Thembile Ndabeni
“I am being tortured. My back is full of weals.”
Looksmart Ngudle died two days after dropping his comrade Govan Mbeki a note with those words written on it.
It is unfortunate that the generations before 1994 were deprived of a rich history. Let aside the painful side of it. What was done to Ngudle was the beginning of what was to be suffered by the people who gave it their to the freedom and liberation of South Africa.
It exposed the evilness and atrocities of the apartheid regime. Those still alive did not admit their involvement at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The first thing that needs to be applauded about this combatant is the fact he did not focus on his English name. Should he have done so, that would have diverted his attention from the Struggle for freedom and liberation. His background made him realise that to an African/black person, freedom and liberation is not dreaming or fantasising. Therefore, he joined the Struggle to the highest point, a liberation army.
As much as many people were aware of the conditions they were living under, not everyone joined the Struggle to that point and some not at all. He paid dearly for us.
When asked why they do not act against racism, they say that would scare investors, or, that it is politics.
Tomorrow, they will say, when in power, the names of the likes of Solwandle and the National Orders that honour them must be removed because that would scare investors.
To them, investment is worth more than the life of a black person.
One of the leaders and revolutionaries, Harry Gwala, could not hide how he felt about the brutality Ngudle suffered. The merciless and heartless apartheid security officers demonstrated their inhumaneness that led to the ending of Ngudle’s life. The evil, heartless white-minority apartheid regime even went for his family after he passed on.
What a commitment and supreme sacrifice by this hero of our Struggle!
The best way of honouring him is making sure that the evil white supremacy is not restored and retained. That can be done by suppressing and rooting out the sophisticated efforts of retaining it.
The first is by bringing awareness to people, especially the formerly oppressed who are poor and racially discriminated against.
People who made history are properly recorded and are known well. But how come the first person to die in prison and be banned after death is not known? The failure to honour him justifies my take that the ANC is not in power politically but is holding an umbrella for its masters who give its members better salaries and treatment.
Ngudle is not mentioned in history textbooks. Yet, the ANC is 30 years “in power” next year.
What did the party he died for, as the government do in his honour? Many places are named after political activists, heroes, and heroines but what about him? What about teaching about him in his party?
How complete is the writing about political activists if the history of the first person who died in prison is not properly recorded or is not known the way it is supposed to be?
It is not about popularising anyone but about recording, writing and teaching history. An honour by the government is applaudable but it is not enough because recording and writing is more than honour. It is the most important legacy.
September 5 marked the 60th anniversary of Ngudle’s death.
At least his body was exhumed by the relevant state institution, the National Prosecuting Authority’s missing persons task team, 13 years after the installation of democracy.
I hope the family of this well-rounded freedom fighter wearing many struggle hats: ANC, SACP, Umkhonto we Sizwe and South African Congress of Trade Unions in the Western Cape, again accepted another consolation prize.
Ndabeni is a former history tutor at UWC and a former teacher at Bulumko Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha.
Cape Times