PORTRAIT OF AN ACTIVIST

15 June 2009 - 02:00
By unknown

TEBOHO "Tsietsi" Macdonald Mashinini1957 - 1990

TEBOHO "Tsietsi" Macdonald Mashinini1957 - 1990

Mashinini was born on January 27 1957 in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto, to working class parents Ramothibi and Nomkhitha Mashinini. Mashinini was the second-born of 13 children (11 boys and twin girls).

On June 13 1976 about 500 Soweto students met at the Orlando Donaldson Community Hall to discuss ways of challenging the Department of Bantu Education. The meeting decided to stage a peaceful protest march on June 16 against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in their schools. An action committee was set up to prepare for this event.

Mashinini was elected chairperson of the committee, which was later renamed the Soweto Student Representative Council, with Mashinini as its first president.

Mashinini issued press statements on behalf of the organisation and the larger student body.

After June 16 Mashinini eluded police arrest until he left the country for Botswana in August 1976. He lived in Botswana for a few months before proceeding to West Africa.

Mashinini settled in Liberia, marrying Welma Campbell in 1978. They had two daughters, Nomkhitha and Thembi.

Mashinini died under mysterious circumstances in 1990. He was hospitalised for multiple injuries but died a few days later.

His left eye had fallen in; his left ear was bleeding and he had bruises on the face and a scar on the forehead. - SA History