Trauma of a raped body: the agony that lingers on

Though she doesn't walk around with"Right Of Access Reserved" sign, 36 year-old Nozuko had always thought she held 100% ownership to her precious body. Though she didn't have a house or vehicle to her name, she was convinced she was a sole owner to her body until one fateful Friday evening when she was accosted by two armed men while walking home after 10 hours of manual labour from the factory where she works. One of the men pointed her with a gun and dragged her into the back seat of the double-cab bakkie.

The bakkie sped off too quickly for anyone to hear her cry for help. She was driven 15km outside the city and in her plea fro mercy, Nozuko offered the abductors R400 cash and a smart-phone she had in her purse. The two men were not ready to bargain for anything- it was her body they wanted.

For the first time in 36 years strangers had taken ownership of Nozuko's body. She suffered bruises to her face, neck, back and wrists while desperately trying to fight off the men who ultimately over-powered her. The thought of imminent death crossed her mind and the mother of two immediately gave up the fight. Her body suddenly became an open buffet for two strangers who laid her bare in the back seat of a double-cab bakkie. They each took three turns raping her while drinking a thick dark liquid at intervals.

After the three hour ordeal, the men drove away leaving Nozuko in the veld with her body bruised, bleeding and violated. She gathered strength to drag her battered body to the high-way and started hitch-hiking. A woman driver noticed a woman with torn clothes and gave her a lift. She drove Nozuko to the nearest police station where she gave account of the violence her body went through.

After giving account of the violence meted out to her, her body was again taken over by another batch of strangers in blue uniform. Nozuko's body had suddenly become a crime scene. Five counts of crime had been committed on her body namely Pointing Of Firearm, Kidnapping, Assault GBH, Indecent Assault and Rape. A police docket was opened and case number issued for body.

Nozuko had to take off her clothes for a police photographer to take pictures of her bruised body. She wasn't allowed to wipe blood stains off her body to avoid tampering with evidence. She had to open her legs to a strange medical practitioner wearing latex gloves. The medical practitioner inserted fingers in her vagina feeling for foreign particles and took semen samples for laboratory tests. A male investigating officer told Nozuko to avail her body for further investigation and evidence gathering should a need arise.

As if the trauma wasn't already unbearable, another stranger prescribed a 28 days post-exposure prophylaxis treatment to prevent possible HIV infection. She was told which disinfectant liquid to apply to her body. The precious body Nozuko used to share intimately with her husband Vusi had become a public entity.

When the matter finally went to court, Nozuko's body became a subject of public discourse. Leading media outlets and social media reported about the level of violence she endured. Her body was a matter of judicial rigmarole between the prosecution and defense. Legal-Aid appointed an attorney with Nozuko's tax money to represent the same rapists who had devoured her body.

Nozuko is a devoted Christian who grew up considering her body as a temple of God. The married wife found herself at religious cross-roads. She was no longer sure if her body remained God's temple or had been expropriated by the devil. In a court-room chock-a-block with strangers, a male prosecutor flaunted pictures of Nozuko's battered body as exhibit 1,2 &3. The defense attorney tried to establish if Nozuko wasn't a willing participant in the sex-orgy with men she had never met before.

The attorney paid with her tax money enquired if she had swallowed semen of the 2nd accused who had ejaculated into her mouth. At this stage Nozuko went through flashbacks of that fateful Friday night. She begrudgingly told the court how her body went into a state of shock after she was subjected to six rounds of dry sex in three hours - something she had never experienced in her nine years of marriage. Her body went numb when she locked eyes with her husband sitting in the front row of public gallery. Then the sound of her agonizing scream suddenly reverberated throughout the courtroom.

To Nozuko, it's immaterial if the rapists are sentenced to 18 years or not. What matters is that she will continue to feed these two perverts with her tax money for the duration of their incarceration at Leeuwkop prison.They will go through a series of rehabilitation programmes and be eligible for parole after faking good behaviour in prison. For this law abiding and tax-paying citizen - panic has become a recurring theme of her life whenever she sees two men walking or driving together.

Nozuko's ordeal begs a cocktail of questions: what recourse will her body have after suffering such a harrowing violence? Will her body get "parole" from stigma and public humiliation? Will the tax man give Nozuko a tax rebate to compensate her injuries sustained? While jurists argue about what is in the best interest of justice, do they even bother asking what is in the best interest of her body? While rapists are sentenced to 18 years each, will Nozuko's lingering agony also vanish after 18 years? Will 18 years sentence make her forget the nausea she felt when a stranger ejaculated into her mouth?

From where Nozuko stands - there can never be a befitting justice for the violence her body went through. No custodial sentence will restore her bedroom intimacy with her husband Vusi. No degree of trauma counselling will stop those morning gossips at Bree taxi rank whenever people see her. Nozuko is the reason women should think twice before crying rape just to settle a score or extort money from men. Rape is the worst form of violence against a woman's body - it's a subliminal life sentence against a woman's body.

No woman derives masochistic delight from rape.It's a worst form of violence which no woman can wear as a badge of honour. If men can't pamper women's bodies - at least let them not hurt them.For many Nozuko's out there, the best way to protect women from the ordeal of rape, is for men to zip up and not rape at all. #TheTotalShutdown

June 16 uprising: the missing woman's face

Since that cold Wednesday morning on June 16,1976 the retrospective analysis around this epoch-making day had always adopted a patriarchal posture despite women's conspicuous presence in the protest. Names such as Tsietsi Mashini, Hector Pieterson, Mbuyisa Makhubu and Khotso Seatlholo have become indelibly synonymous with this day. Direct and extended role played by women like Sibongile Mkhabela, Sophie Tema, and Winnie Mandela has not been adequately chronicled to provide a balanced view.

Students under the auspices of Soweto Students Representative Council (SSRC) had embarked on a protest march against imposition of Afrikaans language as medium of instruction. The enforcer of this language policy was Deputy Minister of Bantu Administration & Education Andries Treurnicht who later became President of Conservative Party.

On that fateful day, multitudes of peaceful students marched from schools like Morris Isaacson and Naledi High en route to Orlando Stadium. They were intercepted by police who opened fire on them leaving many injured and 176 was the official figure of those who died. Many more were arrested while others went into exile.

As Thomas Sankara said " Women hold up the other half of the sky," I shall therefore give the well-deserved prominence to the role played by women in 16 June 1976. First on my radar is Sibongile Mkhabela who was a student at Naledi High and the only female executive member in SSRC. She was also Secretary General of South African Students Movement who at one stage sat around the same political table with Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko.

She was a well-percolated leader who took the bull by the horns. She was the only female who stood trial for sedition in what was called Soweto 11. She was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment at  Robben Island of female political prisoners (Kroonstad prison). Mkhabela is currently CEO of Nelson Mandela Children's fund and a recipient of the National Order of Luthuli. She's testament that women were not just cosmetic paraphernalia to 1976 student uprising.

Baby Penelope Tyawa was a rebellious female student who marched and threw stones at the police on June 16, 1976. She went on to become a founding member of Congress Of South African Students and her activism led to her prolonged detention at John Vorster Square and Protea police station. In her adult life, Tyawa got appointed as Acting Secretary of South African Parliament.

Another woman who cannot be confined to the periphery of 16 June narrative is former Rand Daily Mail reporter Sophie Tema who had gone to Soweto to cover students' protest march. She's the woman who risked torture and detention when she assumed  the role of a paramedic by ordering her driver to stop the car and take injured Hector Pieterson to Phefeni clinic. Pieterson had been shot by police at corner of Moema and Vilakazi streets in Orlando West. Tema allowed Mbuyisa Makhubu, Pieterson and his sister into the her official Volkswagen beetle en route to the clinic. She abandoned her official duty and ran on foot to the clinic where Pietrson was certified dead on arrival. Tema went on to become one of the pioneer journalists for City Press Newspaper.

Antoinette Sithole, a sister to Hector Pieterson is the female student dressed in a dungaree seen running alongside to Makhubu carrying her injured brother in the iconic picture taken by Sam Nzima. She too was not just a cheerleader to the uprising - she was an activist in her own right. The discourse around the iconic June 16 picture is fixated on Makhubu running with injured Pieterson in his arms. It's as if Sithole photo-bombed the picture when in fact she was there as part of stone throwing brigade that resisted Afrikaans. Sithole now works at Hector Pieterson museum.

Mamphela Ramphele's role can never be trivialised in perpertuity. This is a woman who smuggled banned literature to student leaders like Mashinini and Seatlholo thereby propelling their revolutionary consciosness to a higher-voltage which culminated in a revolt against Afrikaans.She was subsequently detained under Section 10 of Terrorism Act and later banished to Tickeyline village in Tzaneen. In 2000 she was one of the four Managing Directors at World Bank. In 2013, Ramphele established a political party called Agang SA and was a presidential candidate in South Africa's 2014 general election.

16 June archive can never be comprehensive until a face of a gallant woman is annexed to it. Winnie Mandela is the woman whose face provides a texture of feminine temerity to a series of events that unfolded during the uprising. She literally pulled arrested students out of police Khwela-khwelas in an act of brazen defiance. She saved many students who could have otherwise "jumped" from 10th floor of John Vorster Square police station. In collaboration with Dr Nthato Motlana, she established Soweto Parents Association for parents whose children were injured, imprisoned or killed. Winnie ensured safe exit out of South Africa for students who sought military training in exile.

She was the social worker who counselled parents and students through traumatic experiences of the day. A year later, apartheid government banished her to Brandfort where she served eight years under house arrest. Winnie later became President of ruling ANC's Women's league.

This is but a synopsis of women who held the sharp end of the dagger during 16 June 1976 uprising. There are still many women whose stories of bravery have not been documented. There are mothers who opened their doors to students who were chased around by apartheid police and female nurses who saved lives of injured students. Like Sankara, I can hear the roar of women's silence in an endeavour to reclaim their rightful stake in June 16 narrative.

Winnie Mandela: the untold story

She's a mother who never got to raise her own two daughters, but went on to raise the whole nation. She's a freedom fighter who was vilified by the very freedom she fought for. She's the one who raised her right fist against apartheid lethal machinery and shouted Amandla!! She's the fearless woman who spoke truth to power, both to her foes and peers with the same oomph. She's Nomzamo Winnifred Zanyiwe Madikizela-Mandela.

This is an opinion piece that seeks to tell the untold story of MaNgutshana as she was affectionately known to her clan. This is a conscious decision to immortalise this larger than life icon. It is my assertion that Winnie Mandela continues to live amongst us in differents facets. She hasn't died - she has multiplied.

Born in 1936 in Bizana (Pondoland) to Madikizela family, Nomzamo qualified as the first black social worker in 1955 and worked at Africa's largest Baragwanath hospital. Her first shot at romance was with Barney Sampson. She was offered scholarship to advance her studies in USA, but declined the offer choosing to remain in Soweto with her people. To MaNgutshana, solidarity with down-trodden black masses took priority over self-aggrandisement.

Soon after her marriage with anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, she was incarcerated in solitary confinement while pregnant and was subjected to most inhumane treatment. When her husband was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island in 1964, she was not broken - she remained resolute and took her resistance against apartheid regime to a higher voltage. She endured persistent imprisonment, torture and character assassination. While Nelson was moaning for long trousers at Robben Island, Winnie was eating insect infected food at Johanesburg No.4 prison.

This is a woman for whom privacy was a rare privilege. Security branch members constantly barged into her bedroom in the middle of the night, dragging her to a van in her pyjamas leaving her two young daughters unattended. In 1973 Winnie met a banned comrade and photographer Peter Magubane and was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment at Kroonstad female prison (Free State) where she served six months only.

After the epoch-making Soweto uprising in 1976 of which she was a catalyst, she established Soweto Parents Association with Dr Nthato Motlana for parents whose children were imprisoned, injured and exiled. In 1977 Zenani and Zinziswa's mother was banished to a dusty Free State town of Brandfort 50km north of apartheid government's Judicial capital Bloemfontein. Just before her arrival at house No. 802, the police spread the word that the house was going to be occupied by a dangerous terrorist woman and advised locals not to make contact with her.

Winnie arrived in Brandfort and became the first black woman who drove a Volkswagen Beetle. She confronted white store owner of the only clothing store to allow black patrons to use same fitting rooms as their white counterparts. She took cognisance of the graphic poverty the locals were living under and helped them establish a clinic, orphan and juvenile care-centre and a creche. These are things government couldn't provide to black township dwellers.

While under house arrest, Winnie continued to command Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) underground operatives and smuggle new recruits into exile. Despite being under the radar of security surveillance, she continued to receive armaments from international fraternal organisations and waged war against white racists regime. She and her daughter Zinziswa continued to participate in the activities of Operation Hunger established by Drs Selma Browde and Nthato Motlana to advance the welfare of poor black masses. Needless to say, Operation Hunger was a precursor to the current SASSA that provides for 17million vulnerable members of society.

Thomas Sankara must have had Winnie in mind when he said "The revolution and women's liberation go together. We do not talk of women's emancipation as an act of charity or out of surge of human compassion. It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph. Women hold up the other half of the sky."

She dissuaded her husband Nelson against conceding to an early release in 1982 with the proviso that he would be banished to rural Transkei. Upon lifting of Brandfort banishment order in 1986, Winnie returned to Orlando West (Soweto) and established Mandela Football Club which was to operate as MK's clandestine unit reinforcing the underground network. PW Botha's administration infiltrated the football club and rendered it a spy network working against her.

Chief spy Jerry Richardson masquerading as soccer coach slaughtered 14 year-old activist from Parys Stompie Seipei and pinned his murder on Winnie. Consequently, the mass democratic movement under the banner of UDF led by Murphy Morobe, Vali Moosa, Popo Molefe and Terror Lekota distanced itself from the liberation icon. These were her own comrades who had bought into the toxic narrative that Winnie was a murderer.

In mid 80s apartheid regime recognised her unparalleled radicalism and orchestrated a vilification campaign against Winnie to paint a portrait of her as immoral and barbaric. When men and women had run away to New York, London and Moscow the unrelenting Winnie stayed put and literally went face-to-face with apartheid regime. When it was illegal to declare support for a banned ANC, she was the only living soul who defied the regime and did the opposite.

In February 1990 when Nelson was released from prison, she immediately implored Transkei military ruler General Bantu Holomisa to arrange security personnel for the anti-apartheid activist. "Bantu we can't leave uTata's protection into the hands of security agents paid by the enemy" she said. When Codesa negotiations began Winnie advised Nelson to exercise caution as Boers had a tendency to negotiate mala fide and pleaded with him not to trust them.

The world must be told  that as comrades made exodus to suburbs and her estranged husband relocated to a leafy suburb of Houghton, Winnie remained grounded in Orlando West amongst her people. "I can't bear the thought of waking up next to the enemy, " she retorted. In March 1995 Winnie was fired from her position as Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture hardly ten months into office. Yes, she was fired by the same President she helped put into power. She was fired by the same man who woke up to beacon and egg breakfast at Victor Verster prison while she was carrying liberation struggle on her shoulders.

Let the world be told that at the height of the revolution and while Winnie was comforting families of 47 people massacred in Boipatong, her husband accompanied the enemy FW De Klerk to Norway to receive Noble Peace Prize. This is the same woman whose house was bombed in Brandfort in 1985 and another one bombed in Soweto in 1988, yet some she called comrades expected her to be romantic with a vicious regime.

Winnie was  summoned to appear before Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997 a few weeks before she was to contest ANC Deputy Presidency at Mafikeng conference in December. She was vilified in full view of the world and political careerists didn't want to associate with her. Her own comrade Sydney Mufamadi who was police minister, had asked former apartheid Police Commissioner George Fivaz to re-open murder case against Winnie and dig any possible dirt on her. Winnie's own comrades were using state apparatus to annihilate her and ultimately erase her legacy from the face of history.

Winnie was conferred Honorary Life-time Presidency of Cosas by then President Lebogang Maile. She stood in loco parentis for former ANCYL President when the latter was harassed by Disciplinary Committee led by Derek Hanekom acting on instruction from Gwede Mantashe and Jacob Zuma. She offered Malema a shoulder to cry on, but today the same people who persecuted Malema are the ones extending olive branch to him.

Despite South Africa having 26 universities, Winnie only received Honorary PhD from Nigerian university and Makerere university in Uganda. While women like Helen Joseph, Rachel Simons and Ruth Mompati were bestowed the highest ANC honour of Isithwalandwe, Winnie was deliberately left out. She was a victim of apartheid persecution and ANC conservative patriarchy.

When Nelson was in prison, she took care of his ailing mother until she passed away. Sadly, when her former husband passed away she was denied inheritance of the Qunu family home built on her own land. Winnie was an ardent Methodist church worshiper who only married once - ironically to a man who got married three times. Yes she was no Angel, neither was she a villain. She was a freedom fighter who got a raw deal.

The world must know that Winnie Mandela was a microcosm of black liberation struggle. Our tribulations are indelibly etched on her back. She was a metaphorical expression of an injured lioness that got up to defend her own cubs and continued the fight nonetheless. She was the first black female President we were robbed of.  She was the greatest female revolutionary Africa had ever seen. She was the biblical Moses who never enjoyed the milk and honey she had ushered. In her belly resided fire, her eyes sparkled with love and her voice inspired hope for land expropriation
Aaah!! Nobandla.

No traces of fascism in Malema's character

"South African political arena has gone through an explosion of volcanic proportions with the advent of a new unorthodox player called Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)." This is how most political analysts described EFF led by Commander-In-Chief Julius Malema in 2013. Some went further to describe EFF as a game-changer extraordinare.

Throughout his political activism, Malema was described by peers and foes alike as the rabble-rouser. This is the character he consistently manifested during his time as Cosas and ANC Youth League President respectively.

In a bizzare turn of events, political analysts and journalists started labeling Malema as a fascist leader presiding over a political party that smacks of fascism. The labeling came soon after Malema had tabled a motion of land expropriation without compensation in parliament in January 2018. He went further to announce EFF's intention to table motion of no confidence against Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip.

This is the same Trollip who is chairperson of Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council which rejected EFF's land expropriation motion. The political stalemate between DA and EFF led to Julius Malema's re-branding as a "fascist" who thrives under monocracy.

In light of the above, I shall laconically re-trace etymological meaning and prominence of fascism and juxtapose it to Malema's characterisation as a fascist leader and determine if indeed the shoe fits him.

Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler

Interestingly, fascism is not an African concept. It's an ideology that emanates from Italy under Benito Mussolini who founded Partio Nazionale Fascista in 1921 and later perfected by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. The basic tenets of fascism include inter alia, total control by government, conservative nationalism, suppression of democracy, reliance on war to attain global power and elimination of all opposition.

Needless to say Mussolini and Hitler are the world's most notorious fascits. Mussolini out-lawed labour strikes and eliminated all forms of opposition during his rule in Italy through a hit-squard called Black Shirts. On the other hand, the Fuhrer intensified censorship of the press and dissemination of information through Propaganda minister Josef Goebbels. He promulgated the German nation as Die Herrenvolk (Superior race) that ruled over inferior races.

Idi Amin and Robert Mugabe

By virtue of Malema's Africannes, those analysts who wouldn't want to be viewed as racists, found it prudent to compare the Seshego born rabble-rouser to two of Africa's notorious dictators Idi Amin and Robert Mugabe. In the course of their analysis, others went further to modify Malema's labeling as a street-wise "neo-fascist." Idi Amin was Ugandan dictator who usurped power through a military coup. After severance of diplomatic relations between Uganda and Britain in 1977, Amin  gave himself "CBE" (Conqueror of British Empire) title. The dictator further conferred Law PhD unto himself from Makerere university. Under Amin's reign of terror, more than 100 000 people were killed.

In their unrelenting crusade to re-brand leader of the red beret ground forces as anti-white and neo-fascist, political commentators caricatured EFF's Commander-In-Chief  as a young version of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. This is the same Mugabe who entered into an unholy pact with former oppressors and signed 1979 Lancaster Agreement in which he committed never to fiddle with land ownership patterns for first ten years of Zimbabwean independence.

Mugabe ordered wholesale land grabs in 1997 in which white farmers were violently dispossessed of their land through the use of machetes. In 2005 he introduced Operation Murambatsvina in which 700 000 urban residents were violently displaced. Mugabe stood idle when his wife Grace interfered with internal politics of ZANU-PF rendering the party chaotic.


Incoherent comparisons

After meticulous perusal of comparisons above, I'm pleased to announce that the revered political analysts got their analytical wires crossed when it came to Malema's characterisation and labeling.In contrast to Mussolini, Malema can safely be classified as the champion of the working class given the role he played in the aftermath of 2012 Marikana massacre in which 34 mineworkers were killed by the police. The man affectionately known as Juju, intervened in many cases of abused labourers and has always advocated for the right to strike.

Unlike Hitler who ordered the Holocaust in Nazi Germany in which 6million Jews were murdered between 1941 and 1945 and Mugabe who ordered 1983 Gukurahundi in which 20 000 Matebele civilians were massacred, EFF's Commander-In-Chief has never called for anyone to be killed. Contrary to Mugabe's modus operandi, Malema has called for land expropriation through a constitutional provision which includes public hearings. He has never allowed his wife Mantwa to meddle into the party's affairs.

At variance with Amin, Malema obtained an undergraduate degree from Unisa and is currently studying towards his Masters at Wits University. Malema didn't ascend to power by force - he was democratically elected the party's leader and bestowed the title Commander-In-Chief by EFF membership.

Who is Julius Malema?

Julius Malema is a political interlocutor South Africa never anticipated. He is one who thrives on speaking truth to power. He's a charismatic leader whose voice finds resonance in the hearts of those who linger in the periphery of mainstream economy.

He is a constitutionalist whose party took former President Jacob Zuma to highest court in the land compelling him to pay back R7.8m he unduly benefited from taxpayers subsequent to security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead. Juju subscribes to prescripts of constitutional accountability, hence EFF went to court to enforce powers of Public Protector's office as a Chapter 9 institution.

Malema's EFF Student Command boasts 13 Presidents in higher education institutions who were democratically elected by would-be academics. While Mugabe took 17 years before implementing land reforms in Zimbabwe, Malema displayed strength of character by tabling motion of land expropriation without compensation in February 2018 and persuading majority of parties to support his motion through superior logic. He was rather inspired by pragmatism, as opposed to populism when he pushed for realization of EFF's first cardinal pillar which centres around land expropriation. EFF leader is not Mugabe's young version - he won't kowtow to dictates of former oppressor on how and when should the land be reclaimed.

In 2015 Commander-In-Chief led red beret forces to deliver a memorandum to Johannesburg Stock Exchange in protest against white monopoly capital. Malema never instigated for genocide of white JSE CEOs. Juju's call for Trollip to be removed from mayorship did not harbour racist undertones. In 2016 Malema encouraged EFF councillors to vote for a white DA mayor Michael Holenstein in Mogale City. Malema is not a black supremacist, neither is he a neo-fascist. He doesn't go around brandishing Nazi Swastika like some white South African farmers. Malema is all for media freedom - he's always available for media interviews.

Contrary to Mussolini, Hitler and Amin, Commander-In-Chief believes in opposition politics. His party is an official opposition in Limpopo and North-west provinces. If he was a power-preneur as portrayed by commentators, he could have been an Executive Mayor either in Tshwane or Johannesburg. He cannot be characterised as a racist or dictator. He is subject to consensus decision making in Braamfontein, therefore an assertion that a European system like fascism could be perfected by someone from Seshego Zone:1, doesn't fall within the realm of logical probabilities.

Malema is a sui generis political leader in whose veins chutzpah flows with relative ease. He is one who doesn't conform to vanilla-flavoured South African politics. In conclusion, it gives me great pleasure to report that Juju doesn't possess attributes that shape a dictator or a fascist leader. Let it be documented that no discernible traces of fascism could be found in Malema's  political character. Juju is redress of historical land ownership patterns personified.

Liberation history distorted to favour tame ANC

It is often said that history is a subjective matter
that is viewed through the lens of the author. This is particularly true about how history has been written to caricature African National Congress (ANC) as a militant liberation movement which forced apartheid government into a corner and heralded the liberation of the oppressed masses signed and sealed.

In this opinion piece, I will not attempt to re-write history, but chronicle some epoch-making events undertaken by Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), its military wing Poqo (Apla) and gallant leaders like Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Jafta Masemola, and Zephania Mothopeng.

History as we know it has sought to trivialise the role played by PAC in South African liberation struggle and relegate Poqo's guerrilla warfare to echelons of obscurity. It's a known fact that PAC broke away from ANC in 1959 after accusing the latter of selling out on the land question subsequent to the adoption of Freedom Charter in 1955.

The Africanist bloc within ANC ranks which included Robert Sobukwe,Peter Molotsi,Zephania Mothopeng and Elliot Mfaxa were at variance with Freedom Charter's preamble which declared "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white." PAC entered into the anti-apartheid activism with a Pan Africanist ideology propelled by radical political pragmatism as opposed to ANC's champagne activism.

At the epicentre of the revolution in 1960, ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent stance against white supremacy. Paradoxically, apartheid parliament enacted a special " Sobukwe Clause" in 1963 to prolong PAC President's solitary incarceration on Robben Island. Undoubtedly, Luthuli had established himself as an innocuous activist against apartheid while the regime considered Sobukwe as persona non grata.

On March 21 1960, hardly a year after its establishment PAC conducted anti-pass protests around the country which gained momentum in Sharpeville where 69 protestors were brutally killed by the police. On that fateful day, Robert Sobukwe had marched from his home in Mofolo to Orlando police station without carrying a pass-book and dared the police to arrest him.

Not to be out-shined, Nelson Mandela burnt his pass-book seven days later in the comfort of his house and invited journalists to capture the moment. At its December conference in 1946, ANC had resolved to embark on a rigorous anti-pass campaign and call for abolition of pass laws. On the other hand, hardly a year into existence PAC launched a watershed anti-pass campaign in March 1960.

Sobukwe had invited ANC to join the march but, Luthuli declined the invitation saying the march was ill-prepared and would therefore fail. By implication, ANC was still not ready to implement a resolution it had adopted 14 years earlier.

After two years of existence, PAC established a military wing called Poqo, later Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla) in September 1961. ANC only followed with formation of Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) three months after Poqo's formation. It's worth noting that ANC only established a military wing 49 years into existence.

While MK was still a fledgelling idea, Poqo had already executed few attacks against apartheid establishments including Paarl police station. Between 1962-1968 there were more Poqo combatants sent to the gallows than MK cadres.

Contrary to popular belief, PAC members Jafta Masemola, Phillemon Tefu, John Nkosi and Ike Mthimunye were the first political prisoners sentenced to life on Robben Island in 1962, not ANC's Rivonia Trialists who were sentenced in 1964. Jafta Kgalabi Masemola was the longest serving prisoner on Robben Island, not Nelson Mandela as history purports.

Another historical omission is the fact that Mothopeng was elected PAC President by Central Committee in Tanzania in 1986 while serving a treason sentence on Robben Island. This is the risk ANC couldn't take with Mandela while still serving prison sentence. What history does not highlight is that it was PAC which had the youngest political prisoner on Robben Island.

PAC's student organisation (Pasma) member Dikgang Moseneke was sentenced to 15 years on the island when he was a 15 year-old learner doing Std8. Towards late 80s and early 90s, Apla ground forces under stewardship of Victor Gqweta nom de guerre Sabelo Phama carried more lethal attacks against apartheid establishments than their Umkhonto Wesizwe counterparts.

Apla still has a plethora of its combatants languishing in prison while MK cadres are cabinet ministers and tenderpreneurs. History doesn't tell us that when Nelson Mandela had already committed to negotiating with Nationalist Party President FW De Klerk, PAC President Zephania Mothopeng refused to recognise De Klerk's administration as legitimate. In the run-up to 1994 deemocratic election PAC's  campaign message was " Land first, All shall follow" while ANC  said "Better life for all."

One day when history is captured accurately, we shall know that Nelson Mandela was not the longest serving political prisoner, but it was PAC's Kenny Motsamai followed by Jafta Masemola.
#IzweLethu

ANCWL : a cosmetic face of patriarchy

Marching downtown Pretoria in 1956, 20 000 women from all walks of life armed with their pass-books, chanted Wathinda Abafazi, wathind' imbokodo, uzakufa wena Strijdom (You strike a woman, you strike a rock-you will die Strijdom).

Those were domestic workers, farm labourers and factory workers who converged under the auspices of Federation of South African Women in a protest march to Union Buildings to present a petition to Prime Minister JG Strijdom.

Conspicuous by their presence were African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) members like Albertina Sisulu, Amina Cachalia, Bertha Gxowa and Caroline Motsoaledi.

Back then, women from within ANC ranks had one another's back and would stand in solidarity with others  across the country whenever any form of injustice was dispensed to the voiceless and vulnerable women.

They were united by common tribulations of marginalisation, victimisation and empoverishment that defined the course of women in the 1950s leading up to 1990s. That platoon of gallant women was metaphorically called imbokodos(grinding rocks) for their unrelenting resolve in the face of terror and patriarchy.

Sadly the same cannot be said about the current crop of ANCWL members. They have mastered the art of selective solidarity in matters that involve injustice against women. The post-democratic ANCWL members are patriarchs masquerading  in a black skirt with a green blouse. A case in point was when former Deputy President Jacob Zuma was facing rape charges against Fezeka "Khwezi" Khuzwayo.

A league that purports to champion women's interests, shunned the victim and stood in solidarity with a male perpetrator. Khwezi who grew up within ANC structures, was vilified by the same platoon of women that was supposed to offer a shoulder to cry on. Instead of a comforting mother's touch, Khwezi was pejoratively tormented by death threats. The modern-day mbokodos chose a patriarch over one of their own. Poor Khwezi was tossed and shoved around while a patriarch giggled "hee..he..he."

When Minister of Performance and Evaluation in the office of the President, Jeff Radebe admitted to soliciting nude pictures from junior female staff member at Union Buidings, ANCWL opted for silence in the midst of public consternation. They never even bothered to find out how the staff member's state of mind was. The patriarch was cocooned against public outcry and that was all that mattered.

ANC women cheered on when patriarchy vilified the only female Public Protector South Africa had ever seen. Thuli Madonsela was affronted and her life threatened while ANCWL opted for silence in the face of vilification against a woman. The same league that should have provided refuge for Public Protector, gave her a cold shoulder instead.

In the recent ANC National Policy Conference, ANCWL beefed up their delegation with six men because men are very analytical while women are too emotional as ANCWL President Bathabile Dlamini alluded. This is all the more proof that ANCWL is a breeding ground for patriarchy. Consistent with their patriarchal posture - women's league supports Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for ANC Presidency. This is the same woman who was married to current ANC and South African President who happens to be the worst patriarch who commands Union Buildings.

They advisedly ostracised Baleka Mbete who is the highest ranking female member at Luthuli House as ANC National Chairperson. Mbete is the same woman who acted as Acting President when former President Thabo Mbeki was unceremoniously re-called from office in 2008. She holds a record of having served as Speaker of Parliament under Mbeki and Zuma respectively.

Like true patriarchs in a black skirt with a green blouse, ANCWL vouched for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who commands close proximity to patriarchy (Jacob Zuma).

In a bizzare turn of events, ANCWL came out guns blazing in solidarity with Higher- Education Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana who was caught on camera assaulting women at a night-club. Contrary to class of 1956 that marched to Union Buildings in exasperation, Dlamini and her acolytes never called for Manana's expulsion form public office.

The pseudo mbokodos blamed the female victims for provoking the "Honourable Member" and said Manana didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I am therefore justified to assert that ANCWL is impervious to harrowing cries of rape victims. They are never turbo-charged to stand by victims of gender-based violence.

ANCWL is an elite stokvel of women who get handsomely rewarded for keeping women's cries on silent-mode.Theirs is to give a cosmetic face to patriarchy while women and young girls are scarred for life. It's therefore my conclusion that Bathabile Dlamini is not a feminist - she is a microcosm of everything that doesn't make sense at Luthuli House, a cosmetic proxy of patriarchy in a black skirt.

We've been sold freedom without benefits

27 April 1994 was characterised by euphoria of black people in long queues to cast their votes for the first time. They had been disenfranchised for all their lives and were exhilarated by the realisation of the principle of " One man, one vote."

 It was at this time that Sarafina's hit song "Freedom is coming tomorrow" found resonance in black townships.

Little did they know they were queuing up for a product with factory fault - freedom without benefits. Nithi sixole kanjani (how are we supposed to find peace) when our freedom begins and ends at the ballot box?

As South Africa celebrates April as freedom month - let me say without any measure of ambiguity that freedom is not liberation. I hold an iconoclastic view that South Africa is a "society" of free classified individuals therefore, not a liberated nation.

Suffice it to say, the freedom that dawned on 27 April 1994 was only academic. It was devoid of benefits as it failed to free the oppressed masses from the malaise of hunger, landlessness and unemployment. Econo-political matrix of the new dispensation failed to give freedom a discernible expression in the lives of mine workers, shack dwellers and farm labourers.

Nithi sixole kanjani when sate employees don't qualify for mortgage bonds and are not illegible for state subsidised houses?

From 1994 ANC has concocted a cocktail of economic policies that failed to radically transform lives of ordinary South Africans. First there was Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) which was aborted in 1996 with the advent of Growth Employment And Redistribution. In 2005 we were introduced to Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA) which made way for New Growth Plan (NGP) in 2010.

Then came National Development Plan (NDP) amid much fanfare in 2013. Looking from a black man's eye view, however majestic these policies were, they were never realistic. They fell short of incubating emerging township entrepreneurs into full-scale industrialists. RDP failed to reconstruct the spatial patterns so as to herald black people into economic heartlands. Black masses are still condemned to the periphery of the economy in sync with tectonics of apartheid spatial planning.

GEAR also failed to redistribute state land into the hands of people for industrialisation, agagrarian economy and urbanisation. On the other hand, ASGISA could not accelerate growth of township economy and massive introduction of black women into mainstream economy. Considering all these chronicled failures to build an inclusive growth conducive for capital flow and cash fluidity, I have a feeling NDP is also on the high-way to nowhere.

23 years later, black people are still recipients of freedom without benefits. The freedom that Robert Sobukwe and Chris Hani went to prison and died for respectively, still doesn't allow for free higher-education. The same freedom that Ruth Mompati was exiled for, doesn't make free sanitary towels part of the education system to keep a girl child at school.

Nithi sixole kanjani when a destitute woman who cast her vote in 1994 is now a mother to a 23 year-old unemployed graduate? How are we supposed to find peace when the ruling ANC is oblivious to Amilcar Cabral's clarion call "Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, things in anyone's head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better  and in peace, to see their lives go forward to guarantee the future of their children."

The trivial gains of South African freedom are not commensurate with sacrifices made to attain it. People didn't fight for the right to vote, yet still go to bed hungry. They didn't fight against unfair labour practice only to be leased out to abusive employers in the name of outsourcing. The ability to shout " Viva Mandela" without being arrested is not freedom. For past 23 years we've been at the receiving end of liberal reform packaged as freedom. Nithi sixole kanjani when the economy of Africa's most industrialised country is in the hands of the minority while the majority are mere spectators?

Ravages of Zuma's apocalyptic giggle

Soon after election as ANC president at 2007 Polokwane conference, Jacob Zuma took to the podium and prefaced his speech with a giggle.

 The man affectionately known by his clan name "Msholozi," giggled "hehehe" before thanking delegates for their robust participation. Zuma sported the same giggle as he begrudgingly exchanged hugs with President Thabo Mbeki.

Needless to say, Zuma was part of the collective that unceremoniously recalled Mbeki from Union Buildings. The giggle that gained prominence in 2007 would go on to plunge ANC into reputational damage of cataclysmic proportions. After inauguration as South African President in 2009, the country bore the brunt of Zuma's apocalyptic giggle.

He resorted to this giggle to divert attention and trivialise matters of national importance. Zuma sought refuge behind his giggle to eschew accountability when opposition MPs grilled him for his wanton malfeasance.

In 2012 when former Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko enquired why he failed to provide Public Protector with proof of bond for his Nkandla homestead, the former Robben Island prisoner giggled before replying that he had obtained a loan from WesBank to finance renovations to his house.

After a protracted investigation, it was discovered that Head of State had deliberately misled parliament. While tabling presidential budget in 2015, the president famous for singing Umshini Wam' mocked Honourable members' pronunciation of " Nkandla" before exclaiming "Thixo Wase George Goch" ensued by trademark "hehehe" giggle.

It was the same condescending giggle that prompted firebrand opposition EFF MPs to intensify their "Pay Back The Money" campaign thereby rendering parliament an inhospitable terrain for Speaker Baleka Mbete.

When put on the spot for his hire and fire rampage of three finance minsters in seven days in December 2015, Zuma unleashed his apocalyptic giggle. Despite his documented ineptitude, his acolytes continued to sing along to his self-choreographed "Inde Lendlela" chorus while the country was on a downward spiral.. This giggle is Zuma's "Ace" card in his unrelenting endeavour to defeat the ends of constitutional accountability.

During high-voltage parliamentary debates on matters of national significance, Zuma's first rule of engagement was a giggle followed by monotonous rhetoric of white monopoly capital. Noble men and women of impeccable character have been mesmerised by this giggle and stood idle as ANC's moral currency depreciated. An internationally renowned liberation movement has been turned into a failed project in which political patronage reigns supreme. A once broad church has rapidly narrowed down so that one man can keep his giggle.

The same president who took an oath of office in full glance of the multitudes to "oppose all that may harm the republic," confessed that he knew of individuals who stole from state coffers but, had since turned a blind eye. The president made this incriminating statement during ANC rally in KZN and unashamedly giggled "hehehe."

Zuma pulled a stunt of Shakespearan proportions when he re-called Finance minister Pravin Gordhan from overseas investor roadshow and later fired him at midnight. Gordhan was fired based on a well orchestrated smear campaign titled "Operation Check-Mate" while keeping Bathabile Dlamini as Social Development minister despite a damning Constitutional Court ruling against her in respect of SASSA fiasco. Consistent to his circus antics, a giggle was Zuma's only response.

Zuma fired ministers who remained loyal to their oath of office and showed unwavering loyalty to those who thrive under  mediocrity. The Rand developed Hay Fever while a Grade:4 drop-out giggled at the west wing of Union Buildings.

For as long as Zuma continues to giggle at Union Buildings at times when South Africa is fast becoming a Curry Republic - those ravaged by unemployment will continue to see no light at the end of the tunnel. Lack of clean water shall be our daily nightmare while, ANC is reduced to a senile stokvel that finds resonance in rural areas.

Biko: Lessons from the other side

A black body sjamboked, tossed around, chained to a window frame and  spat upon while apartheid police officers enjoyed brandy. A defenseless yet defiant body was driven naked at the back of a police van 1000 km from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria. The subject of this black body shaming was Stephen "Steve" Bantu Biko, the father of Black Consciousness Movement of Azania.

Though this organic black intellectual died 39 years ago, his name still finds fond resonance with many a black folk. There's a plethora of valuable lessons still to be learnt from Steve Biko even beyond the grave. In Biko's loving memory,

I have opted not to eulogise him, but retrospectively contextualise his philosophy and shed light  on his student activism vis-a-vis current black man's imbroglios and #FeesMustFall wave that has seen South Africa go up in smoke. I will attempt to imagine how Biko would have engaged a black nation pertaining to economic marginalisation and academic exclusion.

Biko's greatest forte was organising students across the country. He's accredited for grooming proteges like Onkgopotse Tiro, Tsietsi Mashinini and Khotso Seatlholo. He realised from as early as the 60's that unlocking a young black mind from intellectual captivity was a potent catalyst for liberation of oppressed black nation. Though restricted to King Williams town, the former medical student was able to plant a "revolutionary seed"  that blossomed in 1976 student uprising.

Biko would have applauded #RhodesMustFall movement for taking the bull by its horns in refusal to kowtow to white-settler supremacy. Juxtaposed to current #FeesMustFall, he would advise students to apply presence of mind in identifying their common enemy and, not target centres meant for their cognitive development.

As a prolific author of his times, Biko would condemn setting study material on fire and wanton vandalism as recently witnessed at his alma mater, UZN. He would encourage students to develop their own study-funding models while intensifying their struggle for free-education.

If Biko was alive, he would denounce conspicuous absence of ANCYL president Collen Maine during #FeesMustFall protests. He would caution Maine to be hands-on in relation to struggles of young people, close leadership lacuna within youth ranks and maintain constant dialogue with young people via modern online publications and social media.His advice would be for Maine to prioritise youth and student struggles and refrain from being a micro-managed lackey for powerful individuals who harbour corrupt tendencies.

The acclaimed author of "I write what I like" would be exasperated with class fragmentation of a black nation. He would frown at proliferation of black bourgeoisie who have accrued luxuries through BEE and the ballot of the black poor. Biko would aptly call this bunch "White souls in black skin."

He would expect us to be vigilant against capitalist onslaught on our identity as a black nation like he famously said "The greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. So as a prelude, whites must be made to realise that they are only human - not superior. Same with blacks, they must be made to realise that they are also human - not inferior." He would lash out at those black leaders who drive around in tinted state-sponsored vehicles hiding away fro the very people who voted them into power.

The ardent follower of Frantz Fanon would have conferred accolades to young Zulaikha Patel for keeping her Afro at Eurocentric Pretoria High School for Girls. He would have spurred her not to apply European standards to measure her black beauty nor trade her blackness for anything European. If he was still in our midst, Biko would scold Kwaito star Mshoza for bleaching her black skin white. He would remind Mshoza "Black is beautiful."

His peers described him as "The authentic voice of the people, not afraid to say openly what othe blacks think but, are frightened to say." I define him as a metaphorical expression of black resistance against apartheid - an unrelenting black intellectual whose time had come. He would expect us to re-calibrate the consciousness of our blackness while being appreciative of other races that co-exist with us.

Absence of nascent black economy coupled with exploitative anti-black labour regulations, would be an affront to his emancipatory philosophy. He wouldn't want black consciousness to be restricted to academic corridors  only but, permeate to slums, informal settlements and rural areas where raw black poverty is the order of the day. He would question why the country still bears the name South Africa which came about as a result of 1909 British Act of Parliament. He would caution, Black man you are on your own.

SA trapped in quagmire of Zumacracy

Corridors of Turfloop University reverberated with ululation when it was announced that Jacob Zuma had won the race to become ANC president in December 2007. The sound of liberation songs ricocheted from one wall to the other. There he was in a brown leather jacket with a giggle that would later haunt South Africa. The same giggle that has made mockery of constitutional democracy.

I don't have luxury of time to chronicle all of President Jacob Zuma's misdemeanours as South Africa's Head of State. Let me however highlight a few that replaced our hard-earned constitutional democracy with Nkandla made concoction of Zumacracy.

First he stood in Parliament looking condescendingly at DA MP Lindiwe Mazibuko telling her he had obtained a loan from Wesbank to upgrade his homestead at Nkandla. Well, it later turned out that the man affectionately known as Msholozi had lied.

Lying to parliament alone, should have had Zuma removed as Head of State. Then he facilitated the landing of a private jet carrying 200 passengers at SA Airforce Waterkloof base. The jet was from India and belonged to his affluent family friend Atul Gupta. Needless to say the jet landed at national key-point area without guests being vetted.

Chief of state protocol Bruce Kholoane was made the fall-guy and was "punished" by Zuma with a high profile ambassadorial post in Amsterdam. Once again Zuma survived the chop, The rot continued full-blast while Zumacracy was eroding democracy enforcement institutions.

Then Zuma defied Public Protector's findings against him in relation to Nkandla upgrades. He unleashed a litany of cover-ups using every state apparatus at his disposal to eschew accountability. National Assembly Speaker and Ministers Nathi Nhleko and Naledi Pandor featured prominently in his arsenal.

Constitutional court affirmed Thuli Madonsela's report that Zuma and his family were "Secure in comfort" at the expense of poor South Africans. I was under illusion that constitutional democracy had finally won when Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said "The president thus failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution." He said the president broke his oath of office.

Like any other object, I thought Zuma had succumbed to dictates of gravity. I was proven wrong. ANC MPs thwarted impeachment efforts against Zuma. Constitutional democracy was dealt a low blow and democratic accountability became a foreign jargon. Zumacracy permeated through the hearts of 233 men and women of "impeccable character."

Learned Professors and PhD graduates like Naledi Pandor, Angie Motshekga and Makhosi Khoza sold their souls to shield a giggling Grade: 4 drop-out. They wouldn't wipe the giggle off Zuma's face. As if Zuma and his acolytes had not brought South Africa enough damage - he had the gumption to interdict the release of Public Protector's report on State Capture. This is the report that contained graphic evidence of how Zuma was "siphoning public purse" through Gupta family.

Once again, Zuma survived this damning report and continued to giggle in Parliament when asked questions of national importance. This made me come to a conclusion that ANC's moral-currency had depreciated to an all time low.

The less I say about him costing South African economy R500bn by firing Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replacing him with a man who couldn't run a minuscule municipality in Merafong the better. Zuma will go down history books as a suspect who faced 783 charges but, still managed to share a table with leading world presidents at G20 summits.

I woke up to a poignant reality that Zuma is beyond redemption - he is a product with defects that we can't send back to store for refund. Zuma is a costly liability that the poor masses can't afford to maintain. The only logical reason why Zuma has survived seven motions of " No Confidence" is that
Zumacracy is a deadly virus for which there is no antidote. Zuma is a run-away train without brakes and will crash into every democracy enforcement institution. Zuma's political mortality is an idea whose time has come.

"Enough is enough" no longer enough

An often curvaceous work of nature, titivated with boobs that resonate with her splendid morphology, sweet voiced with caring qualities of unimaginable proportions.

 She is my mother, our sister, their daughter and his wife. She's a woman. She's a conservationist who keeps human extinction at bay without fail. Her precious body is endowed with special organs to ensure sterile delivery of life. She's an anointed carrier of human life to earth.

 I hold a woman's body in high esteem - it gave birth to me and introduced me to mother earth. I don't objectify a woman's body as an instrument for psychopathic experimentation. I subscribe neither to chauvinism nor patriarchy. I speak against misogyny.

 I've always resisted temptation to call myself a feminist. In essence, a feminist is one who advocates for egalitarian status and recognition of female creatures, human or otherwise. I'm a womanist and advocate for physical protection, equality, respect and love for women - not because they're the weaker sex but, by virtue of being human. Excuse my language but, how the hell did we elevate rape to a status of "culture"? Whose culture is it anyway?

As a practising Christian, the Bible tells me that when God created a man, he consulted with the Holy Trinity. God created a woman in the silence of the earth without seeking second or third opinion from any mortal being. A woman's body demanded meticulous and uninterrupted handling. The book of Genesis doesn't caricature a woman as an embodiment of sin. I mean...why would God assign the ultimate sinner to be the bearer of his own image?

The reason for my emotional harangue is the spate of sexual attacks on women in general, and students from University of Cape Town and Rhodes University in particular. Women like Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa fought side by side with men to bring about freedom in South Africa. Women didn't join the struggle just because they were irked by the idea of carrying passes.

They fought for freedom to bask in the beauty of their womanhood. Women were fighting for freedom to be in conversation with their cosmetic-beings without men lurking behind to attack them. Young women have been raped and sexually assaulted on campuses by would-be academics at UCT and Rhodes.

To most South African women, freedom of movement is only academic. Their dress-code and movement is at the mercy of testosterone-driven barbarians. Whether covered or not, a woman's body is not an open buffet for any Jimmy to feast on. A woman's body is not like a car taken for a test drive before final purchase. It is not a close-corporation entity or a communal property where every Dick, Tom and Harry holds a proxy.

A drunk woman is not some "To whom it may concern" kind of letter. Women beings are the children of the universe, they have the right to be here; and whether or not it is clear to the rapists - no doubt their womanhood is unfolding as it should.

When I saw Rhodes students protesting bare-breasted against sexual violence on campus, then I knew fury had surpassed all conventional reasoning capacity. Reasoning with university management was no longer an option. It signalled the boiling degree of women's exasperation. Reality finally hit home that waving placards written "enough is enough" is no longer enough. A woman being's emphatic "NO" is not open for further deliberations.

Rhodes university's response to women's cry has been lackadaisical and gave room for sexual perverts to continue with their salacious fantasies. Rhodes bare-breasted protest was silent yet, so loud. So loud that it brought tuition to a standstill and attracted police to come and arrest the victims of rape.

As a man and a womanist, believe me when I say, these men who rape women so viciously aren't men in a true sense of the word. They are barbarians, predators and sexual perverts who can't sexually satisfy a woman for a long haul; hence their hit-and-run tactics.

The protest had to be graphic to attract political attention and give a depiction of what women go through in the dark corners of the campus. It was necessary  to assert women beings monopoly over their bodies. Rhodes bare-breast protest is indicative of the need for 180 degree turn of status quo in favour of women. Wathinda abafazi, wathind' imbokodo. Uzakufa rapist ndini...

Memory of Solomon Mahlangu honoured

"My blood shall nourish the tree that will bear fruits of freedom. Tell my people I love them. They must continue to fight. Aluta continua," Solomon Mahlangu on the occasion of his hanging on 6 April 1979. Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was born in 1956 in Mamelodi, Pretoria and grew up in the Ndebele section of the township. His father left him in 1962 to be raised by his mother Martha; who was a domestic worker in Waterkloof. Kalushi used to sell fruits and sweets on local train to supplement his family's income. He had ambition to become a teacher when he grew up.

After Soweto student uprising on 16 June 1976, South Africa witnessed an unprecedented militancy from black township students from one region to the other. At the age of 20 in September 1976, Solomon was introduced to ANC branch and was later recruited into uMkhoto weSizwe underground network by Thomas Masuku. Solomon only progressed up to Std 8 at Mamelodi high. On the night that he disappeared, Solomon sneaked a note under his brother's pillow written "bhut' Lucas, bhuti Lucas, I have gone away. Don't look for me."

Solomon and few other comrades left the country and settled in Xai-Xai Mozambique for few months before Jacob Zuma facilitated their clandestine transit to Angola. Upon arrival in Angola they received rudimentary guerrilla warfare training for about 8 months. They were then dispatched to Swaziland where they received a line of march from General Siphiwe Nyanda.

In June 1977 Solomon Mahlangu, Mondy Motloung and George Mahlangu sneaked back into South Africa on a mission to blow up Tembisa police station. On 13 June they arrived in downtown Johannesburg. Out of curiosity, they decided to go to Soweto first to check out how the first anniversary of June 16 was coming along. They were spotted by a black police officer when boarding a taxi to Soweto.

He was inquisitive why young black men were carrying such heavy bags. Police officer grabbed a bag and a grenade fell out. Young combatants panicked and ran away. A shootout ensued with police and Solomon was shot in the ankle. Judging from Motloung's military precision, police realised they were up against trained guerrillas.

Solomon ran ahead of Motloung and took cover at John Orrs (now Stuttafords) warehouse in Goch street. Motloung barged in looking for his comrade and found to white males who wouldn't answer where Solomon was. Out of frustration, he shot them dead. Police arrived on the scene, Motloung wanted to shoot them too but, his Skorpion vz.61 rifle jammed. Police overpowered and beat him severely. Solomon came back looking for Motloung only to be accosted and beaten by police.

George Mahlangu managed to escape. On the way to John Vorster Square prison, all Motloung could say was "Solomon, Solomon, Solomon." A judge admitted that Solomon never fired a single shot but, because Motloung has suffered brain damage; he couldn't stand trial. The court applied Doctrine of common purpose and charged Solomon with two counts of murder and terrorism.

Solomon's trial started without the knowledge of his defence team which included Ismael Mohamed and Priscilla Jana. He pleaded not guilty but, was found guilty on 2 March 1978 and refused leave to appeal by Rand Supreme court and later by Appeal court in Bloemfontein. When the judge announced the guilty verdict, he raised his fist in the air and shouted "Amandla." Solomon was sent to the gallows on 6 April 1979 on the same day that Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652. His death was a celebration in honour of Van Riebeeck's memory.

Solomon was posthumously awarded the Order of Mendi for Bravery in Gold in 2005. In commemoration of 37th anniversary of his death, Wits university's Senate house was re-named Solomon Mahlangu house. There are cardinal lessons to be learnt from Solomon's excrutiating narrative.

Firstly, Solomon never left his comrade to the "wolves," he came back looking for him. He sacrificed his education to fight for liberation of black nation. Today's students should appreciate heroic endeavours Solomon made to ensure that their right to education became a reality. In the face of atrocious interrogation tactics, he never sold the struggle - he never placed his personal ambition above of the organisation.

 Solomon died for a course of freedom for a black fellow. It's up to the living to ensure that the freedom he fought for is never taken for granted. While university students burn and vandalise varsity property - they dare not forget that for Solomon; varsity remained a distant dream. Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was an epitome of loyal ANC cadreship......Aluta continua

Lesotho: A multi-troubled Kingdom

A tiny mountain Kingdom of Lesotho is a marvel to watch from a distance. The sight of Maluti mountains veneered in a thick layer of snow in Butha-Buthe has ingratiated Lesotho to many as Switzerland of Africa. The pinnacle of Lesotho Highlands water project Katse dam (Metsi a lihlaba) offers a glee of panoramic view to spectators. At Ha Sekekete, it's the melodious sound of accordions by Famo musicians that keeps revelers dancing all night long.

The sight of green fields along Letseng la Terae offers a glimmer of hope for better things to come. However, my graphic description of Lesotho wouldn't be complete unless I mention fair-skinned Basotho women flamboyantly dressed in Seshoeshoe and Molia Nye'oe.

On a flip side of the coin, Lesotho's political history is nothing to write home about. As back as 1970, a military coup in favour of Prime Minister Chief Leabua Jonathan impeded Ntsu Mokhehle's Basotho Congress Party (BCP) rise to power after winning election. In 1974 Mokhehle staged a counter-coup which Leabua foiled. The long serving Prime Minister ultimately succumbed to a military coup masterminded by General Metsing Lekhanya in 1986. Lekhanya went further to depose King Moshoeshoe II in 1990 forcing him into exile. The hunter became the hunted when Lekhanya was ousted from office in 1991 with Colonel Ramaema becoming head of military junta.

Fort Hare graduate Ntsu Mokhehle secured victory in 1993 democratic election and became Prime Minister with BCP (Mahatammoho) as the ruling party. In August 1994 King Letsie III made egregious indiscretion by acceding to demands mainly from BNP and a group of Royalists to dissolve constitutional government. International pressure mounted and elected government was subsequently reinstated.

After May election in 1998, acrid plumes of smoke darkened Maseru's skyline as the city erupted into chaos following allegations of vote rigging. SADC sanctioned Langa commission to investigate vote rigging allegations but, no empirical evidence was found to corroborate the allegations. Lesotho's political landscape was re-engineered in 2012 when a first coalition government was inaugurated with Tom Thabane's All Basotho Convention (ABC) leading the pack.

Former Lesotho Defence Force commander Brigadier Maaparankoe Mahao was assassinated in 2014 and the country plunged into further political turmoil. Prime Minister Tom Thabane prorogued  the 120-member parliament with the King's blessing amid fears of a military coup. Thabane and prominent political leaders Thesele Maseribane and Keketso Rantso fled to South Africa fearing for their lives. Lesotho politicians are better described by a popular Basotho saying "Kobo tsa Maseru lia tshoana, mmala o mong" loosely translated (Maseru blankets bear the same colour and all look the same).

SADC dispatched South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to calm troubled waters in Lesotho. Ramaphosa only managed to facilitated a "negotiated coup" that saw Lesotho hold election de novo, two years into Thabane's administration. Snap election didn't produce an outright majority winner; as a result, Lesotho reverted into another coalition government of seven parties led by Prime Minister Phakalitha Mosisili.

 SADC Troika instituted a commission headed by Judge Mphaphi Phumaphi to investigate a sequence of events that led to Mahao's assassination. While the Maseru administration is yet to implement constitutional and security reforms as recommended by SADC, Mosisili wanted the commission's terms of reference modified and objected to the publishing of its findings. This prompted SADC to impose an ultimatum on the Mountain Kingdom. Mosisili is also reluctant to relieve Lieutenant General Tlali Kamoli of his duties as recommended by SADC and US government. This is the same Kamoli who was dismissed for insubordination during Thabane's administration.

Lesotho is a ticking time-bomb on our door step. our troublesome neighbours from across the Caledon must realise that SADC cannot baby-sit them in perpetuity. An average Mosotho is most likely to witness a military coup than get a job. A nation once reputable for peace and congeniality is permanently on coup-alert. Conspiracy, shenanigans and coups d' ètat are the order of the day.It's about time political principals shoved their insatiable hunger for power aside and focus on the plight of 2.1 million Basotho population 23% of whom are living with HIV/Aids. Truth be told, I don't see this intransigent "7-pack" coalition government serving its full term. The more things change in Lesotho, the more they stay the same. Ka melamu e seng ka majoe, bana ba Thesele; maaparakobo a matle.

Nompendulo Mkhatshwa the perfect face for #FeesMustFall

Incoming SRC president from Wits University Nompendulo "Ulo" Mkhatshwa is the cover girl for December edition of Destiny magazine. Mkhatshwa rose to prominence during #FeesMustFall movement which initially started as #WitsFeesMustFall. There is nevertheless, a growing discontent amongst student population that Mkhatshwa shouldn't have been made a cover girl for Destiny magazine.

 The argument is that this would unfairly idolise her as the face of #FeesMustFall. Mkhatshwa's detractors claim she was not the sole leader of #FeesMustFall movement, that she shouldn't have worn her trade-mark ANC headscarf when she posed for Destiny magazine camera and that she has generally sold out on the students'movement.

Nompendulo Mkhatshwa was one of the four prominent leaders of #FeesMustFall movement who included Mcebo Dlamini, Shaeera Kalla and Fassiha Hassan. There is a myriad of reasons that made Mkhatshwa more conspicuous than her co-leaders and that's probably why she got the nod as Destiny magazine cover girl. 22 year-old Mkhatshwa is the incoming SRC president at Wits University and represents the future of student politics at Wits. She has always been glowing with her trade-mark ANC headscarf which she wore religiously throughout fees protests.

Though a research intern at ANC's headquarters, she didn't kowtow to her ANC masters when she led a protest march to hand over a memorandum. She remained resolute in her demands as she handed a memorandum to ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe. As a black female leader, she invoked nostalgic memories of struggle heroines like Lilian Ngoyi and Winnie Mandela. It also made business sense for Destiny to align its brand with Mkhatshwa after her pictures leading the march went viral.

Personal attacks on Mkhatshwa's persona are unfortunate and warrant no further engagement. She has always been open with her SASCO membership and allegiance to ANC from the onset and nobody had a problem with her preferred political path until she made it to Destiny's cover page. She's called a sell-out for branding herself as the face of #FeesMustFall movement. What her detractors fail to elucidate is that she didn't approach Destiny magazine but, the opposite occurred.

Mkhatshwa was meticulous in marshalling her brigade to Luthuli House without resoting to violence. Suffice it to say, Mkhatshwa is a lioness that resuscitated a feminine touch in the broad mass democratic revolution.

Mngcineni "Mambush" Noki popular as "The man in green blanket", was paraded as the face of Marikana massacre though he wasn't the only one who died on fateful August 16 2012. If people claim that Mkhatshwa is being branded as thee face of #FeesMustFall, I dare say she has earned her stripes. I'm also glad that she remained loyal to her true colours as she posed for Destiny camera in her signature ANC headscarf despite being asked to choose neutral colours.

Every movement at one stage or another is given a face as it gains momentum. Nelson Mandela was universally regarded as the face of 1964 Rivonia trial though he wasn't the only accused who stood trial. My one message for Mkhatshwa's detractors #JealousyMustFall.

Stuggle for fees not over yet

 Students from the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) embarked on #WitsFeesMustFall campaign demanding that the proposed 10.5 fees increment for 2016 academic year be suspended. What started as #WitsFessMustFall soon escalated to University of Cape Town (UCT), University of Stellenbosch (Matties) and the University of Free State (UFS) becoming a nationwide #FeesMustFall by all universities.

The bone of contention for Wits students was that they came from under-privileged backgrounds of single parenthood where parents hardly receive 6% salary increases from employers. University rectors and officials from department of Higher Education adopted a nonchalant approach to #FeesMustFall campaign added fuel to fire until things fell apart.

Only after students had vandalised property, clashed with police and invaded parliamentary precinct did officials wake up to the most rebellious post-apartheid student activism. One of the major propellants of #FeesMustFall was the 8th principle of Freedom Charter which proclaims "Doors of learning and culture shall be opened for all." The principle further elaborates " Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit. The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished."

As the only surviving custodian of Freedom Charter, ANC should have grabbed the opportunity to engage students on how this ideal would be realised. It should have also accentuated the strides made through TEFSA which later became NSFAS. The students' march to Luthuli House, Union Buildings and parliamentary precinct shouldn't be misconstrued as an attack against ANC.

In the face of unrelenting capitalist academia students had to seek recourse from the party they elected to lead government. Though disappointed, students were willing to grant President Jacob Zuma an audience as opposed to any other political leader. True to their struggle, students refused to be used as political pawns by forces of anarchy whose aim was to advance prima donna interests.

The 0% fees increment announced by Zuma on 23rd October is a victory to students on their well marshalled struggle. In my books however, 0% increment is a temporary reprieve - registration and tuition fees still remain exorbitant at South African universities. Most poor black students are still systematically excluded by high fees and plunge further into "black debt."

In 2014 Global Financial Integrity ( GFI) reported that South Africa loses R147 billion per annum due to illicit capital flight - this is the money that could have made free education possible. What 0% increment has not answered however is: will NSFAS inject more funds to enable students to service their debts with universities and what impact will 0% increment have on future salary increases of poor non-academic staff at universities?

University councils must account what informs their above-inflation fees hikes when they produce unemployable graduates en masse, who add further burden to the state. Government should streamline it's funding model to universities in tandem with production that adds value to the country's economy. A microscopic view must be taken into annual perks that go into pockets of university management teams.

Competition commission should also look for signs of possible collusion on fees-fixing by universities. Until all these measures are taken, the struggle for fees will continue. As Freedom Charter concludes "These freedoms we shall fight for, side by side, throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty." Government be warned that #FeesMustFall inferno shall not be extinguished by a few empty promises that lack political-will. Students realised that the term "Previously disadvantaged" is a misnomer, as a matter of fact - they are Permanently Disadvantaged. Female student leaders rose to the occasion, wore their doeks like struggle veterans Lilian Ngoyi and Winnie Mandela and took the fight to capitalist academia who expect poor black students to reconcile with lack of education in the name of social cohesion.

Fire Kohler Barnard or lose black vote

Democratic Alliance (DA) veteran MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard reposted an inflammatory statement by Noseweek's freelance columnist Paul Kirk that said: "Please come back PW Botha - you were far more honest than any of these ANC rogues, and you provided far better services to the public- we had a functioning education system." Botha's regime was both barbaric and cannibalistic towards black people in his tyrannical regime from 1979-1989. Kohler-Barnard shared on her Facebook page what Kirk wrote, thereby endorsing his assertion.


She only removed the post after her KZN leader had called her to order. She claimed she didn't see the Botha part of the 10-line text that a Grade 2 pupil could easily read in one minute. Surprisingly she didn't offer an apology back then - she only apologised two weeks after it exposed on twitter. Why only apologise two weeks after reposting that apartheid innuendo?

I may not be a social media trend analyst but, I know people share or retweet  statements or posts they align themselves with, or the ones they think are palatable for public consumption. Kohler-Barnard endorsed  Kirk's post because it represented her obvious nostalgia for apartheid, considering Botha was penultimate president of apartheid South Africa. It's disingenuous of her to say she didn't share Kirk's sentiments, nor did she see the Botha line. This is the same person who was on Bheki Cele's case for signing Roux Shabangu lease agreement without meticulously perusing contents thereof.

What Kohler-Barnard reposted is dialectically linked with sentiments of the party she represents in parliament. Though many prefer to pull stunts like this incognito, the blonde MP had gumption to go public with her nostalgia for Botha. In case Kirk and Kohler-Barnard have forgotten who Pieter Willem Botha was, let me take them down the memory lane. It was under Botha's regime that the apartheid death squad, Vlakplaas Unit, was established to eliminate anybody who promulgated resistance against the system. Human rights lawyer Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge was also brutally murdered by the same unit in Umlazi in 1981.

Under Botha only blacks continued to carry dompas (dumb-passbooks) until the law was repealed in July 1986. - seven years into his reign. He didn't think blacks were worthy of electricity hence millions were kept in the dark. Finger-wagging Botha also declared state of emergency in 1986 that saw thousands of black people detained without trial. Winnie Mandela had her phone tapped and house burnt down by security police while Botha was negotiating with her husband. I shudder to think if this is the same man that Kohler-Barnard wishes to come back and if this is the best service that Kirk and Kohler-Barnard say people enjoyed under Botha.

What this Honourable member did was not honourable. Actually it was a spit in the face of a black DA leader who claims to have equally suffered under Botha while the likes of Kohler-Barnard took cover under the colour of their skin. Kohler Barnard's re-post is an epitome of dinner table conversations by many who call DA their political home.

Relegating her to the back benches in parliament is a slap on the wrist, like it happened with Mike Waters who depicted ANC voters as dogs and Allistair Sparks who eulogised Hendrik Verwoerd at a DA conference. If DA is to salvage its already tainted brand and keep an elusive black vote, then the best thing to do under these circumstances is to fire Kohler-Barnard as MP. If she keeps her job as MP, then I will be justified in my assertion that Mmusi Maimane is not really in charge of DA, but just a glorified intern or a hook that catches the fattest black vote.

The intelligentsia cruising away from society

The role of "Educated Class" popularly known as the intelligentsia, is not only hard to understand but, also mercurial. Though primordial definition of this class was only confined to individuals with a high academic pedigree, a contemporary interpretation has broadened the scope of this class to include organic and indigenous intellectuals.

Throughout the evolution of man, there has always been individuals such as herbal healers, traditional and spiritual leaders who possessed indigenous knowledge. They always had pervasive influence within their immediate vicinity which included configuration of moral discourse, treatment of chronic ailments, observation of culture and oral history. Bringing on board indigenous and organic intellectuals who may not necessarily possess a PhD, is pivotal if social cohesion is anything to go buy.

For example, indigenous and organic intellectuals like Chief Albert Luthuli, Father Trevor Huddleston and Joshua Polumo "JP" Mohapeloa were fountains of wisdom in their surroundings. They would always be available to impart knowledge and inspire hope were none existed. Hugh Masekela received his first trumpet from Huddleston and went on to become a world class musical troubadour. "JP"Mohapeloa was a choral composer extraordinaire who untapped raw Acappella talent in villages. All three were prompted by an intrinsic penchant to plough back to their communities. For this ilk, ploughing back wasn't optional but, a matter of principle. They derived a sense of social responsibility from a Sesotho maxim "Motho ke motho ka batho."

The role of intelligentsia in modern society is still imperative and can never be under estimated. South Africa is plagued by unemployment, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and embezzlement of public funds. Indigenous, organic and academic thinkers are indispensable for trajectory of development in the realm of politics, economy and other social domains. Their public persona should not be characterised by Glenfiddich whisky, stiletto heels and Harley Davidson (Iron883) motorbikes.

The sooner the educated class breaks loose from secluded cocoon of high walls and electric fencing, the better for a society whose streets are on fire due to violent service delivery protests. The intelligentsia must appreciate their role in society as ubiquitous and not just make flamboyant appearances at car-wash and chesanyama outlets on weekends. They shouldn't just be visible during ad hoc charity events in informal settlements where every moment is captured through the lens. They should be the proverbial light at the end of a tunnel ravaged by nyaope, rape, child-headed families and public violence.

Though there is no barometer to measure the extent to which "Educated Class" may plough back to society, my clarion call is for this class to spare a moment and incubate entrepreneurial skills of goal-orientated youth. They must influence government policy and ensure that democratic accountability becomes the order of the day. Their hiatus during psychometric architecture of a nation riddled with violent crime is an indictment on their social standing.

Theirs is not to flash opulence in the face of abject poverty. They must invest their intellectual capital in poor, rural areas thereby emancipating the people from State Dependency Syndrome (SDS). I dare say, the intelligentsia must descend from ivory-towers and gravitate to the humble beginnings from which their altitude was carved. They must realise that being in the media for the wrong reasons will not help their course of etching intellectual footprint in society. They need to overwhelm their central nervous system with trying to unearth prescriptive panacea for myriad of our social ills.www.dailymaverick.co.za
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