Sicelo Mhlauli | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | May 25, 1949 |
Died | June 27, 1985 36) Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa | (aged
Political party | United Democratic Front (South Africa), South African Communist Party, African National Congress |
Spouse | Nombuyiselo Zonke |
Children | Ntsika and Babalwa |
Alma mater | Lovedale College |
Occupation | Teacher |
Sicelo Mhlauli (25 May 1949 – 27 June 1985) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and one of The Cradock Four murdered by the South African police in 1985.
Sicelo Mhlauli was born on 25 May 1949 at Emagqomeni Location in Cradock in the Eastern Cape. His family later moved to Lingelihle Township in 1962 to a section called Taptap. His grandfather, Qobose Mhlauli was also a politician and had worked closely with James Calata who was Fort Calata's grandfather and one of the founding members of the South African Native National Congress. [1] : 180 Mhlauli went to St James Primary, Cradock Bantu Secondary and finally studied teaching at Lovedale College where he majored in Afrikaans and History. [2] [3]
Mhlauli's teaching career started in 1974 at Thembalabantu High School in King William's Town where he also became boarding master. In 1975, the hostel students embarked on a food strike, demanding better quality food. [2] The student leaders were arrested and during their appearance, Mhlauli would be in court to show his support. The security police opposed Mhauli's actions because they believed the students were arrested for disturbing the education system. He then went to work as a principal at Archie Velile Secondary in Dimbaza. During a student stay-away demanding proper representation in the student council and equal education in South Africa for both black and white students; some students were assaulted by the police. Mhlauli then took the injured to a nearby clinic; this act was also opposed by the security police. [3]
Mhlauli met ex-political prisoner Msuthu Sonkwala who was from Cradock but not allowed to live there by the government due to his banning conditions after he was released from prison. Mhlauli held political meetings with Sonkwala and other ex-political prisoners. They would discuss politics and ways to mobilise the community and teach them about the current political status. Their aim was to get the community involved in protests against the injustices that were brought by the apartheid government. [3]
Mhlauli then received a post as a principal at a high school in Bongolwethu Township in Oudtshoorn. During this time, he married Nombuyiselo Zonke who was also from Cradock and they had two children together named Ntsika and Babalwa. In August 1983, he attended the launch of the United Democratic Front (South Africa) as part of the Oudtshoorn delegation. Soon after this, they formed the Oudtshoorn Civic Organisation and the Bhongolwethu Youth Organisation. [3] His house became the operation centre for struggle advancement in the Southern Cape Region. His wife became part of a collective of women who championed the establishment of the women's organisation in their region. A newsletter named Saamstaan (stand together) was established, and Mhlauli was part of the committee which established the publication. This publication informed the public about political events in South Africa. It is believed that Mhlauli survived an arson attack at his office that destroyed all of his belongings, however details regarding this event are scarce. [3]
During winter school holidays, Mhlauli met with Matthew Goniwe who encouraged him to attend a UDF meeting in Port Elizabeth on the 27th of June 1985, which Mhlauli agreed to. On the 26th of June, the community at Lingelihle and surrounding areas held Freedom Charter celebrations and different organisations which affiliated with the UDF, gave speeches. Mhlauli attended the event as a member of the Oudtshoorn Civic Organization which was affiliated with the UDF [2] [3]
On the 27th of June, the four men now referred to as The Cradock Four, went to a UDF meeting in Port Elizabeth. [4] Mhlauli's had been at a course in PE and he had planned to pick her up on their way home. This however did not materialise as their meeting went on until late in the evening. [3] [5] [1] : 164 The men were last seen at that meeting. Mhlauli's body was the second to be found after Sparrow Mkhonto in a bush near Bluewater Bay. He was handcuffed and tied with a rope with 25 stab wounds to his chest, seven in the back and another four in his arms. His throat was cut and his right hand severed; and his body was burned. [1] : 164 The Cradock Four were buried at a mass funeral where thousands of people attended on the 20th of July 1985. [2] [6] [7] Speakers at the funeral included Beyers Naudé, Allan Boesak and Steve Tshwete gave keynote addresses. A message from the then president of the ANC Oliver Tambo was read. [8] [9]
To honour him, Mhlauli was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver by the Presidency of South Africa. The order was for his “Outstanding contribution and dedicating his life to a free, just and democratic South Africa”. [2] [7]
The Pebco Three were three black South African anti-apartheid activists – Sipho Hashe, Champion Galela, and Qaqawuli Godolozi – who were abducted and subsequently murdered in 1985 by members of the South African security police.
Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge was a South African anti-apartheid activist; she was trained as a nurse and midwife, and later began practising law.
Graaff-Reinet Xhosa(eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fifth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the centre of a short-lived republic in the late 18th century. The town was a starting point for Great Trek groups led by Gerrit Maritz and Piet Retief and furnished large numbers of the Voortrekkers in 1835–1842.
The following lists events that happened during 1985 in South Africa.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a South African popular front that existed from 1983 to 1991. The UDF comprised more than 400 public organizations including trade unions, students' unions, women's and parachurch organizations. The UDF's goal was to establish a "non-racial, united South Africa in which segregation is abolished and in which society is freed from institutional and systematic racism." Its slogan was "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides." The Front was established in 1983 to oppose the introduction of the Tricameral Parliament by the white-dominated National Party government, and dissolved in 1991 during the early stages of the transition to democracy.
Cradock, officially Nxuba, is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, 250 kilometres (160 mi) by road northeast of Port Elizabeth. The town is the administrative seat of the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality in the Chris Hani District of the Eastern Cape.
Makhenkesi Arnold Stofile was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist who served as the second Premier of the Eastern Cape from 1997 to 2004. After that, he was Minister of Sport and Recreation from 2004 to 2010. He was also a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
Internal resistance to apartheid in South Africa originated from several independent sectors of South African society and took forms ranging from social movements and passive resistance to guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (NP) government, coupled with South Africa's growing international isolation and economic sanctions, were instrumental in leading to negotiations to end apartheid, which began formally in 1990 and ended with South Africa's first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994.
Olifantskop Pass is situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It carries three to four lanes of road traffic on the N10 national road over the Suurberg mountains between Paterson and Cookhouse.
People of the Karoo refers to notable individuals who come from, or whose lives have included substantial engagement with, the area known as the Karoo. The Karoo is a widespread physiographic province in the western interior of South Africa, straddling much of the Northern Cape, southern Free State, Eastern Cape interior and parts of the Western Cape Provinces.
The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) is an anti-apartheid Student Organisation established in 1979 in the wake of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings in 1976 in South Africa.
James Arthur Calata OLG was a South African priest and politician. He was the Secretary-General of the African National Congress from 1936 to 1949. He was appointed a canon of the Grahamstown Cathedral making him the first Black canon in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Mkhuseli "Khusta" Jack is a South African politician, businessman and anti-apartheid activist. Jack currently serves as the chairperson of Build One South Africa. He previously served as the deputy mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Matthew Goniwe OLS was a South African anti-apartheid activist and one of The Cradock Four murdered by the South African Police in 1985.
The Cradock Four were a group of four anti-Apartheid activists who were abducted and murdered by South African security police in June 1985, named as such as all four were from the town of Cradock, Eastern Cape. The South African apartheid government denied that they had ordered the killings, but a document leaked to the press years later resulted in the removal of several police officers. At the second inquest, a judge ruled that the "security forces" were responsible, but named no one individual.
On 17 November 1985, 2000 residents from Mlungisi township in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, gathered in Nonzwakazi Methodist Church to hear back from the Local Residents Association, who, in early November, had met with the Department of Education and Training, the Queenstown municipality, the Eastern Cape Development Board, and the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce to discuss the end of the consumer boycott. The meeting was short-lived as members of the Queenstown branch of the South African Police stormed into the meeting and opened fire on the residents. In the ensuing conflict between police and residents, 14 people were shot dead and 22 were injured. This incident is known as the 1985 Queenstown Massacre.
Fort Calata was a South African anti-apartheid activist and one of The Cradock Four murdered by the South African police in 1985.
Sparrow Mkonto was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and one of The Cradock Four murdered by the South African police in 1985.
Mbulelo Terence Goniwe is a South African politician, businessman and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2006. He was Chief Whip of the Majority Party from June 2004 until December 2006, when he was expelled from the ANC and therefore from the National Assembly.
The Vaal uprising was a period of popular revolt in black townships in apartheid South Africa, beginning in the Vaal Triangle on 3 September 1984. Sometimes known as the township revolt and driven both by local grievances and by opposition to apartheid, the uprising lasted two years and affected most regions of the country. The government of P. W. Botha did not succeed in curbing the violence until after it imposed a national state of emergency in June 1986.