ICYMI: Hicklin shares memories of her uncle Denis Goldberg
MIDRAND – Madeleine Hicklin describes Denis Goldberg as a hero to so many on so many levels.
The death of political activist Denis Goldberg on 29 April was a sombre moment for former Ward 112 councillor and member of the national assembly Madeleine Hicklin.
Goldberg was Hicklin’s uncle, having married her father’s sister, Esme Bodenstein, in 1954.
Rivonia trialist Goldberg was imprisoned for 22 years alongside other key members of the anti-apartheid movement including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.
Hicklin said that she grew up in a very politically-aware home. Her mother was a refugee from Poland who became a South African citizen after marrying her father.
“When Denis was arrested, my mother’s citizenship was revoked by the South African government as a weapon to keep my family in line… Every time there was a state of emergency, the bureau came to our house and threatened my mother,” said Hicklin.
Hicklin said that she was always a political radical.
In 1971, when Hicklin was in Grade 9, she remembers a discussion in class at school about South African history and the ‘dangers’ of unbanning the ANC and ‘terrorists’ who tried to overthrow the country.
“I stood up and said, ‘One of the ‘terrorists’ is my uncle and he is my hero’,” said Hicklin, explaining that she was subsequently thrown out of class.
“I was in awe of a man whose principals were so strong that he was able to go to jail. He was so willing to stand up for voiceless black South Africans.”
Hicklin said that she was politically active at Wits University, where she studied, giving assistance where she could and signing leases allowing for students of colour to stay in Hillbrow.
Her decision to stand with the DA (formerly known as the Progressive Party), meant that she and Goldberg did not always see eye to eye because of their ideological differences.
“I didn’t want to work with the ANC because I felt that they were too radical at the time. I didn’t believe in violence at any level… I am a proud Jew,” said Hicklin.
She believed that Goldberg’s sacrifice for the struggle took a serious toll on his children and wife, seeing the pain in her cousins’ eyes whenever she met up with them.
Despite their differences, Hicklin described Goldberg as ‘a hero to many on so many levels’.
“He was a brilliant engineer and a brilliant man who devoted himself to his political ideology and to helping people far less fortunate than himself.”
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