and women never returned. They perished in the camps in Zambia, in Tanzania, in Mozambique. Some were captured by the diabolical South African Defence Force and fed to crocodiles in Zambezi River. Some were shot execution style in detention by apartheid police. Some were so cruelly tortured that they were left with permanent physical, mental and psychological damage. When I think about these people, most of whom were youth, I cannot stop the tears from streaming down my face. South Afrika has many problems and a long way to go. But we have come a long way. We have come a very long way. Our people suffered for us. People laid down their lives for us to have freedom. And yes, we dont have it completely. Yes, South Afrika is still a colonial construct of landless and disenfranchised natives. Yes, Blacks are on the receiving end of structural inequalities and separate development. Yes, there are still mountains to climb. But we must never ever forget the lives that were laid down for us, especially us young people of the so-called born free generation. Some of these things that we take for granted are a result of great sacrifice. As we build this country of ours, we must never forget or take for granted where we come from. It was a very very painful place...
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 11:57:35 +0000
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