DOROTHY NYEMBE
A p T A D C p I Q Q 4 South A frica - the Imprisoned Society! I U D C [\ I 70“ Rolo-.cc ->11 Pricor-clRelease all Political Prisoners!
M onday Tu esd ay W ednesday T h u rsd ay Friday Saturday Sunday
Among the thousands o f political prisoners and detainees incarcerated in South African jails since 1962, there have been hundreds o f women who, side by side with the men, have been struggling against the inhuman apartheid regime. Dorothy Nyembe, sentenced to the longest single term of imprisonment handed down to a woman (I 5 years) may well epitomise them all.
Dorothy Nyembe joined the A N C in 1952 during the Defiance Campaign and served tw o terms of imprisonment fo r defying unjust laws. In 1956 she was arrested with I 55 others in the Treason Trial. In 1963 she was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment fo r furthering the aims o f the ANC. On 26th March 1969 she was sentenced to I 5 years imprisonment under the Terrorism and Suppression o f Communism Acts, having been found guilty o f ‘harbouring te rro ris ts ’ .
Dorothy Nyembe was the AN C Womens Organiser in Natal and was also Vice Chairman o f the AN C Womens League Committee in Durban. She played an important part in mobilising fo r the campaign against the extension o f pass laws to women in 1956. She was endorsed out o f Durban in 1959 and organised demonstrations among the rural women in Natal.
Hers has been a life o f dedication and sacrifice.We salute her in the year o f her release - 1984 - The Year o f the Women.
M m4
"Is
1Nigeria Independence Day
2Guinea RPR Independence Day
3 41966 Lesotho Independence
5 6 7
8 9Uganda Independence Day
10 1 1International Day of Solidarity for release of Political Prisoners
1963 - Rivonia accused sentenced
12Equatorial Guinea Independence Day
13 14
151962 - H elen Joseph first person house arrested in SA
16 17 18 19 20 21Somalia Revolution Day
22 23 241964 - Zam bia Independence
25 26 27 28
29 30 31
NOVEMBER 1984 Youth fight against Apartheid
Monday Tu esd ay W ednesday T h u rsd ay Friday Saturd ay Sunday
1Algeria Revolution Day
2 3 4
5 61964-M in i, Khayinga and Mkaba executed by fascist regim e
7 8 9 101947 - Form ation of W FD Y
International Youth Day
1 11975-A n g o la Independence
12 13 14 151884 - Berlin Conference partitioning Africa
16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28Mauritania Independence Day
29 30Benin Revolution Day
This Path Child of the soil Child of own destiny cross this path cross the swordride the lions back and hold the mane bound on with shoulders high sky in heavens light the path echoes from this thorny busy guide the wayLuthuli, Kotane, Mandela, Sisulu trod this pathPull hard, hack the prickly shrubs burden beads on your brow pilgrim yoke on your back will balm the people’s tortured heart and bid the sod to seed freedomREBECCA MATLOU
DECEMBER 1984 UMKHONTO WE SIZW E-TH E PEOPLE’S ARMY
M onday Tuesday W ednesday T h u rsd ay Frid ay Saturd ay Sunday
Hamba-Hamba kahle Mkhonto We Mkhonto, Mkhonto we Sizwe
Thina-Thina bant’ bomkhonto Sizmisele Ukuwabulala wona amabulu
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 91961 - Tanzania Independence
Maseru Massacre - 1983
10 1 1 12Kenya Independence Day
13 14 15 16Heroes Day
1961 - Form ation of
U m khonto we Sixwe
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24
31
25 26
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27 28 29 30
A Soldier at W ar (To the Y e a r of the Spear)
a soldier alone in reality I live w ith m yself and m y spear on m y shield
alongside in the fo rest and the heat in wild-shaped bodies o f ro ck
m y com rades the w ounded lions hardly limping but b lo o d y-eyed
fixed on the target that stole the land w ith a deadly shrill a call a cry
a shrill that tu ro rs b ro th e rh o o d - Th is is the tim e countrym an -
T h is is the m om ent patriots! to strike w ith the spear, to p ierce
the heart o f dom ination, this citadel of inhum anity
in the heart o f this stolen fo rest the birds chirp o u r language com rades they speak in defiance o f the usurper
they lead us to hives o f honey bee to inherit the acid sting o f m o th e r bee
co m e friends to the fo rest o f rest feast o f know ledge o f bow and a rro w
feast o f w hispers o f spear on flight the bush beckons all to the bush school
to tra ck and tra ce the drum o f past that speak a language o f ro a rs and claws
the m elody o f music w hich allures all dispossessed crippled . . . m ute . . . blind , . .
to dance the rhythm o f the bush wild in rhythm o f the bush dance
this fam ily indeed has m astered the sound the drum that horn o f signal
presenting the clouds o f battle the rhythm patriots is a daring dance
echoing th ick the dish o f the m o rro w in this dance o f the fo re st b ro th e r
the dancer and m elody are tw inned to mingle in clouds of dusty brew
to shape in tide o f sounds that h o o t the knell o f doom
its no m iracle we are b lood-eyed w e are o f the epoch o f the spear
w e will rendezvous at the know n Ithaleni1 to m arch in battle through U lundi2
Isandhlwana3 drips on o u r spear tips
can you m others feel this note in yo u r navels can you feel yo u r tits itch to be sucked
can you scratch yo u r ears to the note o f retrieve
this is the echo fro m the bush o f the disow ned this is the tide fro m in h erito rs o f the fo rest the pulse o f Isandhlwana flow s in o u r blood
the spear shall battle to retrieve the chains o f Maluti and M ajuba4
the fishes that swim in the O ra n g e 5 trees that fru it on o u r ow n ground
shall ju ice tongues o f brave m others to hail and anoint and feather
the holders o f this spear, this hilt
w e are o f the bush and fo rest this is no inchoation plunderers
this is the tradition o f Isandhlwana we are the children o f the spear
I Ithaleni is a place in Zululand
2. U lundi was the Capital o f C etshw ayo. King o f the Zulus
3. W h ere a B ritish arm y was w iped o u t by C etshw ayo 's fo rces in
1879
4. The M aluti and Hajuba are m ountains
5. A r ive r.
REBECCA M A T L O U
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Published by the A fr ica n N ationa l Congress o f South A fr ica , P .O . Box 31791 LU S A K A . Z A M B IA
Collection Number: A3299 Collection Name: Hilda and Rusty BERNSTEIN Papers, 1931-2006
PUBLISHER: Publisher: Historical Papers Research Archive Collection Funder: Bernstein family Location: Johannesburg
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