The lecture at the Westin Hotel on Saturday night was delivered by Professor Malegapuru Makgoba who questioned why Sobukwe’s contribution to South Africa’s liberation was not celebrated. Picture: Courtsey of Thando Sipuye, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Trust.
Cape Town – The secretary of the ex-political prisoners association (EPPA) claims to have been excluded from Robben Island Museum’s annual lecture commemorating Robert Sobukwe, the first person to enter the category of political prisoner on the island under apartheid.
However, in his welcome address, Robben Island Museum (RIM) board chairman Khensani Maluleke made a point of recognising ex-political prisoners at the dinner, including Sobukwe’s nephew, the social activist Geoff Mamputa, who gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the Sobukwe family.
Giving his bona fides, Mamputa, who visited Sobukwe when he was receiving treatment while under house arrest at Groote Schuur Hospital, said: “I spent much time being subject to detention terms from the late 1970s and the 1980s.”
Speaking after the event Maluleke said: “There were indeed some ex-political prisoners here tonight.”
Earlier, EPPA secretary Mpho Masemola said he was shocked when he heard the about the function held in Cape Town on Saturday night.
“How can they have excluded us? We are the main stakeholders. I am surprised that these kind of events are being held in our absence. These kinds of programmes should involve the EPPA because they are a part of our legacy to the nation,” said Masemola.
The lecture at the Westin Hotel on Saturday night was delivered by Professor Malegapuru Makgoba who questioned why Sobukwe’s contribution to South Africa’s liberation was not celebrated.
Makgoba said: “While the apartheid government had a rationale to fear and suppress him, the rationale in today’s African-majority-led democratic government remains elusive and difficult to explain or comprehend.
“Let us remember that liberation icons or heroes and heroines are treasures of a nation. They are owned and identify with national aspirations or vision. Their struggles and visions are national or societal and not partisan.”
Makgoba listed some of Sobukwe’s contributions: “As ANCYL national secretary in 1949, Robert Sobukwe was central to the ANCYL programme of action. This programme changed the character of the ANC and the character of pursuing the liberation struggle. The ANC adopted a militant approach in contrast to its moderate approach to the struggle.
“When the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955, Sobukwe and some comrades broke away from the ANC to form the PAC. Sobukwe drafted the founding documents of the PAC and planned the anti-pass campaign that led to the Sharpeville massacre.”
Cape Argus