Local conference marks 50th anniversary of 1973 Durban strikes
The internationally renowned musical group, Insurrection Ensemble, will be performing under the leadership of Dr Zazi Dlamini.
A THREE-DAY conference will be held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Durban Strikes. The conference, hosted by Durban University of Technology (DUT), in partnership with the South African History Online (SAHO), takes place at the DUT Ritson campus from Thursday, January 26 to Saturday, January 28.
According to the SAHO website, close to 100 000 workers had come out on strike by the end of March 1973. This was a series of strikes that erupted after workers at the Coronation Brick and Tile factory, outside Durban, went on strike on January 9, 1973.
The conference will include exhibitions and book launches as well as a performance by the internationally renowned musical group Insurrection Ensemble. Among the dignitaries attending the event are the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, and the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi. The conference conveners include award-winning artist and photographer, Omar Badsha, who played an active role in the South African liberation struggle.
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“The conference itself will provide an opportune moment for celebration and reflection to recapture the spirit of the time and also to take stock of the recent scholarship on labour movement then and now: What leaders have emerged from workplaces, what enduring legacies remain, and how much of the emerging vision of social justice has been waylaid? What have the implications of extreme joblessness and vulnerable work had on the organisation – in short, the burden of the future,” said Badsha.
Among the panellists at the conference are Prof Sakhela Buhlungu, Prof Debby Bonnin, Dr David Hemson, Alec Erwin, Nomonde Mgumane and Nomarashiya Caluza.
The internationally renowned musical group, Insurrection Ensemble, will be performing under the leadership of Dr Zazi Dlamini from the University of KwaZulu-Natal music school. Professor Ari Sitas, head of the Sociology Department at the University of Cape Town (UCT) shared a few words on the concert, The Story of a Strike by the Culture in Working Life Ensemble.
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“This production commemorates 50 years since the Durban Strikes – the event that changed the tide of history in our country. In putting the performance together, we gathered together storytellers, performers and musicians who intend to showcase a major creative performance. This was done in collaboration with important veterans of the time like Thul’ubheke Khanyile and Joe Nene and all the archival resources of the Culture and Working Life Project, which was revived just for this occasion,” said Sitas.
The special ensemble will be made up of the core members of the award-winning Insurrections Ensemble led by Dr Sazi Dlamini of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Maestro Reza Khota of the University of the Western Cape, and a host of Isicathamiya and Maskandi master musicians led by Bhekisenzo Cele and soundscape specialists like Andries Bezuidenhout.
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