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Histoire/société
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Tsietsi Mashinini
Militant/e
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Teboho »Tsietsi » Macdonald Mashinini
1957 – 1990
Mashinini est né le 27 Janvier 1957 à Soweto (Central Western Jabavu, Afrique du Sud).
Tsietsi Mashinini, leader du soulévement étudiant à Soweto, était l’homme le plus recherché du gouvernement de l’apartheid en 1976. Forcé de s’exiler, il meurt en 1990 en Guinée Conakry, sans avoir pu revenir chez lui.
1957 – 1990
Mashinini est né le 27 Janvier 1957 à Soweto (Central Western Jabavu, Afrique du Sud).
Tsietsi Mashinini, leader du soulévement étudiant à Soweto, était l’homme le plus recherché du gouvernement de l’apartheid en 1976. Forcé de s’exiler, il meurt en 1990 en Guinée Conakry, sans avoir pu revenir chez lui.
English
Teboho »Tsietsi » Macdonald Mashinini
1957 – 1990
Mashinini was born on 27 January 1957 in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto to a working class parents, Ramothibi and Nomkhitha Mashinini. Mashinini was the second son for the couple, who had a total of thirteen children (11boys and twin girls). The last of the family, Bandile saw two of his brothers Rocks and Dee for the first time at the age of 12 after 1992 when they returned from a sixteen-year exile.
In the township Mashinini was known as an intelligent person with lots of energy, creativity and sportsmanship. His recreational activity included Baseball, Ballroom Dance, Karate/Judo, Marshall Arts, Swimming and Tennis. Mrs. Benadette Mosala, his former teacher once said: « He had real potential in the theatre and asked for assistance for his productions. He had high aims for himself and would refuse to play second fiddle. He was a very attractive and handsome young boy. I know the girls loved him and was very confident of that ». As a teenager he preferred African-American fashion, he was a hippie. He kept big Afro hair and wore bell-bottom trousers with high shoes. His social life was very vibrant and short of boredom. Mashinini was loved and adored by girls. He was indeed himself a well-dressed Casanova.
Mashinini was very good in a street fight. During the period 1974 to 1976 when gangsters were tormenting the communities, Mashinini single-handedly went to find them in their homes and finally broke the Damaras gangster in White City. This, he under took particularly after an abduction and rape of a Morris Isaacson High student on her way to school.
Mashinini was born to a Christian family. His father was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Mashinini went to Sunday school and became a chairman of the (Youth) Wesley Guild when he was 16. In the Jabavu Guild, he led some of those who became prominent leaders in the struggle, like Siphiwe Thusi veteran of South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) and Congress of South African Traditional Leaders (Contralesa).
His education started at Amajeli crèche in 1963. He then went to Seoding Lower Primary after which he proceeded to Itshepeng Higher Primary. In 1971 he became a student at Morris Isaacson High. He was a passionate reader, but he had preferences like Alistair MacLean, Enid Blyton and James Hardly Chase. This characteristic in him was sported by his History and English teacher, Abram Onkgopotse Ramothibi Tiro who taught at Morris Isaacson after was expelled from the University of the North (Turfloop) for his political activities. Tiro had great influence in shaping Mashinini’s political thinking and subsequent adherence to the ideology and philosophy of Black Consciousness. He mentored him and supplied him with reading material. Through Tiro, Mashinini started reading the history of Africa’s Struggles, American slavery; Human Rights Movements in America and about the evil of apartheid. Mashinini’s stature and influence was largely boosted by his excellence in studies at Morris Isaacson High School. He led students body in various capacity. He was the chairperson of the debating team at his school.
On the 13th of June, about 500 Soweto students met at the Orlando Donaldson Community Hall to discuss ways and means of confronting and challenging the Department of Bantu Education. The meeting decided to stage a peaceful protest march on 16 June against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in their schools. The Action Committee (AC) was set up to prepare for this event. Mashinini was elected chairperson of the Action Committee. The Action Committee was later renamed Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC), with Mashinini as its first president until was succeeded by Khotso Seatlholo from Naledi High. Mashinini and Murphy Morobe were two representatives from Morris Issacsons High School in the Soweto Student Representative Council.
As President of SSRC, he issued many press statements on behalf of the organization and the larger student body. In those statements he would call for unity, class-boycott, stay-away, going back to class or any other information needing to be disseminated. But that was also platform for him to attack the state, reacting their actions against the masses. In response to the shootings of June 16, he had made this utterance: « We see it as an official declaration of war on the black students by our ‘peace-officers’.
On the fateful day of June 16th, the students were going to converge at their respective schools for morning assembly and sing the National Anthem, ‘Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrika’ instead of the normal prayers. Shouts of ‘Amandla’ (Power, symbolized by a clenched fist) were also uttered after the anthem. After that they would leave the school premises and proceed to the place of a meeting, Orlando Stadium. Mashinini enthusiastically led the singing at Morris Isaacson. It effectively meant that there were columns and columns of students, throughout the township, who were moving in the directions of schools ahead of them to pickup the other students from other school en route to the Stadium.
In Orlando the police had created barricade in front of the community hall that hosted the meeting of the thirteenth. When confronted with this dilemma, Mashinini, who was often held shoulder high by the students for his heroic leadership, made an address to the students to keep calm and not provoke the police. He reminded them that theirs was a peaceful march and was to be kept that way, disciplined and orderly.
Mashinini became an enemy of the ‘system’ and other people, in particular hostel dwellers. The police frequented his home in an attempt to arrest him. On two occasions, he came dressed in female outfit and eluded arrest. He became the most wanted man in the country. The police put R500 reward for any one who can give information that could lead to his arrest. Colonel Visser of the Soweto CID made an appeal to Mashinini to hand himself over, saying he risks being killed by angry hostel dwellers that were disturbed by the recent unrest. Visser further said it would be best if his parents could bring him to the police station. « We believe that Mashinini is active and moving about Soweto and other townships, but we have never been able to locate him. If you spot him, or know where he is, you must report him to the nearest police », said Visser.
Mashinini eluded police arrest until he left the country for Botswana in August 1976. He lived in Botswana for few months, before he proceeded to the West Coast of Africa. Heads of states, notably Sekou Toure of Ivory Coast and African parliamentarians received him. He resided in countries like Nigeria where he briefly hosted in the Presidential Guest House in Lagos. While in exile Mashinini gave interviews and addressed Students at Universities on the South African political situation. Mashinini finally settled in Liberia, marrying a daughter to a national Parliamentarian. Mashinini and Welma Campbell were married in 1978. The marriage was blessed with two daughters, Nomkhitha (named after his mother) and Thembi. However the marriage ended after few years.
One of Mashinini’s admirers, was his compatriot Miriam Makeba, who was in exile in Guinea. She had offered Mashinini a place to stay in her home in Guinea Conakry before his death. Mashinini died under mysterious circumstances in 1990. He was hospitalised for multiple injuries seeming to come from attack.
He died a few days later, apparently on a hospital bed. In the coffin that had traveled from West Africa, Mashinini’s left eye had fallen in; left ear was bleeding and had deep bruises on the face and a large scar on the forehead.
At his funeral service held at the Amphitheatre Stadium in Jabulani Soweto, former Azanian People Organisation (AZAPO) President, Professor Itumeleng Mosala said: « The student of 1976 took the struggle from the classroom to the streets; the students of today take the struggle from the streets into the classroom ». All leaders from June 16 uprising spoke in praise of Mashinini as having made an indelible mark in shaping the history of the country, or at least, the course of struggle.
The epitaph on his tombstone reads: « At the height of struggle, he gave impetus to the liberation struggle ». His tombstone at Avalon cemetery in Soweto was vandalised twice, with the marble part of the stone taken away.
Source:
www.sahistory.org.za
1957 – 1990
Mashinini was born on 27 January 1957 in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto to a working class parents, Ramothibi and Nomkhitha Mashinini. Mashinini was the second son for the couple, who had a total of thirteen children (11boys and twin girls). The last of the family, Bandile saw two of his brothers Rocks and Dee for the first time at the age of 12 after 1992 when they returned from a sixteen-year exile.
In the township Mashinini was known as an intelligent person with lots of energy, creativity and sportsmanship. His recreational activity included Baseball, Ballroom Dance, Karate/Judo, Marshall Arts, Swimming and Tennis. Mrs. Benadette Mosala, his former teacher once said: « He had real potential in the theatre and asked for assistance for his productions. He had high aims for himself and would refuse to play second fiddle. He was a very attractive and handsome young boy. I know the girls loved him and was very confident of that ». As a teenager he preferred African-American fashion, he was a hippie. He kept big Afro hair and wore bell-bottom trousers with high shoes. His social life was very vibrant and short of boredom. Mashinini was loved and adored by girls. He was indeed himself a well-dressed Casanova.
Mashinini was very good in a street fight. During the period 1974 to 1976 when gangsters were tormenting the communities, Mashinini single-handedly went to find them in their homes and finally broke the Damaras gangster in White City. This, he under took particularly after an abduction and rape of a Morris Isaacson High student on her way to school.
Mashinini was born to a Christian family. His father was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church. Mashinini went to Sunday school and became a chairman of the (Youth) Wesley Guild when he was 16. In the Jabavu Guild, he led some of those who became prominent leaders in the struggle, like Siphiwe Thusi veteran of South African National Civic Organization (SANCO) and Congress of South African Traditional Leaders (Contralesa).
His education started at Amajeli crèche in 1963. He then went to Seoding Lower Primary after which he proceeded to Itshepeng Higher Primary. In 1971 he became a student at Morris Isaacson High. He was a passionate reader, but he had preferences like Alistair MacLean, Enid Blyton and James Hardly Chase. This characteristic in him was sported by his History and English teacher, Abram Onkgopotse Ramothibi Tiro who taught at Morris Isaacson after was expelled from the University of the North (Turfloop) for his political activities. Tiro had great influence in shaping Mashinini’s political thinking and subsequent adherence to the ideology and philosophy of Black Consciousness. He mentored him and supplied him with reading material. Through Tiro, Mashinini started reading the history of Africa’s Struggles, American slavery; Human Rights Movements in America and about the evil of apartheid. Mashinini’s stature and influence was largely boosted by his excellence in studies at Morris Isaacson High School. He led students body in various capacity. He was the chairperson of the debating team at his school.
On the 13th of June, about 500 Soweto students met at the Orlando Donaldson Community Hall to discuss ways and means of confronting and challenging the Department of Bantu Education. The meeting decided to stage a peaceful protest march on 16 June against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in their schools. The Action Committee (AC) was set up to prepare for this event. Mashinini was elected chairperson of the Action Committee. The Action Committee was later renamed Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC), with Mashinini as its first president until was succeeded by Khotso Seatlholo from Naledi High. Mashinini and Murphy Morobe were two representatives from Morris Issacsons High School in the Soweto Student Representative Council.
As President of SSRC, he issued many press statements on behalf of the organization and the larger student body. In those statements he would call for unity, class-boycott, stay-away, going back to class or any other information needing to be disseminated. But that was also platform for him to attack the state, reacting their actions against the masses. In response to the shootings of June 16, he had made this utterance: « We see it as an official declaration of war on the black students by our ‘peace-officers’.
On the fateful day of June 16th, the students were going to converge at their respective schools for morning assembly and sing the National Anthem, ‘Nkosi Sikel’ iAfrika’ instead of the normal prayers. Shouts of ‘Amandla’ (Power, symbolized by a clenched fist) were also uttered after the anthem. After that they would leave the school premises and proceed to the place of a meeting, Orlando Stadium. Mashinini enthusiastically led the singing at Morris Isaacson. It effectively meant that there were columns and columns of students, throughout the township, who were moving in the directions of schools ahead of them to pickup the other students from other school en route to the Stadium.
In Orlando the police had created barricade in front of the community hall that hosted the meeting of the thirteenth. When confronted with this dilemma, Mashinini, who was often held shoulder high by the students for his heroic leadership, made an address to the students to keep calm and not provoke the police. He reminded them that theirs was a peaceful march and was to be kept that way, disciplined and orderly.
Mashinini became an enemy of the ‘system’ and other people, in particular hostel dwellers. The police frequented his home in an attempt to arrest him. On two occasions, he came dressed in female outfit and eluded arrest. He became the most wanted man in the country. The police put R500 reward for any one who can give information that could lead to his arrest. Colonel Visser of the Soweto CID made an appeal to Mashinini to hand himself over, saying he risks being killed by angry hostel dwellers that were disturbed by the recent unrest. Visser further said it would be best if his parents could bring him to the police station. « We believe that Mashinini is active and moving about Soweto and other townships, but we have never been able to locate him. If you spot him, or know where he is, you must report him to the nearest police », said Visser.
Mashinini eluded police arrest until he left the country for Botswana in August 1976. He lived in Botswana for few months, before he proceeded to the West Coast of Africa. Heads of states, notably Sekou Toure of Ivory Coast and African parliamentarians received him. He resided in countries like Nigeria where he briefly hosted in the Presidential Guest House in Lagos. While in exile Mashinini gave interviews and addressed Students at Universities on the South African political situation. Mashinini finally settled in Liberia, marrying a daughter to a national Parliamentarian. Mashinini and Welma Campbell were married in 1978. The marriage was blessed with two daughters, Nomkhitha (named after his mother) and Thembi. However the marriage ended after few years.
One of Mashinini’s admirers, was his compatriot Miriam Makeba, who was in exile in Guinea. She had offered Mashinini a place to stay in her home in Guinea Conakry before his death. Mashinini died under mysterious circumstances in 1990. He was hospitalised for multiple injuries seeming to come from attack.
He died a few days later, apparently on a hospital bed. In the coffin that had traveled from West Africa, Mashinini’s left eye had fallen in; left ear was bleeding and had deep bruises on the face and a large scar on the forehead.
At his funeral service held at the Amphitheatre Stadium in Jabulani Soweto, former Azanian People Organisation (AZAPO) President, Professor Itumeleng Mosala said: « The student of 1976 took the struggle from the classroom to the streets; the students of today take the struggle from the streets into the classroom ». All leaders from June 16 uprising spoke in praise of Mashinini as having made an indelible mark in shaping the history of the country, or at least, the course of struggle.
The epitaph on his tombstone reads: « At the height of struggle, he gave impetus to the liberation struggle ». His tombstone at Avalon cemetery in Soweto was vandalised twice, with the marble part of the stone taken away.
Source:
www.sahistory.org.za
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