Tsietsi Mashinini
Courage at the frontlineJanuary 27 1957 — July 5 1990 |
Artist: Johannes Phokela Location: Opposite Morris Isaacson High School, Mputhi Street, Central Western Jabavu, Soweto, Johannesburg
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Soweto-born artist Johannes Phokela’s memorial honouring youth leader Tsietsi Mashinini features a montage tracing the route of the 1976 march superimposed on a wall that resembles a giant exercise book. Picture: Craig Matthews, Doxa © South African History Archive At 8am on June 16 1976 Tsietsi Mashinini interrupted the school assembly to lead the first group of students out of the gates and on the march that started the Soweto uprising. They were protesting the use of Afrikaans in schools. A reward was posted for his capture and one afternoon security police checked every student leaving the grounds. Mashinini, who was a prefect at Morris Isaacson, escaped detection by dressing up as a girl. After the march he never slept at home again and fled the country two months later. From The Archives Fanyana Mazibuko's testimony to the TRCDuring the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings on human rights violations, Fanyana Mazibuko, Tsietsi Mashinini’s former science teacher, recounted the situation at Morris Isaacson High School before June 16. Behind Morris Isaacson's Humble FaςadeIn this article from Saturday Star, Tefo Mothibeli offers a glimpse of what Morris Isaacson was like as a school before June 1976. David Kutumela's TestimonyDavid Kutumela, a close friend of Tsietsi Mashinini, was forced to submit a statement to the Cillié Commission (a state-led inquiry into the June 1976 uprising. The Charge of the Light BrigadeAlfred, Lord Tennyson’s "Charge of the Light Brigade" was one of Tsietsi Mashinini’s favourite poems, and one he quoted to rouse his fellow students to action. An unofficial declaration of warIn this hurried statement, written by Tsietsi Mashinini just before he fled into exile in late August 1976, he calls the police action of the previous two months "an unofficial declaration of war." Master of disguisesAfter the student uprising on June 16 and before he went into exile about two months later, Tsietsi Mashinini used his acting abilities along with numerous inventive disguises to evade detection by the police. The hero who spurned the ANC and PACBoth the ANC and PAC made efforts to get Mashinini to join them, but Tsietsi Mashinini is said to have rejected the advances of both organisations. Ma Mashinini's TRC TestimonyIn her moving testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Tsietsi’s mother describes how she lost her job after her son’s disappearance into exile. Life Stories Young, cool and defiantTsietsi Mashinini, a leader of the 1976 Soweto protests, was a charismatic and, ultimately, a tragic figure. The Enigma behind June 16The plucky student activist remains an enigma, his political affiliations hotly debated to this day. Student leader honoured in Soweto artworkOur memorial honouring June 16 student leader Tsietsi Mashinini, was unveiled in Soweto on the 30th anniversary of the uprising in June 2006. Making the Memorial Who is Johannes Phokela?He was raised in Soweto and was 10 years old in 1976. Phokela graduated from the Royal College of Art and lives between London and Johannesburg. The Light Bulb Moment: The Artist's ConceptPhokela’s concept was inspired by socialist murals, but with a twist that would have less to do with old-style revolutions and "more to do with hope". |
