The commemoration will be held at Abantu-Batho Hall on Friday, where Premier Zamani Saul is scheduled to deliver the keynote address
THE MAYIBUYE Uprising, which took place on November 8, 1952 at the Number Two Location in Galeshewe, will be commemorated on Friday by the Northern Cape Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
The Mayibuye Uprising was the culmination of a defiance campaign which started in 1952 to protest against unjust laws used by the apartheid regime to oppress black people in South Africa.
On November 7, 1952, protesters led by Dr Arthur Alias Letele demonstrated against apartheid laws by occupying racially segregated public spaces in Kimberley. They blocked whites-only entrances to the main post office and defiantly sat on whites-only benches at the railway station.
Dr Letele and seven other leaders were arrested, which fuelled further resentment and led to uprisings in Galeshewe where both public and private properties were destroyed.
When the protesters marched towards town, they were stopped by the police who indiscriminately and randomly opened fire on them. Thirteen people were killed and seven injured.
As part of honouring the heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country, the provincial government of the Northern Cape will be commemorating the 67th annual Mayibuye Uprising.
The commemoration will be held at Abantu-Batho Hall on Friday, where Premier Zamani Saul is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.
As part of the commemoration the department will also be revamping the graves of the 13 victims.
This will be done in preparation for the main commemoration on Friday.
The day will begin with the keynote address to be delivered by Saul at the Abantu-Batho Hall in the morning. It will be followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Mayibuye precinct before the delegation proceeds to West End Cemetery to lay wreaths on the 13 graves.
The Northern Cape Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has meanwhile called on all family members of victims of the 1952 Mayibuye Uprising to contact Joas Sinthumule of the department at 082 762 6215.
