UNSUNG HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE LIBERATION … · 2017. 5. 24. · UNSUNG HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE NORTH-WEST PROVINCE ... The success of the struggle for

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UNSUNG HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE

NORTH-WEST PROVINCE

Review of the history of the liberation struggle to identify and develop historical

narratives for new Local Heritage Sites (LHR)

Introduction

Based on what information is at hand, there are very few officially gazetted and recognised

heritage sites commemorating the liberation history of this province. For example, a

monument has been erected to those who died during the AWB incursions into the former

Bophuthatswana in 1993 in an attempt to prop up the Mangope regime. This is located along

Nelson Mandela Drive. Mafikeng is the only known town in South Africa to have war

monuments in honour of Black (specifically the Barolong) men and women who died in the

South African (or Anglo Boer) War. It also has a monument honouring Chief Besele

Montshiwa of the Barolong bo Ratshidi, head of a regiment that fought with the side of the

British forces during the war. The monuments were erected by the Barolong chieftaincy with

funds collected from the Barolong people. In the late 1980s, provincial heritage site status

was given to the then abandoned Tiger Kloof Institute, which was later re-opened. In some of

the province’s museums, curators have attempted to illustrate the role that local residents


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played in resisting the Apartheid regime during the years that the liberation movements were

forced into exile, but it has been rather sporadic despite the best intentions of its creators.

Despite this, the region has a rich liberation history and played a pivotal role in the quest for

freedom in South Africa. Most of the emphasis of this report will thus be placed on providing

the context to this role and identifying key LHR sites with a motivation as to why they should

officially be acknowledged as such. Most of the LHR sites identified are related to the themes

outlined below. However, a few fall outside this parameter. Their significance will be

indicated below.

Part One - The Narrative: The Aspects and Legacies of the Fight for Liberation in the

North-West Province (NWP)

A number of these can be identified. They are mentioned briefly below, following which

more detailed information is given on each aspect.

1) The intellectual foundations: Several of the founding lights of the ANC were from

Mafikeng, or had a close connection with the town, such a Sol Plaatje. They provided

much of the intellectual and financial impetus to the South African National Native

Congress (SANNC) from approximately 1909 to the mid-1920s. Dr Modiri Molema

was to play an important role as an office bearer of the organisation into the mid-

1950s.

2) Undoubtedly the most outstanding feature of the NWP in relation to the liberation

struggle lies in its geography. It has an extensive border with Botswana and it was

through this border that many members of the liberation movements were able to exit

and enter the country. Significantly, all three of South Africa’s post-liberation

Presidents used this route to escape from South Africa. The province’s proximity to

the border is in itself significant, but without the co-operation and commitment of the

local residents this crucial ‘pipeline’ would not have been nearly as effective.

Not only was the NWP an important transit route for people, materials and weaponry

into and from Botswana, it was also a transit route through to the Witwatersrand and

beyond. The success of the struggle for freedom was thus dependent on maintaining

contacts and safe houses along this route to ensure the secure passage of activists

through to Johannesburg, Pretoria and environs. This route was through

Zeerust/Mafikeng and Rustenburg. However, there was also a second route leading

from Botswana to Vrybug, Kuruman and on to Kimberley. This was the so-called

Kgalagadi Route run by the Kgalagadi underground.

2) Rural Struggles: The next aspect relates to the rural nature of the province. Histories

of the ANC have generally been urban-biased, and have paid relatively little attention

to rural political organisation and mobilisation. It has been recognised more recently

that rural migrants joined ANC urban structures and galvanised its branches in rural

districts. These men and women forced the organisation to recognise the importance

of responding to the plight of its rural constituents. The Zeerust revolt of 1957-58 is

an important event in the history of rural resistance in South Africa and has been

recognised as such. However, it had long-term consequences which have not been so

apparently acknowledged. For example, it raised political awareness in the Reserve

from the late 1950s that laid the basis for the formation and success of the ‘Zeerust

Pipeline’.


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3) The Bophuthatswana Story: Much of today’s NWP is comprised of the former

Bophuthatswana Bantustan. This meant that much of the struggle for freedom was

conducted against this surrogate of Pretoria. It is well attested that the President of

this state Lucas Mangope, was particularly obdurate in his tactics to thwart the

liberation movements. This particular perspective thus defines the recent past and

legacy of the NWP.

This rich liberation history is not currently reflected in terms of formal heritage sites of one

kind or another. This report will now provide more information on the general themes

outlined above, so as to identify new LHR sites in the NWP.

1) The Intellectual Heritage

Silas Thelesho Molema was a councillor and later his private secretary of the Barolong bo

Ratshi under dikgosi (chiefs), Montshiwa. Molema supported the founding of the South

African National Native Congress (SANNC, later ANC), and raised funds for the delegations

of 1914 and 1919 to travel to Great Britain to protest against the provisions of the Native

Land Act of 1913. Shortly before his death in September 1927, he successfully led a

deputation to the government to protest against discriminatory provisions in the Native

Administration Act. He also provided financial support for Plaatje to launch the important

Setswana newspaper, Koranta ea Becoana.1The close ties between the Barolong in Mafikeng

and the SANNC were not only maintained through the Molema family but also through the

ruling Montshiwa lineage. John L. Dube, the SANNC’s first President, called upon the

financial assistance of Kgosi Lekoko Montshiwa of the Barolong in funding expenses

incurred by Plaatje in carrying out work for the SANNC. This applied in particular to the

1912 deputation by the SANNC to discuss a range of issues with the colonial government in

Cape Town.2 Plaatje was considered to be a “special representative” of the Barolong by John

Langalibalele Dube, the first president of the ANC.

Dr Modiri Molema, as is well known, was a significant and long-time member and office

bearer in the ANC. He became active in politics from 1936 after the passing of the Hertzog

Bills, which removed the qualified franchise for African voters in the Cape, and his

involvement was extended further in 1940 when Dr A. B. Xuma assumed leadership of the

ANC. He was National Treasurer of the ANC from 1949 until 1953. Arrested for civil

disobedience in the 1952 Defiance Campaign, he was later forced to resign his position as a

member and office bearer of the ANC in September 1953 in terms of the Suppression of

Communism Act of 1950.3

Another important figure was Moses Kotane (1905-1978). He was from the village of Pella,

in the district of Swartruggens where the ba Kwena ba Mmatlaku live. He worked for many

years in Rustenburg before becoming leader of the South African Communist Party.

Although these personalities are renowned, the fact that they lived nearly a century ago

means that many people might no longer be aware of them or their activities in the SANNC.

1 This sketch is taken from the Introduction to the Inventory of the Silas T. Molema and Solomon T. Plaatje

Papers, Historical and Literary Papers Collection, William Cullen Library, University of the Witwatersrand. 2J. L. Dube to Lekoko Montshiwa, 3 November 1911. Silas Molema Collection, Cc9.

3See “Proclamation in Terms of the Suppression of Communism Act…” Minister of Justice, C. J. Swart, 11

September 1953.


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Reference will be made later to heritage sites that reflect this aspect of early ANC history and

how they might be captured in LHR.

2) Rural Struggles

As mentioned the Zeerust Revolt was an important moment in the resurgence of political

activity after the banning of the ANC and other liberation organisations. It is also significant

for the fact that many of its leading participants were women. The revolt has been associated

with women’s resistance to passes However, it had longer term causes relating to the collapse

of the reserves in South Africa, and rural impoverishment. The women of the reserve looked

to the new kgosi Ramotshere Abram Moiloa to co-ordinate resistance to the carrying of

passes, which denied them access to towns and cities at a time when rural production in the

Hurutshe reserve provided less and less economic security.

When Moiloa received the order to enforce the issuing of passes to women in the reserve he

refused to co-operate, setting in motion determined state initiatives to force him to comply.

Ramotshere was deposed and fled eventually to Botswana. His subjects then responded by

burning their passes. The women in the Reserve were supported by Bahurutshe migrant

workers, men from the Witwatersrand who came home to help stiffen the resistance.

Violence broke out and the properties of known collaborators, especially some of the chiefs,

were destroyed. The violence eventually engulfed all villages in the Reserve.

The security forces acted quickly to put an end to the disturbances. This led to the

implementation of brute force against the populace of Moiloa’s Reserve. A mobile police

column was setup, hundreds were arrested and gatherings of over ten people were banned.

The legal representatives of the Bahurutshe engaged the services of a young George Bizos to

defend them. Matters reached a bloody climax on 25 January 1958 when four people were

shot dead in Gopane. It seems that investigating policemen were mobbed and during the

panic shots were exchanged. Those killed may have been innocent bystanders. The shootings

shocked the inhabitants and resistance at this point came to an end. Mass arrests were made

and in all about 200 people were charged with murder. By September, five had been

convicted of assault, 58 of public violence, and the remainder was acquitted.

These events are quite well-known but subsequent developments are not so familiar.

Ramotshere remained in Botswana (then Bechuanaland) for several years during which time

he was active in ANC politics. He had a connection to a number of recruits from Dinokana in

Lehurutshe who subsequently served in the celebrated Luthuli Brigade. These men recall

encountering him both in Botswana and in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in the late 1960s. For

his part, Ramotshere has been recorded recognition and the Zeerust Municipality is now

named after him, though the facts about his contribution are less well known. As a

consequence of their actions a number of ANC organisers in the Reserve were banished to

other parts of South Africa. They included Kenneth Mosinyi, Nimrod Moagi, David and Boas

Moiloa and Ramodidi Mokgatlhe.

The significance and legacy of the Zeerust Revolt needs much more acknowledgement. The

generalised politicisation and radicalisation of the inhabitants in the ensuing years led to the

formation of underground structures. It was these structures that contributed to the fact that

Nelson Mandela (January -March 1962),Thabo Mbeki (October 1962) and Jacob Zuma (June

1963) chose to leave the country via this route. (Zuma was arrested along with 26 others

before he could make good his escape). But the ‘pipeline’ served to ferry hundreds of recruits


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and activists in and out of the country in the following two decades. Often the first point of

contact they had with the ANC was in Lobatse at the house of Fish Keitseng and his wife,

Masina.

Finally, the politicisation of the Reserve impacted on the youth as well. Thus, in 1963-64,

between fifty and eighty boys and young men from Dinokana and other villages in

Lehurutshe were sent to Botswana to join MK. The majority of those who crossed the border

in this period “were the children of those who bore the brunt of police brutality” in 1957-

1958. 4 There was also an active Zeerust Students Association, many of whom went on to

become activists. One of these men was Abram Tiro, the student leader who was eventually

killed by a parcel bomb sent to him in Botswana by the regime in Pretoria.

3) The Border Landscape

The significance of the proximity of Zeerust and the Bahurutse Reserve just north of it to

Botswana has been discussed above and its significance should be evident by now.

However, another region that has received relatively little focus of attention is the Vryburg

region and surrounding towns. It was here that the Kgalagadi underground was established

and became quite active. The front man for the Kgalagadi underground was Bushy Maape,

whose code name was also Kgalagadi. Maape was a school principal based in Kuruman. The

Kgalagadi “machinery”, as it came to be known, encompassed Vryburg, Kuruman and

Kimberley. Maape was in direct contact with the ANC in Gaborone. In Vryburg there had

been very strong resistance to the incorporation of the Huhudi Township into

Bophuthatswana and this galvanised opposition to Bophuthatswana. Another key figure in

this unit was Darkey Africa who operated out of Vryburg. Much of the efforts of the unit

were directed towards building the UDF in the region. HUCA, the Huhudi Civic Association,

was one of the most formidable of these. Africa, mentioned above, was its publicity secretary,

Hoffman Galeng was the president, Jomo Khasu the secretary, and Khotso Cruitse and

Maape were additional executive members. The unit was particularly successful in organising

the youth in the far northern Cape, parts of which are now in the NWP. Youth structures were

formed in Huhudi, Kuruman, Taung, Ganyesa, and Dinokana (in Lehurutshe). Many of these

operatives, in particular, Maape, Africa and Crutse suffered at the hands of the particularly

brutal Security Police in Vryburg. Each of these men spent time in police custody in which

they were tortured. Documents now made available in ANC archives as well as oral evidence

show just how frequent the contact was between the Kgalagadi underground and the ANC in

Gaborone.

Bophuthatswana

Opposition to the Mangope regime was widespread, and encompassed both urban and rural

situations. The focal points and key issues were:

a) Phokeng: Here the Bafokeng resisted Mangope’s efforts to control their mineral

assets. The kgosi, LeboneMolotlegi, was deposed and his brother, George, a stooge of

Mangope’s replaced him. Many of the Bafokeng leaders, including Lebone’s wife,

Semane, were harassed and forced out of Phokeng. The Bafokeng resisted through

recourse to the courts, and mass action to show their opposition to the

Bophuthatswana regime’s repressive actions.

4 Zondi, ‘Peasant struggles in the 1950s’, p. 174.


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b) Braklaagte and Leeufontein: In 1986 these two villages just north of Zeerust along

the road to the Tlokweng border post, were destined for incorporation into

Bophuthatswana. This triggered strong resistance as they feared they would lose their

South African citizenship and would be cut off from employment and other benefits

in South Africa. The community under the chieftainship, of Kgosi Papsey Sebogodi,

enlisted the support of organisations such as the Transvaal Action Committee (TRAC)

to help them fight their impending removal through the courts. After prolonged

resistance, on 16 June 1989 a meeting in Braklaagte was broken up by the Security

Police, which led to the death of nine Bophuthatswana policemen, burnt alive while

inside a police caspir. Over 50 of the villagers were charged with “common purpose”

murder. The Bophuthatswana security apparatus, with the help of vigilantes, waged a

concerted reign of terror against the inhabitants, many of whom sought refuge on the

neighbouring white-owned farms, or fled into ‘exile’ to Gauteng.

c) Armed Conflict: There were several instances of direct confrontation between

insurgents of the liberation movements on the one hand, and the Bophuthatswana

army or security police, on the other. For example, outside the Witkleigat, close to the

Botswana border in April 1976, an MK unit of six cadres, namely, Dennis

Ramphomane, Patrick Dipoko, Barney Molokwane, John Sekete, a cadre simply

called ‘Ace’ and their commander with the nom de guerre Muzorewa, were involved

in prolonged fire fight with a combined force of the SADF and Bophuthatswana army

personnel.

The 1988 and 1994 coups: As is well known, there were two coups in Bophuthatswana, one

in 1988 which failed because SA in the form of the SADF came to the rescue of the Mangope

regime, and the other in 1994 which toppled him. The Mmabatho stadium was a focus of

activity during both coups.

d) The Winterveld Massacre: Winterveld was a squatter camp close to Mabopane,

within the borders of the former Bophuthatswana. There were many non-Batswana

living there and the Mangope government wanted to drive them out. This awakened

strong resistance from the residents. On March 26 1986, members of the

Bophuthatswana Defence Force shot dead eleven residents attending a meeting in

protest over the police detention of youths in the area. This happened at the local

stadium. About 2,500 people were arrested in the wakes of the shootings.

Subsequently, Brigadier Molope, a disliked figure who was in command at the time of

the shootings, was assassinated in Winterveld.

e) The Hunger Strikers: An interesting and unusual feature of the resistance against

Bophuthatswana was the prolonged hunger strikes of 1991-1993. The hunger strikers

were a group of 143 soldiers imprisoned for the attempted 1988 coup and a number of

political detainees (still imprisoned despite the signing of the Pretoria Minute by

which political prisoners in South Africa were to be released). Had it not been for the

tireless work of the Mafikeng Anti-Repression Forum (MAREF) which publicised

their hunger strike, the plight of these men might have been worse. Eventually, the

hunger strikers were visited at midnight on 12 July, by a delegation comprising

Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, the Deputy-President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa,

the Secretary-General. Several men came close to death. By November 11 1991, one

man Bushy Molefe lapsed into a coma another, Johannes Nhlapo, suffered a heart

attack and a third an AZANA member, George Biya was in intensive care. Molefe

subsequently died as a result of complications brought on by the hunger strike.


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Reprisals

The actions of those individuals and groups opposed to apartheid and the Bantustan system

did not go unnoticed or unpunished by the regime’s security apparatus. A number of these are

worth singling out. On 4 May 1983, the Western Transvaal Security Police received

information from a Botswana informer, a certain Andries Moatshe, that he would be

infiltrating two MK members, Skiri Schoeman Ramokgopa (combat name, Solomon

“Kruchev” Mlonzi, and Bushy Voltaire Swartbooi (combat name, Calvin “Marx” Kakhasa),

into South Africa. The men were shot on the South African side of the border by South

African security forces. An account of the incident later to the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission (TRC) Amnesty hearings provided a full narrative of the incident. This

happened at a place called Silent Valley in the Derdepoort-Thabazimbi area. The men were

buried as paupers in Tlhabane Township outside Rustenburg. In November 2006, the bodies

of the two men were exhumed and were reburied in Soweto, which was home to both men.

Even more horrifying in their callousness were a series of cold-blooded assassinations that

occurred between March 1986 and August 1987, when MK was stepping up its incursions

through the Botswana border region. The first involved the notorious askari, Joe Mamasela.

In a joint operation with a South African military force, Mamasela, posing as an MK

operative, ostensibly recruited a group of young men, all from Mamelodi, and all in their

teens, to join MK. They were to leave the country and cross over into Botswana. On 26 June,

Mamasela, with the approximately eleven recruits, drove the young men in a kombi to make

their exit from the country. However, near the border, at Nietwerdiend he handed them over

to a waiting group of South Africa’s Special Forces who “forced them out of the kombi,

made them lie on the ground and injected them with a chemical substance”. 5 The men were

forced back into another kombi, driven to another site, where an accident was faked, and the

vehicle set alight. This unit was also involved in kidnapping ANC activists from Mamelodi,

Atterigeville, Brits and Tembisa. Several of these men were killed en route to

Bophuthatswana, the usual method being strangulation on the floor of the vehicle they were

travelling in, or being electrically shocked to death. Whether dead or still alive, the intended

ANC recruits were then taken to remote parts of Bophuthatswana, where they were blown up

with remote controlled limpets or landmines. One man was obliterated by being place on top

of 8 kgs of TNT.

The remains of these unfortunate young men were discovered by villagers and farm workers

in Slagboom on the 16 June 1987, in Buanja village in the Bafokeng district on 24 June, and

in Cyferkuil on 29 August of the same year.

Part 2 – LHR sites

Based on the narrative provided above, a number of sites that could be identified to

commemorate these events can now be suggested.

1) Dr Modiri Molema’s house, Maratiwa

Situated in the Mafikeng stad, Dr Molema’s house was constructed in the 1890s. Born in

1891 in Mafikeng, Molema was educated at Lovedale and the University of Glasgow,

where he graduated as a medical doctor in 1919. He returned to South Africa in 1921 to

5 N. Rousseau, “The Farm, the River and the Picnic Spot: Topographies of Terror”, African Studies, Vol. 68,

Issue 3, (2009), p. 356.


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follow his profession. His practice in the town served all races, until he was forced by the

Group Areas Act to move to the Mafikeng stad. He published three works on the history

of the Barolong. He became active in politics from 1936 after the passing of the Hertzog

Bills, which removed the qualified franchise for African voters in the Cape, and his

involvement was extended further in 1940 when Dr A.B. Xuma assumed leadership. He

was National Treasurer of the ANC from 1949 until 1953. Arrested for civil disobedience

in the 1952 Defiance Campaign, he was later forced to resign his position as a member

and office bearer of the ANC in September 1953 in terms of the Suppression of

Communism Act of 1950.

Maratiwa house, home of the Molema family in the Mafikeng stad.

2) Nye-Nye Tree in Dinokana, near Zeerust

Situated outside the kgotla in the village of Dinokana, this tree was a meeting point at

which the residents planned their strategies during the Hurutshe Revolt of 1957-58.

Thereafter, it served a similar purpose for planning the kind of assistance that could be

given to guerrillas and insurgents to cross the border or seek refuge in Dinokana.


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The Nye-Nye Tree where activists planned both the pass resistance of 1957-58 and

assisted insurgents to leave the country.

3) Railway Station, Zeerust

Many recruits seeking to leave the country went by train to Zeerust. Here they were met by

mainly ANC supporters from the nearby Lehurutshe who assisted them to cross the border.

All of the country’s post-freedom Presidents used this route to escape in 1961 and 1962. And

it was at the Zeerust railway station that current President Jacob Zuma was arrested in June

1963, along with a group of 45 other young militants while trying to escape through

Botswana to go for military training. Zuma was subsequently sentenced to two years

imprisonment on Robben Island.


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This was the scene where Jacob Zuma was arrested when trying to leave the country in June

1963.

4) Onkgopotse Abram Tiro’s Grave, Dinokana

Tiro, who was killed by South African security agents in 1973 started his schooling at

Ikalafeng Primary in Dinokana, until the school was closed during the anti-pass revolt that

engulfed Lehurutshe in the late 1950s. Tiro’s early life story is indicative of the continued

impact of the Hurutshe resistance (discussed in an earlier section of this report) on the

formation of political consciousness for younger generations of political activists

After a short spell at Naledi High School in Soweto, Tiro matriculated from Barolong High in

Mafikeng. He then enrolled at the University of the North (Turfloop) in what was then the

Northern Transvaal and was elected President of the Student Representative Council in 1970-

71. In 1972, he made a famous speech at the university graduation ceremony for which he

was expelled. In his speech Tiro openly attacked the system of Bantu Education and the

university authorities in particular, and concluded by exhorting his fellow black graduates ‘to

bear greater responsibilities in the liberation of our people’.6 Tiro’s expulsion from Turfloop

triggered a series of strikes in solidarity across black campuses in the country.

6 Graduation speech by OnkgopotseTiro at the University of the North, 29 April 1972,

http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/graduation-speech-onkgopotse-tiro-university-north-29-april-1972.

http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/graduation-speech-onkgopotse-tiro-university-north-29-april-1972


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After he left Turfloop Tiro was recruited as a history teacher at Morris Isaacson High School

in Soweto, which was to play a prominent role in the Soweto uprising of 1976. He was also

involved in the formation of the South African Student Movement (SASM) in 1972 and of

the Black People’s Convention (BCP) in 1973. He also travelled throughout South Africa, as

well as Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, to speak to students about Black Consciousness.

The apartheid authorities, however, were keeping a close watch on all of these activities. First

they had Tiro fired from Morris Isaacson, and then decided to arrest him. Tiro, however,

managed to escape arrest by going to Botswana in late 1973, where he found employment as

a teacher at a school in Kgale, near Gaborone. From Botswana he continued to play a

prominent role in the activities of SASO, SASM and the BCP. He was, however, in

discussion with the ANC in exile and some sources suggest he had switched his alliance to

the ANC. On 1 February 1974, Tiro was killed by a parcel bomb allegedly coming from the

International University Exchange Fund. His death was executed by the Apartheid spy Craig

Williamson and others who had infiltrated the IUEF. In 1998, Tiro’s remains were exhumed

from Botswana and reburied in his home village of Dinokana. His influence on the youth of

Soweto and the rising of 1976 was considerable.


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5) Anglican Church, Zeerust

During the 1957-58 Hurutshe revolt, an Anglican priest in Zeerust, the Rev. Charles Hooper

and his wife Sheila housed and fed hundreds of refugees who fled the Reserve during the

times of troubles. Hooper arranged for legal assistance for these people and provided

information for the legal team. Hundreds of the baHurutshe villagers found refuge in the

Anglican church in Zeerust. Hooper wrote what is still the best account of the affair, in a

book entitled Brief Authority, published in 1960. He and his wife were deported from South

Africa and they went to Swaziland. The Hoopers later moved to London, where he joined the

ANC.

Anglican Church in Zeerust where pass resisters found refuge.

6) Huhudi Township, outside Vryburg

Huhudi became a focal point for resistance to its planned incorporation into the

Bophuthatswana homeland. A Huhudi Civic Association (HUCA) was formed in 1985 and it

later affiliated to the UDF. It was comprised of five significant office-holders. Darkey Africa

was its publicity secretary, Hoffman Galeng was the president, Jomo Khasu the secretary,

while Khotso Cruitse and Bushy Maape were additional executive members. HUCA

essentially sought legal ways of challenging the removal of Huhudi, coupled with a rent

boycott, in which it was ultimately successful-the removal never happened. Perhaps even

more importantly, HUCA stimulated the formation of other civic associations in the vicinity.

A site (maybe Town Hall) should be selected for a commemorative stone or similar symbol.

PHOTO OF HUHUDI TO FOLLOW.


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7) Moses Kotane house in Pella

Kotane was born in this small rural village, home of the baKwena ba Mmatlaku in 1905. He

died in the Soviet Union in 1978. His family were devout Christians. He worked for many

years in Rustenburg and Krugersdorp before joining the South African Communist Party. He

worked initially on the party’s newspaper, Umsebenzi. After studying in the Soviet Union, he

returned to South Africa and in 1938 became Secretary-General of the SACP, a position he

held until his death. He was also a member of the ANC and was a defendant in the Treason

Trial (1956-1961).

PHOTO OF KOTANE’S HOUSE TO FOLLOW

8) Witkleigat (Setswana name, Moshana)

Witkleigat, a village in the far north of the Hurutshe Reserve, close to the Botswana border,

was the scene of the fire fight mentioned above. Here in April 1976,a well armed MK unit

comprising of six cadres, namely, Dennis Ramphomane, Patrick Dipoko, Barney

Molokwane, John Sekete, a cadre simply called ‘Ace’ and their commander with the nom de

guerre Muzorewa. The group was met and led into South Africa by its seventh member,

Kaone Lobelo, who had earlier done a thorough reconnaissance of the area. The unit camped

on a hilltop, not far from the village of Witkleigat. The entire unit was seTswana-speaking,

except for its commander, Muzorewa, who was isiZulu-speaking. The unit had run out of

food and needed to buy some from the village. Four of the unit went out in search of food to

buy, but in two separate pairs. The one pair consisted of Barney Molokwane and John Sekete

who went in a different direction from that of Muzorewa and another cadre (unnamed) who

headed into the village of Moshana. Muzorewa could not speak seTswana well at all, but his

colleague, in fact, originated from Moshana. It was this pair that went into the village to buy

some food from the local store. Unknown to Muzorewa and his comrade, the shop had been

broken into by thieves the previous night. The two men, with Makarovs and hand grenades

concealed on their persons, greeted the saleswoman behind the counter in seTswana, The

woman became suspicious when she realised from his poor seTswana that Muzorewa must be

a “foreigner”.

Clearly, Muzorewa had given himself and his comrade away. One of the people listening in

went out and called the police, who arrived promptly. As it transpired, five policemen (two

whites and three blacks) drove up in a police vehicle with the intention of arresting theft

suspects, not MK guerrillas. The police demanded that they surrender. Muzorewa did, but

Muzorewa ran into a small hut with no windows but one door. Now cornered by five

policemen, he took out a hand grenade and threw it at the advancing policemen. As they ran

away, he bolted out of the hut and escaped from the village. He met up with the rest of his

comrades at their hilltop camp. Early that afternoon, a military helicopter spotted them and

soon afterwards, security forces arrived and fighting broke out. However, most of the unit

managed to escape and made their way back to Botswana.

Interestingly, the skirmish received a short mention in the South African press. The Rand

Daily Mail reported that the Bophuthatswana police operating along the Botswana border had

wounded one man and arrested another in a shoot-out with “terrorists”, during which

“Russian AK 47’s and a quantity of ammunition had been recovered at Witkleigat”.7

7Rand Daily Mail, 5 August 1978


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An LHR site should be identified and a commemorative plaque erected in Witkleigat. In

addition, it should indicate that it was through this region that many people escaped the

country to go into exile.

Witleigat (Moshana) A popular point of exit from and entry into the country through the

hills in the background. Scene also of the 1978 MK – SADF shoot-out.

Odi Hospital Hunger Strikers.

PHOTO OF ODI HOSPITAL TO FOLLOW

9) Mmabatho Stadium Coups of 1988 and 1994.

PHOTO OF STADIUM TO FOLLOW.


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Coup plotters under SADF guard during failed 1988 coup in Bophuthatswana.