Freedom Park conducts a dialogue on rural struggles, with special focus on 1962 Ntlonze Massacre
Freedom Park ‘s Pan Africanist Archive unit will on Thursday, 9 July 2015 conduct a dialogue with one of the survivors of the 1962 Ntlonze Massacre, Mr DA Gama Mngqibisa.
The Freedom Park‘s Pan African Archives aims to become a unique centre for knowledge production based on the utilization of the memories of the participants in the struggle for freedom and humanity.
It focuses on tapping on the human beings as repositories of memories, knowledge and experiences recorded, documented and preserved for researchers and future generations. In responding to this mandate Freedom Park decided to trace the Liberation Route in the Chris Hani Municipality by interviewing people who were involved in the small towns and remote areas of the Chris Hani Municipality area.
This Municipality has a rich history since it is the birth place for many liberation struggle stalwarts like Vuyisile Mini - the trade unionist and a Rivonia trialist who was hanged in Pretoria Central Prison; Chris Hani – who was assassinated in 1983; Dr AB Xuma – seventh president of the ANC, Mandela, Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and many others.
“The Eastern Cape has always been in the forefront of the struggle, but in the written record its contribution is barely reflected. Some isolated patches of documentation are found while the memories of our people remain and yet they have a liberation heritage of national, continental and international significance” says the acting CEO Ms Jane Mufamadi.
Memories of the survivors will be untapped through interviews. Most of the local heroes and heroines (in Chris Hani Municipality) or nearly all of them do not appear in history books and therefore according to Freedom Park are unsung heroes. According to Mr Sigabi’s (Chris Hani Municipality Councillor) “their struggle and sacrifice was as significant as any of the National giants whose achievements are recognized and celebrated nationwide.
Freedom Park will have a series of dialogues and the first phase will be Ntlonze Massacre. Mr DA Gama Mngqibisa will be the first participant for this series. He is 86 years old and one of the six survivors of this massacre.
In December 1962, three groups of Poqo of fighters from, Cape Town travelled to Transkei, to attack Matanzima their meeting point was Ntlonze Mountain which had caves where they could hide. The first group of nine Poqo members camped on the mountain, awaiting the others, however their presence had been revealed while passing through Queenstown prompting the security forces to follow them up the mountain.
The white police were carrying riffles and black police were carrying sticks only. Six comrades were shot to death while others ran away and other were arrested. Their leader, Labert Shweni was sentenced to 20 years to Robben Island but was charged and hanged to death.
In Freedom Park, oral evidence and written documents have equal standing and all historical tools of analysis are applied to all categories of documents in the reconstruction of historical narratives. To become a living archive PAA considers all human beings (academics and organic intellectuals) as knowledge and hence the dialogues with the unsung heroes are also given a wide coverage.
Members of Media are invited as follows:
Date: Thursday, 9 July 2015
Time: 9h00 - 13h00
Venue: Freedom Park, Pretoria.
Enquiries:
Naomi Madima
Tel: 012 336 4006
Cell: 060 961 3851
