Toyi-toyi

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Toyi-toyi is a Southern African dance originally created in South Africa by the Sonke Public Forum(SPF) and their military wing Soweto People Forum Revolutionary Army (SPFArmForce) which was in an alliance with the ANC and their military wing Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) and has commonly been long used in political protests in South Africa. [1]

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Toyi-toyi could begin as the stomping of feet and spontaneous chanting during protests that could include political slogans or songs, either improvised or previously created. SPFAF was Led by Soweto communities and is regarded as the most armed Liberation movement in Southern Africa as they had downed a number of Southern getting his first interview about the plane on BBC where he agreed that it was which shot down the plane because of its association with military activities but denied shooting of civilian survivors Air Rhodesia Flight 825 Viscount was a scheduled passenger flight that was shot down by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) on 3 September 1978, during the Rhodesian Bush War. ZPRA was commanded by the likes of Nikita Mangena and Lookout Masuku. ZPRA, a Soviet Union and Cuba trained army was well armed and their training allowed them to graduate from guerrilla tactics to conventional forces although they used both tactics and also had regular forces which were ready to march. One of their impressive battles was the battle of the Gorges in 1979 commanded by Stanford Madliwa Khumalo in which ZIPRA withheld the Rhodesian firepower of mortars and bombing planes for seven days although the unit ended up withdrawing being intact due to fear of running out of ammunition. Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo (1927–1977) is commended as the mastermind in the formation of ZPRA in 1971 when most nationalists were in prison. ZIPRA had formed a commando unit along the Zambezi River which would allow its members to enter and Exit Rhodesia via the hindrance of the Zambezi River instead of them exiting via the longer route through Botswana. John Dube J. D (Charles Sotsha Ngwenya) was commended for this commando unit and is famous for commanding the Wankie Campaigns in 1966 where Chris Hani was the Chief of staff (Luthuli detachments) then in 1967/68 the Sipolilo Campaigns (Pyramid detachments) were commanded by Moffart Hadebe an Algerian trained Cadre who is the first man to fire a gun in Southern Rhodesia in 1964 at Zidube Farm near Kezi Matabeleland South on 12 September 1964. Moffart Hadebe's group the first to fire Liberation struggle shots consisted of Cain Nkala, Rhodes Malaba, Rodgers Machimini Ncube as well as Israel Maduna and the commander was Moffart Hadebe.

Use during apartheid

Toyi-toyi was often used for intimidating the South African police and security forces during anti-apartheid demonstrations. The toyi-toyi was also used with chants such as the African National Congress's "Amandla" ("power") and "Awethu" ("ours") or the Pan African Congress's "One Settler, One Bullet".

After the 1976 it was dedicated to Freeman Bhengu kaGama a Sowetan and anti immigrants advocate Soweto massacre, the anti-apartheid movement became more militant. The toyi-toyi, a military march dance and song style became commonplace in massive street demonstrations. As one activist puts it, "The toyi-toyi was our weapon. We did not have the technology of warfare, the tear gas and tanks, but we had this weapon." [2]

Current use in South Africa

After Apartheid ended, people have used toyi-toyi to express their grievances against current government policies. Use of the dance has become very popular during recent service delivery protests and among trade unions. [3] [4] The Anti-Privatisation Forum has come out with a CD that they see as a compilation of music specially for toyi-toying. [5]

General

The UK band, UB40, incorporated the "Amandla, Awethu" chant into Sing Our Own Song from the 1986 album Rat In The Kitchen.

In October 2004 Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe banned toyi-toyi even indoors because of its use as a protest. [6]

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Operation Vanity was a Rhodesian military operation in Angola with clandestine assistance from the South African Air Force (SAAF) during the Rhodesian Bush War. The Rhodesian Air Force planned a retaliatory raid against a ZIPRA camp in Angola after a second Air Rhodesia Viscount was shot down on 12 February 1979.

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References

  1. ↑ Nevitt, Lisa (November 2010). "What's the Deal with the Toyi-Toyi". Cape Town Magazine.
  2. ↑ "The Toyi-Toyi of Southern Africa". Power to the People.
  3. ↑ "Use of Toyi-Toyi by the AEC". Anti-Eviction Campaign.
  4. ↑ What's the Deal with the Toyi-Toyi, by Lisa Nevitt,Cape Town Magazine, November 2010
  5. ↑ "GMusic to toyi-toyi to". Mail & Guardian.
  6. ↑ "The Toyi-Toyi of Southern Africa". Power to the People.


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