#Revisit1976SowetoUprising – Paying homage to a stalwart supporter of freedom #TsietsiMashinini
"We are the voice of the people and our demands shall be met" - Tsietsi Mashinini.
Teboho “Tsietsi” MacDonald Mashinini was born on January 27, 1957, in Central Western Jabavu- Soweto. He was a student leader of the Soweto Uprising that began in Soweto and spread across South Africa in June 1976.
On June 16, 1976, students had gathered at Naledi High School to walk to Morris Isaacson High School in Jabavu. Mashinini a student at Morris was the leader of the protest.
The student’s plan was to gather at Orlando Stadium, but before that police arrived and school children were shot.
Kgotso Seathlolo (deputy President) and Tsietsi Mashinini (President) , this two alongside the likes of Murphy Marobe, Mapetla Majola, Trofomo Sono, sibongile Mkhabela and many more sacrificed their lives to fight for freedom. #16June1976 # SowetoUprising #BlackPower pic.twitter.com/HIl8bTwLBW
— Tonny Myambo🇿🇦🇧🇼 (@RivalaniMyambo) June 12, 2019
Mashinini led students on a peaceful march protest against Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools within hours of the March, the police and the army opened fire on young unarmed school children. Having been identified by the Apartheid government as a leader of the Uprising, he was forced to flee South Africa in August 1976.
He lived his life in exile in Guinea where he died in 1990. His body was repatriated to South Africa for a hero burial.
Tsietsi Mashinini died under strange circumstances in Conakry, Guinea. Mashinini was hospitalised with multiple injuries, apparently sustained following an attack- he died a few days after being admitted in a hospital. Source: https://www.sahistory.org.za/
This day 45 years ago, leader in the Black Consciousness Movement, a teacher and mentor to student leaders like Tsietsi Mashinini and Khotso Seatlholo, Onkgopotse Ramothibi 'Abram' Tiro, was killed by a parcel bomb near Gaborone, Botswana. His murder remains unresolved to date. pic.twitter.com/9ijYWGYaM5
— SteveBikoFoundation (@BikoFoundation) February 1, 2019
According to the censored site, “Tsietsi Mashinini can be described as a master architect: a designer of the cause he believed in and a direct executor of its final outcome, which was ultimately to see the oppressed freed.”
We remember Tsietsi Mashinini for the sacrifices he made while leading students against Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and for his role in the struggle against apartheid and for his inspirational leadership to young people.
Tsietsi Mashinini uncensored… minin thread of 3 pic.twitter.com/inyyUJN4ei
— Jabu (@un60thered) July 30, 2018
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