Biography of the Week: Julius Nyerere

Biography of the Week: Julius Nyerere

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was one of Africa's leading independence heroes (and a leading light behind the creation of the Organization of African Unity), the architect of ujamaa (an African socialist philosophy which revolutionized Tanzania's agricultural system), the prime minister of an independent Tanganyika, and the first president of Tanzania.

An Early Life

Kambarage ("the spirit which gives rain") Nyerere was born to Chief Burito Nyerere of the Zanaki (a small ethnic group in northern Tanganyika) and and his fifth (out of 22) wife Mgaya Wanyang'ombe. Nyerere attended a local primary mission school, transferring in 1937 to Tabora Secondary School, a Roman Catholic mission and one of the few secondary schools open to Africans at that time. He was baptized a catholic on 23 December 1943, and took the baptismal name Julius.

Nationalistic Awareness

Between 1943 and 1945 Nyererre attended Makerere University, in Uganda's capital Kampala, obtaining a teaching certificate. It was around this time that he took his first steps towards a political career -- in 1945 he formed Tanganyika's first student group, an offshoot of the African Association, AA, (a pan african group first formed by Tanganyika's educated elite in Dar es Salaam, in 1929). Nyerere and his colleagues began the process of converting the AA towards a nationalistic political group.
Once he had gained his teaching certificate, Nyerere returned to Tanganyika to take up a teaching post at Saint Mary's, a Catholic mission school in Tabora. He opened a local branch of the AA, and was instrumental in converting the AA from its pan-African idealism to the pursuit of Tanganyikan independence. To this end, the AA restyled itself in 1948 as the Tanganyika African Association, TAA.

Gaining a Wider Perspective

In 1949 Nyerere left Tanganyika to study for an MA in economics and history at the University of Edinburgh. He was the first African from Tanganyika to study at a British university and, in 1952, was the first Tanganyikan to gain a degree. At Edinburgh Nyerere became involved with the Fabian Colonial Bureau (a non-Marxist, anti-colonial socialist movement based in London). He watched intently Ghana's path to self-government, and was aware of the debates in Britain on the development of a Central African Federation (to be formed from a union of North and South Rhodesia and Nyasaland). Three years of study in the UK gave Nyerere an opportunity to vastly widen his perspective of pan-African issues. Graduating in 1952, he returned to teach at a Catholic school near Dar es Salaam. On 24 January he married primary school teacher Maria Gabriel Majige.

Developing the Independence Struggle in Tanganyika

This was a period of upheaval in west and south Africa -- in neighboring Kenya the Mau Mau uprising was fighting against white settler rule, and nationalistic reaction was rising against the creation of the Central African Federation. But political awareness in Tanganyika was nowhere near as advanced as with its neighbors. Nyerere, who had become president of the TAA in April 1953, realized that a focus for African nationalism amongst the population was needed. To that end, in July 1954, Nyerere converted the TAA into Tanganyika's first political party -- the Tanganyikan African National Union, or TANU.

Nyerere was careful to promote nationalistic ideals without encouraging the kind of violence that was erupting in Kenya under the Mau Mau uprising. TANU manifesto was for independence on the basis of non-violent, multi-ethnic politics, and the promotion of social and political harmony. Nyerere was appointed to Tanganyika's Legislative Council (the Legco) in 1954. He gave up teaching the following year to pursue his career in politics.

International Statesman

Nyerere testified on behalf of TANU to the UN Trusteeship Council (committee on trusts and non-self-governing territories), in both 1955 and 1956. He presented the case for setting a timetable for Tanganyikan independence (this being one of the specified aims set down for a UN trust territory). The publicity he gained back in Tanganyika established him as the country's leading nationalist. In 1957 he resigned from the Tanganyikan Legislative Council in protest over the slow progress independence.

TANU contested the 1958 elections, winning 28 of 30 elected positions in the Legco. This was countered, however, by 34 posts which were appointed by the British authorities -- there was no way for TANU to gain a majority. But TANU was making headway, and Nyerere told his people that "Independence will follow as surely as the tickbirds follow the rhino." Finally with the election in August 1960, after changes to the Legislative Assembly were passed, TANU gained the majority it sought -- 70 out of 71 seats. Nyerere became chief minister on 2 September 1960 and Tanganyika gained limited self-government.

Independence

In May 1961 Nyerere became prime minister, and on 9 December Tanganyika gained its independence. On 22 January 1962, Nyerere resigned from the premiership to concentrate on drawing up a republican constitution and to prepare TANU for government rather than liberation. On 9 December 1962 Nyerere was elected president of the new Republic of Tanganyika.

Nyerere's Approach to Government

Nyerere approached his presidency with a particularly African stance. First he attempted to integrate into African politics the traditional style of African decision making (what is known as "indaba in Southern Africa). Consensus is gained through a series of meetings in which everyone has an opportunity to say their piece. To help build national unity he adopted Kiswahili as the national language, making it the only medium of instruction and education. Tanganyika became on of the few African countries with an indigenous official national language. Nyerere also expressed a fear that multiple parties, as seen in Europe and the US, would lead to ethnic conflict in Tanganyika.

This article was first published at
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/biography/a/bio-Nyerere.htm

Short courses in Bioethics and Health Law

The Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics, School of Clinical Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is offering short Certificate Courses in Bioethics and Health Law early in 2013.

These courses aim to fill a gap in the bioethics education market by providing practical, applied, accessible training in this field that is more focussed and in-depth than the average talk or seminar, but less onerous and demanding than a degree course.

The courses and dates are as follows:
Foundations of Bioethics (28 Jan – 1 Feb 2013)
Foundations of Health Law (4 – 8 February 2013)
Research Ethics: Conducting Research Ethically (11 – 15 February 2013)
Advanced Health Ethics (18 – 22 February 2013)

For the Research Ethics course, members of Research Ethics Committees and researchers in the health field are especially welcome to apply.

Candidates who successfully complete the evaluation component of the course will be awarded with a University of the Witwatersrand Certificate of Competence.

Venue: Wits Faculty of Health Sciences, 7 York Road, Parktown
Fees: R3 500 per course
Closing date for applications: 18 January 2013

Please see the attached brochure for further information.

Enquiries and requests for application forms can be directed to kurium.govender@wits.ac.za

Biography of the Week: Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda, in full Kenneth David Kaunda (born April 28, 1924, Lubwa, near Chinsali, Northern Rhodesia [now Zambia]), is a politician who led Zambia to independence in 1964 and served as that country’s president until 1991. He is known to be associated with being the Ghandi of Africa.

Kenneth David Kaunda, affectionately known as KK and the first president of Zambia, was born on 28 April 1924 at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, in what was then Northern Rhodesia. He was the youngest of eight children. His father was a Minister and teacher who had left Malawi in 1904 and his mother was the first African woman to teach in colonial Zambia. Initially, the young Kaunda followed in his mother’s footsteps, becoming boarding master and then headmaster at Lubwa Mission from 1943 to 1945. He worked at the Salisbury and Bindura mines and in 1948 became a teacher in Mufurila for the United Missions to the Copperbelt. But he soon began to show an active interest in politics. In 1949 he returned to Lubwa to become a part-time teacher, but resigned in 1951 and became Organising Secretary for Northern Rhodesia of the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress.

In 1953 he moved to Lusaka to take up the post of Secretary General. In 1958 Kaunda broke from the organisation and formed the Zambian Africa National Congress (ZANC). ZANC was banned in March 1959 and in June Kaunda was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, which he spent first in Lusaka then in Harare. Kaunda was released in 1960 and elected president of the United National Independence Party, the successor to ZANC. He organised a civil disobedience campaign in Northern Province, the so called Cha-cha-cha campaign, which consisted of burning schools and blocking roads. In 1964 he was appointed Prime Minister and, later the same year, became the first President of independent Zambia. In 1966, the University of Zambia was opened in Lusaka and Kaunda was appointed Chancellor. During his early presidency he was an outspoken supporter of the antiapartheid movement.

He allowed several African liberation organisations, including ZAPU and ZANU of Rhodesia and the African National Congress, to set up headquarters in Zambia. Kaunda left office when he was defeated by Frederick Chiluba in multi-party elections in 1991. He retired from politics after he was accused of involvement in a failed 1997 coup attempt. Since retiring he has been involved in various charities with much of his energy going into the fight against the spread of HIV/Aids – Kaunda lost a son to the disease. Kaunda received the 2007 Ubuntu Award.


Biography Retrieved from
http://www.durban.gov.za/City_Government/street_renaming/Biographies/Pages/Kenneth-Kaunda.aspx

Official Opening: The Steve Biko Centre

The Steve Biko Foundation is pleased to announce that the official opening of the Steve Biko Centre will take place from November 30 - December 2, 2012.

By way of background, the Steve Biko Centre is located in the Ginsberg Township of King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape Province. Its mandate is to translate global interest in Black Consciousness and the legacy of anti-apartheid activist Bantu Stephen Biko into a developmental resource for the region.

Often, when articulating the developmental agenda, housing, electricity and water are at the fore of discourse; less emphasis is placed on the intangible, yet equally important aspects of heritage, culture and history. Using these intangibles, the Steve Biko Centre will contribute to development, serving as an intellectual resource as well as an economic catalyst for the region.

Accordingly, the Steve Biko Centre is comprised of:

• A Museum
• An Archive and Library Resource Centre
• A Commemorative Garden honoring human rights activists
• Training Rooms
• Cultural Performance and Production Spaces
• A Community Media Centre
• Heritage Retail Spaces

In addition to offering a comprehensive visitor experience, the Steve Biko Centre will feature as the cornerstone of the Biko Heritage Trail; a broader series of Biko related sites in the Eastern Cape. These sites have been graded and duly declared as national heritage sites by the South African Heritage Resources Agency. The sites consistently garner both local and international attention. Among them are:

• The Biko Statue, Oxford Street, East London
• Biko Bridge, Settler’s Way, East London
• Zanempilo Clinic, Zinyoka
• Biko’s Home, Ginsberg Township, King William’s Town
• Biko’s Office, 15 Leopold Street, King William’s Town
• Biko’s Grave, The Steve Biko Garden of Remembrance, King William’s Town

For this reason the Steve Biko Centre is designed as both a destination for the tourist and a vehicle for greater cultural awareness and economic development for the local community. It is meant to be a living monument that utilizes memory to channel local energies towards contemporary development challenges. As such, the principal objectives of the Steve Biko Centre are to:

• Educate the Public about Steve Biko and Black Consiousness
• Contribute to Poverty Eradication through the Development of Cultural Industries
• Utilize Heritage as a Tool for Fostering Social Cohesion


Given its multi-faceted approach to social development, poverty alleviation and cultural awareness, this initiative has received the active endorsement of community members, local authorities and the national government. The Steve Biko Centre, due to the positive social and economic impact it will have on the region and the nation, has already been recognized as a Legacy Project, i.e. an initiative of national historic and cultural significance such as Robben Island and Freedom Park.

In order to qualify as a legacy project, an initiative must be endorsed by Cabinet. Beyond its national status, elements of the Trail are also part of the National Heritage Council’s National Liberation Route and are included in UNESCO’s interim World Heritage List, which delineates global sites of cultural and natural significance.

The lead funder of the Steve Biko Center is the National Department of Arts and Culture - the institution mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa to develop a more inclusive South African heritage landscape. Together, with the National Lottery, the National Department of Tourism, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and Transnet, the Department of Arts and Culture has made the implementation of this initiative possible.

The Business Incubator: Tendering Workshop.

The Business Incubator, an initiative of the Steve Biko Centre, invites you to a Tendering Workshop in Ginsberg.

Facilitator: Lungile Sululu from the Steve Biko Foundation
Date: November 29, 2012
Time: 10:00 – 12:00
Venue: The Steve Biko Centre, One Zotshie Street, Ginsberg, Eastern Cape
Cost: R20
For more information please contact Mr. Sululu on 043 642 1177 or email lungiles@sbf.org.za

The Business Incubator: Costing and Pricing Workshop

The Business Incubator, an initiative of the Steve Biko Centre, invites you to a Costing and Pricing Workshop in King William's Town.

Facilitator: Lungile Sululu from the Steve Biko Foundation
Date: November 27, 2012
Time: 10:00 – 12:00
Venue: The Steve Biko Centre, One Zotshie Street, Ginsberg, Eastern Cape
Cost: R20

For more information contact Mr. Lungile Sululu on 043-642 1177 or email lungiles@sbf.org.za

NB: Clients are urged to book in advance for the Micro-MBA Workshop.

The Business Incubator to Host a Workshop on Forms of Business Ownership

The Business Incubator, an initiative of the Steve Biko Centre, invites you to a Workshop on Forms of Business Ownership.

Facilitator: Mr. Lungile Sululu from the Steve Biko Foundation
Date: November 22, 2012
Time: 10:00 – 12:00
Venue: The Steve Biko Centre, One Zotshie Street, Ginsberg, Eastern Cape
Cost: R20

For more information contact Mr. Lungile Sululu on 043-6421177 or email lungiles@sbf.org.za

NB: Clients are urged to book in advance for the Micro MBA Workshop

The First Crucial Steps to Starting and Running a Business

The Business Incubator, an initiative of the Steve Biko Centre, invites you to a workshop on the first crucial steps to starting and running a business.

Facilitator: Lungile Sululu from the Steve Biko Foundation

Date: November 21, 2012

Time: 10:00 – 12:00

Venue: The Steve Biko Foundation Offices, 40 Eales Street, King Williams Town, Eastern Cape

Cost: R20

"Harambee": Kenyatta's call towards self-sufficiency

In 1959, freehold titles in large numbers had been issued to Africans, new farm supports were in place, and a campaign was underway to employ landless people. The growth of the Agrarian middle class had started to pick up.

During the above time period the Trade Unions were gaining momentum and Mr. Makhan Singh was prominent. However, Makhan Singh was quickly disposed off by the colonial authorities for allegedly having admitted to being a communist.


Independence

After nine years, in August 1961, Kenyatta was freed as Kenya was moving towards self-government under African leadership. Kenyatta was embraced as the colony's most important independence leader and he assumed the leadership of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), a party founded in 1960 and supported by the Kikuyu and Luo. He led the party to victory in the pre-independence elections of May 1963 and was named prime minister of Kenya in June. Kenyatta led Kenya to formal independence in December of that year. Kenya was established as a republic in December 1964, and Kenyatta was elected Kenya's first president the same month.

Growth after independence

Kenyatta knew that independence was not really the end of the struggle, but the beginning. The hopes of millions of Kenyans for a new way of life and better standards of living would not be easy to fulfill. On the 1st Madaraka Day, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta reemphasized what he had told the nation a few days earlier when KANU won the polls. He said that Madaraka was a progressive step towards the attainment of independence, that constitutional advance was not the greatest end in itself.

Independence was, to the majority of people, expected to be a turning point. The Africans, the majority expected a reversal of all things in their favor. For the European settlers who had enjoyed everything in the pre-uhuru governments, there was fear and uncertainty over their future. They visualized a vengeful African dominated government probably bent on some measures of retribution. The Asian group also feared as they had enjoyed some privileges and controlled the young nation's commercial life.

"Harambee" A call towards self-sufficiency

The slogan "Harambee" was given to Kenyan workers for the purposes of national development. Kenyatta likened the task ahead of the new nation to that of workers with a burden which would only be overcome by working together to successfully heave up or put together their heavy load.

As president, Kenyatta worked to establish harmonious race relations, safeguarding whites' property rights and appealing to both whites and the African majority to forget past injustices. "Harambee" (Swahili for "let's all pull together"), deliberately asked whites and Africans to work together for the development of Kenya. However, many of his compromise policies over time became unpopular with radicals within KANU, who advocated a more socialist state structure for Kenya. One of the key persons in this disagreement was Oginga Odinga.

Oginga Odinga was born in 1911 in Siaya District and was a student of Maseno and Alliance High School. He then went to Makerere University and in 1940, he returned to Maseno High School as a teacher. In 1948, he joined KAU and in 1957 was elected to the Legislative Council as member for Nyanza Central. He was one of the founder members of KANU in 1960 and was its first vice-president. When Kenya became a Republic in 1964, he was President Kenyatta's first vice-president. However, his disagreement with Kenyatta eventually found he and his supporters being forced out of the party in 1966.

Move To A Uni-Party State

Odinga formed the rival Kenya People's Union (KPU), which drew much support from Odinga's ethnic group, the Luo. In response, Kenyatta used his extensive presidential powers and control of the media to counter the challenge to his leadership and appealed for Kikuyu ethnic solidarity. The 1969 assassination of cabinet minister Tom Mboya-a Luo ally of Kenyatta's-by a Kikuyu led to months of tension and violence between the Luo and the Kikuyu.

Kenyatta banned Odinga's party, detained its leaders, and called elections in which only KANU was allowed to participate. For the remainder of his presidency, Kenya was effectively a one-party state, and Kenyatta made use of detention, appeals to ethnic loyalties, and careful appointment of government jobs to maintain his position. Kenyatta was reelected president in 1969 and 1974, unopposed each time.

Kenyatta died in office in 1978 and was succeeded by Kenyan vice president Daniel arap Moi. Moi pledged to continue Kenyatta's work, labeling his own program Nyayo (Swahili for "footsteps").

Sources:
Joseph Harris THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN ASIA(Evanston, North-Western UP, 1971);
Joseph Harris ABOLITION &REPATRIATION IN KENYA Historical association of Kenya
Pamphlet No.1 (Nairobi, East African Literature Bureau, 1977); Ochieng Omondi; THE SIDDIS OF INDIA(Nairobi, Asian African Heritage Trust, 2000).
GHC, A Combined Course, Malkiat Singh, 1986


Article Retrieved from:
http://www.glpinc.org/Classroom%20Activities/Kenya%20Articles/Struggle%20for%20Independence.htm

Jomo Kenyatta and the Mau Mau Movement

In September 1946 Kenyatta returned to Kenya, and in June 1947 he became president of the first colony-wide African political organization, the Kenya African Union (KAU), which had been formed more than two years earlier. KAU's efforts to win self-government under African leadership were unsuccessful, however, African resistance to colonial policies and the supremacy of European settlers in Kenya became more militant.

The Mau Mau Movement

The Mau Mau Movement began among the Gikuyu who shared the same grievances with all other Kenyan peoples. At the same time, land shortages among the Gikuyu were particularly bad. There were many settler farms in Gikuyuland and a lot of Gikuyu land had been taken for European settlement.

World War II only increased African discontent as Kenyans fought side by side with their colonial masters. During the five year conflict Africans were exposed to many new influences and developed an awareness that the white man was far from invincible. Empowered by this new outlook, African veterans went home to Kenya with the realization that a return to the status-quo was impossible. From the end of the War in 1945, Africans regularly presented their grievances to the colonial government in Nairobi and the government in London. Under the leadership of Kenyatta, the Kenya African Union (KAU) became a national party with wide support from the people. It too, had played its part in demanding a settlement of African grievances. The Government however, did nothing except make promises. Meanwhile the white settlers were themselves pressing Britain for independence under white minority rule. Many Africans were beginning to think that what could not be achieved by peaceful means might be achieved by violence. After all, the colonial government had been promising reforms for a long time. Nothing had come of the promises.

In 1952 the Mau Mau began advocating violence against the colonial government and white settlers. Kenyatta did not advocate violence but the colonial authorities arrested him and five other KAU leaders in October 1952 for allegedly being part of Mau Mau. The six leaders were tried and, in April 1953, convicted.

While Kenyatta was confined the Mau Mau were fighting a guerilla war. Most of the fighting took place in the Central Province, Aberdares (Nyandarua), around Mt. Kenya and in Nakuru District. There were attacks on police stations and other government offices as well as on settler farms. As British troops fought the Mau Mau in the forests, the colonial government took strict measures against civilians. Many people were detained in concentration camps while others were forced to live in "protected" villages. It was not until 1955, that the British gained the upper hand against the Mau Mau, in spite of the much better arms and equipment.


Dedan Kimathi was a feared leader of the Mau Mau guerrillas who rebelled against British colonialism in the 1950s. After 1955, the most effective weapon used by the government against the Mau Mau were the 'pseudo gangs' composed largely of former guerrillas which were later renamed the Special Force Teams. Up to 1955 these units had been led by whites, and were led by loyal Africans thereafter which would go into the forests on seek and destroy expeditions against the Mau Mau hideouts.

Kimathi's capture on 21st October 1956 in Nyeri and signified the ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau and essentially ended the military offensive against the Mau Mau. He was captured in 1956 and executed in February 1957 - one of about 5,000 guerrillas to die in the struggle, in which 12,000 civilians also perished. Such was the fear of Kimathi becoming a martyr for his followers that when he died (mysteriously) in prison, his body was buried in an unmarked grave whose location has not been revealed even up to today.

The Home Guard and Special Force Teams were responsible for undermining and neutralizing the Mau Mau organization through their spy network and other measures.
Other measures included the setting up of controlled villagers as a punitive measure against areas suspected of being solidly behind the Mau Mau. By early 1955 some estimate that over a million Kikuyu had been settled in these villages.

Achievements of Mau Mau

The main achievements of the Mau Mau movement can be summarized as follows: -
1. The British government in London learned that the colonial government in Kenya could not govern Kenya properly and then relied on British troops to solve the problems it had helped create.
2. The British government learned the British rule in Kenya could be maintained only by the use of massive military force. Mau Mau freedom fighters armed with home made and captured weapons had engaged thousands of highly-trained British troops. The cost of the war was very high. Furthermore it was unpopular with many of the conscript troops who sympathized with the aims of the African nationalists, and also many people living in Britain.
3. Mau Mau made it perfectly clear that the Africans of Kenya knew their rights and were prepared to fight and die for them.
4. The emergency brought Kenya to the attention of the world through press and media reports. It became impossible for the British to continue claiming that most Kenyans were happy and content under their rule.
5. The Mau Mau War put an end to the hopes of white settlers for independence under the white minority rule. As a result of Mau Mau the British government began planning for Kenyan independence under majority rule.


Article Retrieved from:
http://www.glpinc.org/Classroom%20Activities/Kenya%20Articles/Struggle%20for%20Independence.htm

Biography of the Week: Jomo Kenyatta

Kenyan nationalist movements and the Emergence of Jomo Kenyatta

The first pan-Kenyan nationalist movement was led by Harry Thuku to protest against the white-settler dominance in the government. His party, the East African Association, traced its roots to the early Kikuyu political groups and was supported by several influential and militant Asians. Thuku was arrested by the colonial authorities in 1922 and was exiled for seven years. His arrest resulted in the massacre of twenty-three Africans outside Nairobi's Central police station. He was released only after agreeing to cooperate with the colonials, a decision that cost him the leadership of the Kikuyus. This incident united Kenya's African communities and set the stage for the entry of Jomo Kenyatta, a former water meter inspector with the Nairobi Municipal Council, who stepped in and filled the leadership vacuum after Thuku.

Jomo Kenyatta was born in Gatundu; the year of his birth is uncertain, but most scholars agree he was born in the 1890s. He was born into the Kikuyu ethnic group. Named Kamau wa Ngengi at birth, he later adopted the surname Kenyatta (from the Kikuyu word for a type of beaded belt he wore) and then the first name Jomo. Kenyatta was educated by Presbyterian missionaries and by 1921 had moved to the city of Nairobi. There he became involved in early African protest movements, joining the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA) in 1924.

In 1928 he became editor of the movement's newspaper. In 1929 and 1931 Kenyatta visited England to present KCA demands for the return of African land lost to European settlers and for increased political and economic opportunity for Africans in Kenya, which had become a colony within British East Africa in 1920.

Kenyatta remained in Europe for almost 15 years, during which he attended various schools and universities, traveled extensively, and published numerous articles and pamphlets on Kenya and the plight of Kenyans under colonial rule. While attending the London School of Economics, Kenyatta studied under noted British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and published his seminal work, Facing Mount Kenya (1938).

Following World War II (1939-1945), Kenyatta became an outspoken nationalist, demanding Kenyan self-government and independence from Great Britain. With other African nationalists such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Kenyatta helped organize the fifth Pan-African Congress in Great Britain in 1945. The congress, modeled after the four congresses organized by black American intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois between 1919 and 1927 and attended by black leaders and intellectuals from around the world, affirmed the goals of African nationalism and unity.


Article Retrieved from:
http://www.glpinc.org/Classroom%20Activities/Kenya%20Articles/Struggle%20for%20Independence.htm

FrankTalk Dialogue with His Excellency Lula da Silva

On November 17, 2012 The Steve Biko Foundation (SBF) will have the honor of hosting the former President of Brazil, His Excellency Lula da Silva as a guest speaker during its monthly FrankTalk dialogue.

Throughout his long career in public service, President Lula has been lauded at home and abroad for his efforts in the fight against poverty; as well as the prominent role he has played in advancing relations among developing countries. Given the similarities in the challenges and opportunities facing both Brazilian and South African societies, SBF will host a Roundtable dialogue focusing on The Role of civil Society in Advancing Democracy. During this time, young leaders will have an opportunity to dialogue with President Lula about his experiences as a civic leader and then as a head of state. You are cordially invited to participate in this programme.

This dialogue will take place under the auspices of SBF’s FrankTalk Dialogue Series. Titled after the pseudonym under which Steve Biko wrote, FrankTalk is designed to engage young people in discussion on salient issues impacting South Africa’s political, economic and social development. As stated above, the topic of this discussion is The Role of Civil Society in Advancing Democracy. Globally, the presence of civil society is recognized as a crucially-important component of a stable democracy. The purpose of this discussion is to provide young leaders with perspectives from the international community as they seek to make meaningful contributions to socioeconomic and political development in South Africa.

Details of the Event are as follows:

Date: Saturday, 17 November 2012
Time: 9h00 for 9h30

It would be most appreciated if you could please indicate your attendance no later than Tuesday November 13 by responding to Ms Dibuseng Kolisang via telephone (011) 403 0310 or via email dibuseng@sbf.org.za. Please note that due to spatial constraints only 10 seats are available.

The Business Incubator: Costing and Pricing Workshop

The Business Incubator, an initiative of the Steve Biko Centre, invites you to a Costing and Pricing Workshop in King William's Town.

Facilitator: Lungile Sululu from the Steve Biko Foundation
Date: Monday November 12, 2012
Time: 10:00 – 12:00
Venue: The Steve Biko Centre, One Zotshie Street, Ginsberg, Eastern Cape
Cost: R20

For more information contact Mr. Lungile Sululu on 043-642 1177 or email lungiles@sbf.org.za

NB: Clients are urged to book in advance for the Micro-MBA Workshop.

Biography of the Week: Samora Machel

Names: Samora Machel

Born: 29 September 1933, Mozambique

Died: 20 October 1986, Border of Mozambique and South Africa

In summary: Politician and Freedom Fighter. Revolutionary leader of the Mozambican liberation movement FRELIMO and Mozambique's first President, killed in a controversial plane crash in 1986.

Samora Machel was born in 1933 and was raised in the village of Chilembene. He was a member of the Shangana ethnic group and his parents were poor. Machel parents were forced to grow cotton by the Portuguese, rather than food such as corn which they could eat. In the 1950's his parents' farmland was taken and given to Portuguese settlers. In order to avoid starvation his relatives went to work in the South African mines under repressive and dangerous conditions. Soon after, his brother was killed in a mining accident.

Machel attended Catholic school and when he was not in class he worked in the fields. He studied to become a nurse, one of the few professions open to Mozambican Blacks at that time. Machel was attracted to Marxist ideals and began his political activities in a hospital where he protested that the black nurses were paid less than whites, who were doing the same job. He later told a reporter how bad medical treatment was for Mozambique's poor by saying, "the rich man's dog gets more in the way of vaccination, medicine and medical care than do the workers upon whom the rich man's wealth is built."

Rebellion against Portugal was not new to Samora Machel. His grandparents and great grandparents had fought against the Portuguese in the 19th century. In 1962 Machel joined the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique or FRELIMO, as it was called by most. FRELIMO was dedicated to creating an independent Mozambique. In 1963 Samora Machel left Mozambique and traveled to several other African nations where he received military training. In 1964 he returned to Mozambique and led FRELIMO's first guerilla attack against the Portuguese in northern Mozambique. Machel spent most of his time in the field with his men, leading them in combat and sharing their dangers and hardships. By 1970 Samora Machel became commander and chief of the Frelimo army. He believed in guerilla war and Frelimo's army established itself among the poor in Mozambique's. He was a revolutionary who was not only dedicated to throwing the Portuguese out of Mozambique but also radically changing the society. He said, "of all the things we have done, the most important - the one that history will record as the principal contribution of our generation - is that we understand how to turn the armed struggle into a Revolution; that we realized that it was essential to create a new mentality to build a new society."

Machel's goals were to be realized. The revolutionary army weakened Portugal, and after the country's coup in 1974 the Portuguese were forced to leave Mozambique. The new revolutianry government, led by Machel, took over on June 25, 1975. Machel became independent Mozambique's first president and was affectionately referred to as "President Samora."

Machel put his revolutionary principles into practice. As a Marxist he called for the "nationalization" (government ownership) of the Portuguese plantations and property. He moved quickly to have the Frelimo government establish public schools and health clinics for the poor. He called for Frelimo to organize itself into a Leninist Party.

Samora Machel supported and allowed revolutionaries fighting white minority regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa to operate within Mozambique. Soon after Mozambique's independence both of these countries attacked Mozambique with an anti-Frelimo organization called RENAMO. RENAMO's activities included: the killing of peasants, the destruction of schools and hospitals built by Frelimo,and the blowing up of railway lines and hydroelectric facilities. The Mozambique economy was strangled by these depredations, and began to depend on overseas aid - in particular from the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, Machel remained popular throughout his presidency. Samora Machel was awarded Lenin Peace Prize in 1975-1976.

On October 19, 1986 Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains, near Mbuzini. There were nine survivors but President Machel and twenty-four others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government.. Although, several years before the airplane went down Machel had signed a non-agression pact with the South Africa, there was widespread suspicion that the apartheid regime was implicated in the crash.

On October 6, 1986, just two weeks before the crash, South African soldiers (SADF) were injured by land mines near the spot where the borders of Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland converge. This site was very close to where the Tupolev Tu-134 went down. Time magazine noted that this "really seemed too much a coincidence". Throughout southern Africa angry people mourned the loss of Samora Machel. In South Africa protestors blamed their government for Machel's death. In Zimbabwe thousands of youths stormed through downtown Harare. The crash remains a mystery: with some blaming it simply on bad weather and others still believing in South Africa's guilt. No conclusive evidence to either effect has yet emerged.


This Biography was retreived from The South African History Online.
To read the original article, please visit

http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/samora-machel

To the Black Intellectual

One of the important lessons from the example of Biko and his colleagues is their recognition that as black students, their most important mission and obligation was to articulate the needs and aspirations of the black community. They were not to be intellectuals so as to appease their own personal needs. They were to become assets for the black nation and use all of their intellectual gains and abilities to serve the black community.

We need this type of mentality today, more than ever. The current conditions have instead produced black intellectuals that seek only to run as far away from the black conditions as possible and never return. To further explain this, Cheikh Anta Diop states that;
“A climate of alienation has a profound effect on the Black personality, particularly on the educated Black, who has the opportunity to see how the rest of the world regards him and his people. It often happens that the Black intellectual thus loses confidence in his own potential and that of his race. Often the effect is so crushing that some Blacks, having evidence to the contrary, still find it hard to accept the fact we really were the first to civilize the world.”

Our solution to this should be a clear understanding that our education is useless if it doesn’t contribute to the formulation of a new way of thinking which is unpolluted by ideas of the rainbow nation but is rooted in the black struggle.

SASO’s Black Students Manifesto published in 1975 declares that;
A. We black students are:

1. an integral part of the black oppressed community before we are students coming out of and studying under the oppressive restrictions of a racist education;

2. committed to a more disciplined involvement in the intellectual and physical world and to the consistent search of the black truth;

Whether in medicine, research, accounting, journalism or marketing, our contributions can be great in the betterment of the black condition and it is our responsibility to see to the attainment of this.

This is how you go Back to Consciousness!