S Ndebele: Richmond 12 Commemoration

22 APRIL 2006

Protocol,

Good day ladies and gentlemen and thank you for coming. We are gathered here
today to remember the 12 heroes who were brutally executed by the Natal
Colonial Government during the famous Poll Tax Uprising of 1906. To deliberate
on the matter it is of utmost significance that we should acquaint ourselves
with the facts. We are told that the Richmond killings were caused by the
killing of two Natal policemen. We are not told that this tax was imposed on
the African people against their will and they were not going to benefit
anything out of it.

I feel it is necessary to first request all of us to observe the moment of
silence as I read the names of these heroes.

We salute the following great heroes were executed on 2 April 1906:
[People stand up and observe the moment of silence]
* Mantayi Bhengu,
* Mambuka Bhengu,
* Thawani Dlamini,
* Mpukunyane Ndlovu,
* Bunjana Bhengu,
* Mbodi Bhengu,
* Dambuza Dlamini,
* Msongelwa Dlamini,
* Ntshintshiba Ngcobo,
* Mjuju Ngcobo,
* Majekwana Ngcobo,
* Makhanda Ngcobo

Let us remember that as we honour the 12 heroes of Richmond we do that as
part of the 2006 Bhambatha Centenary Commemorations. We might have nearly
fallen into the danger of taking the poll tax rebellion as Bhambatha's alone
and to forget other heroes that played a significant role in this famous and
well co-ordinated guerrilla warfare. We are here therefore to honour these
heroes and to say to the people of Richmond, "we have not forgotten your
struggles."

As I can now understand why Mahatma Gandhi in responding to a question on
Western civilisation said "it would be a nice idea" meaning it does not exist
at all. The whites’ only Natal Colonial Government executed these men with
barbarous cruelty that is unimaginable even among lower animals. Researchers’
state that they were tried by a drumhead court martial and condemned to be
shot. It is also stated that the shooting took place in the afternoon in the
presence of some black collaborators who in trying to impress Duncan Mackenzie
are came to know how these innocent men were murdered reported to have said
"thank you Mackenzie for the prompt action you have taken our only regret is
that you did not shoot women and children also."

It is further reported that as each one of these men was shot and as his
body twitched and jerked with the head falling to the neck after the shooting
the crowd that was watching shouted “Bayede” as they had been instructed to do
so. These barbaric acts committed against the innocent people are reminiscent
of the persecutions during the days of the Roman Empire when Christian converts
were thrown into the arena full of lions. As lions fed themselves on human
beings there were paroxysms of laughter from spectators as if they were
watching a soccer match. As the researcher Muzi Hadebe once said "the
invitation to the African people to witness the execution of their fellow
beings reflected the naked brutality of the state.” This is what happened on 2
April 1906.

We salute the 12 heroes of Richmond for the stand they took which led to
their brutal killings imagine that as they were led to their painful deaths
they might have been singing in their hearts as we still sing today:
"Noma s'ngafa,
Noma s'ngafa,
Siyobe sithi alukh'uvalo,
Alukh'uvalo,
Alukh'uvalo,
Alukh'uvalo.

For this reason I feel it is necessary to immortalise them through a bronze
statue reflecting their feet as part of saying "they walked here,” – “babehamba
lapha.”

What happened in Richmond was also happening in other parts of the country
and indeed the world because these brutalities were directed against indigenous
peoples but blacks in particular. If the Atlantic Ocean were to open up for us
to see the inside we would see millions of skeletons of the African slaves who
were executed because, to use Eugene de Kok's favourite term, they had outlived
their usefulness.

The colonialists were not just content with killing Africans for slavery
reasons only. It became their favourite pastime long after the Emancipation
Proclamation Act was passed by the United States Government. In Australia for
instance the hunting and killing of blacks was a national sport that has only
stopped in 1947. Writing about lynching in the United States the Vietnamese
sailor states that between 1899 and 1919 more than 2,600 blacks were lynched
including 51 women and girls and 10 former Great War soldiers. What is
lynching? This term refers to a barbaric act that is associated with the Klu
Klux Clan during which people (but particularly blacks) are hanged on a tree
and burnt alive usually in the presence of their families.

When the 12 heroes of Richmond were executed it was part of the global
strategy to eliminate the indigenous peoples.

Page four want to challenge the academics and intellectuals to research
further because many people do not believe it was Bhambatha's head that was
decapitated. We want to know whose head was decapitated so that he can be given
a proper burial, reconciliation and correct distortions of our history for the
sake of our children.

This is what liberation of South Africa is about. Therefore, when the
KwaZulu-Natal Government decided to celebrate Satyagraha in 2006 it is in line
with our commitment to non-violence as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King.

We are a people opposed to hatred for it affects the one who hates more
negatively than the one who is hated. As we approach the African Renaissance
month we must be firm in our conviction that ubuntu is the way to go and that
much as we have suffered over the centuries, God Almighty, our forefathers, the
east, the west, the south and the north, the saints and hosts of the heaven and
earth are with us in bringing back the dignity and peace that we once had as
the great continent of Africa.

We salute the heroes of Richmond.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
22 April 2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)