Motlalepule Winifred (Winnie) Kgware (née Monyatsi) was born in Thaba Nchu, Orange Free State, on 27 October 1917. She was raised by her aunt in Kroonstad and became a teacher at Thaba Nchu. In 1942, she married a fellow teacher, William Kgware, who later joined the University of the North at Turfloop (currently University of Limpopo) as an academic and eventually became the Turfloop’s first Black Rector in 1977.
Human memory is enthralling in that it can record experiences, store them away in a deep vault of subconsciousness and hearken back triggered with the right questions and guidance from an oral historian. It is a symbolic role in the construction of a historical memory, actively promoting the need not to forget and developing in different ways and in a variety of settings the symbols and events, that would foster the preservation of the vivid recollection of the lived traumatic experience.
“It is better to die for an idea than to live for an idea that will die”
A reflection on the legacy of Onkgopotse Abram ‘Ramothibi’ Tiro in the context of the history of liberation education.
Every age has its own sages and visionaries, men and women who face the demands of their time with courage and determination while leaving their footprints in history. Onkgopotse was an outstanding man who challenged the apartheid regime and was seen as a formidable enemy by the state. Considering his humble beginnings and rise to become a student activist, and the many hats he wore in the various organizations he served, his ultimate goal was the liberation of all South Africans.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1936–2018) in front of her banishment house in Brandfort’s Majwemasweu township, c. late 1970s. (Photo: South African History Online)
The Soweto uprisings of 16 June 1976 have become firmly entrenched in South African popular memory. However, the school boycotts that happened in Mangaung (Bloemfontein) in the aftermath of the Soweto unrest are neither well-known nor well-documented. This article briefly discusses the Mangaung riots of 1976, 1977 and 1980. In addition, the article provides contextual historical information to explain the main causes of the unrest.
February 1981: The last known photograph of lawyer Griffiths Mxenge, brutally murdered by a death squad in 1981, and his wife Victoria, an activist assassinated in 1985. (Photograph by Gallo Images/Sunday Times Archive)
The lives of two of South Africa’s bravest civil rights lawyers, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, and his wife, Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge were cut short by apartheid agents. Their ultimate sacrifices for the liberation of South Africans should be remembered and honoured. Here are the couple’s inspiring stories.