Cape Town - Fearless in their fight to bring about political and policy change in the country, activists - both young and old - spoke to the Weekend Argus about why they could not just sit back or merely speak out on the many issues plaguing some of the country’s voiceless.
These firebrands have been able to bring vital issues to the forefront of government and rally for change for all South Africans.
AMEERA CONRAD
Driven to social activism by injustices at her university, Ameera Conrad, 25, joined both the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall movements at Rhodes University in 2015.
“I’ve always known that there was something not quite right about the way I felt growing up as a coloured woman in South Africa, but until #RhodesMustFall happened I didn’t have the vocabulary to explain my experiences effectively and pinpoint the root cause of the negativity that I felt in certain environments.” she said.
Now an award-winning actress, writer and director, Conrad fought as a student for proper representation of students of colour at the university.
Conrad’s activism has now spread to her work life, where she has vowed to fight for accurate and diverse representation within the arts industry of all people of colour, and specifically women of colour.
Her most memorable moments during the protests were of meetings with other activists and like-minded people where they would “talk, sing and learn together”.
“It’s such a misconception that student movements are irrational and violent,” Conrad said.
However, while her student and current activism put a strain on her social and family life, she said her family had in a lot of ways started to embrace her activism.
THATO TRISTAN MALUMANE-MOSHOKOA
UCT SRC vice president Thato Tristan Malumane-Moshokoa struggled as an underprivileged black student at university and the material conditions coupled with structural challenges drew him closer to activism.
Malumane-Moshokoa, 22, recalled a time when a friend had no accommodation and a protest broke out on campus.
“We erected a shack on campus. I had residence but she did not, so we empathised with her.
“#FeesMustFall drew me into activism because it resonated with me. Education is not meant to be commodified - it should be free to all people.”
Thato Tristan Malumane-Moshokoa. Picture: Supplied
He said that the #FeesMustFall protests had been one of the biggest uprisings since1976.
“Students started to mobilise to drive what we are facing. We wanted an education that is for us to solve our issues as Africans, not education that is Eurocentric.”
“There were also mental health issues that came up from this. There were academic setbacks as well. It affected us as a generation,” said the fourth year health sciences student.
MAKHOSI KHOZA
Former ANC heavyweight Makhosi Khoza, 49, said it had been the discovery that poverty is not normal, but a social injustice that drove her into activism.
“Subsequently, I joined the Edendale Youth Organisation as a 12-year-old in 1982 before the launch of the United Democratic Front in 1983. Soon I learned about the Freedom Charter of 1955 that seemed to promise a better life for all.”
Khoza recalled a “brave” incident which could have cost her her life. In 1986, at the peak of violence between the ANC and IFP, she saved a young IFP supporter who had been set alight.
“I put out the blaze on her. Comrades were angry with me, they considered her an enemy,” she said.
Khoza has continued to put her life at risk by being an activist - her home was even burnt down in the 1980s.
Makhosi Khoza. Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency (ANA)
The former MP lambasted the type of activism practiced today.
“The activist space is now viewed as a form of industry and not a calling. Compassion no longer drives the agenda of activists but more of the desires of their funders. Activism is now employed,” said Khoza.
Weekend Argus
