Our history has taught us and many of our so-called political leaders nothing.

For those of us who remember the unspeakable horrors that happened here just 30 years ago‚ perhaps it is time to redouble our efforts to stop this country and the many political opportunists who pop up when a political leader dies from forgetting the pain we have gone through.

On July 20 1985 some residents of Duduza on the East Rand accused Maki Skosana of being an apartheid informer. Three young activists from the township had been lied to by the notorious askari (an ANC member under apartheid who turned into a police agent and killer) Joe Mamasela.

Believing they were dealing with a legitimate ANC soldier‚ they had accepted hand grenades from Mamasela. The grenades were boobytrapped: when the youth activists pulled on their pins to attack their intended targets (local policemen and an electricity substation)‚ the grenades exploded and killed the young men instead.

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