OURS was not for personal glory nor distinction but for a noble cause of our time - the liberation of the people of South Africa...
These are the poignant words on an epitaph at the well-kept cemetery in Mazimbu, Tanzania, where the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (Somafco) is situated.
The college was the home of South African refugees during the apartheid era and is named after Solomon Mahlangu, an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cadre convicted by the apartheid government of murder and terrorism in 1977.
Mahlangu was hanged in 1979 and was given a posthumous award for bravery and sacrificing his life for freedom and democracy in South Africa.
The epitaph appears on one of the many hand-crafted tombstones by the late Johannes "Pass Four" Phungula, an ANC leader from Hlokozi in KwaZulu-Natal's High Flats.
It succinctly captures the objective of Mazimbu - and by extension - Somafco: ". ours was not for personal glory nor distinction but for a noble cause of our time - the liberation of the people of South Africa and the entire humanity.".
Somafco has been transformed by the Independent Development Trust-sponsored Somafco Trust Initiative into a site of youth development on three fronts: social advocacy, entrepreneurial development and educational initiative.
One of these is the OR Tambo Educational Tour - a nation-building partnership with Sowetan, Kaya FM, Soweto TV and South African Airways.
The tour is named after former ANC president Oliver Tambo, who spearheaded the establishment of Somafco after the mass exodus of youths from South Africa following the 1976 student uprisings. Some of the youths were too young to join MK and just wanted to further their education.
The tour involves arranging a visit to Somafco next month for several South Africans aged between 21 and 35. They will take part in social cohesion or nation-building activities, entrepreneurship development projects and community building programmes.
The 10-day all expenses paid tour of Tanzania, starts in the capital, Dar Es Salaam, where they will visit various heritage sites.
The better part of the tour will take place in Morogoro, where the historic 1969 ANC conference took place. The site is now a guest house-cum-hotel.
The students will also visit Magadu Camp, which was home to many of the 1976 students who laidthe foundation for the construction of Somafco, which was originally known as the "ANC School".
After the intense programme the students will unwind for two days in serene Zanzibar, a small island off Tanzania with its own unique history of slavery.
Two "dialogues" will take place during the tour: one at the Solomon Mahlangu Campus of Somafco and another at the Dakawa High School for Girls, which houses the Ruth First Orientation Centre, named after another slain struggle martyr. It is today one of the best performing boarding schools in Tanzania.
On July 9 1992 Tambo handed the settlement of Mazimbu to the people of Tanzania as symbol of friendship between Tanzania and South Africa.
The tour is essentially an initiative that makes a statement against xenophobia and a bold reminder that South Africa's freedom would not have been possible without the support of other nations such as Tanzania.
Interestingly, South African exiles were the special guests of the then Tanzanian president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and his people. Nyerere had said his country could not truly consider itself free while South Africa remained under apartheid rule.
- The author is the head of the Somafco Trust.
All for a noble cause of our time
OURS was not for personal glory nor distinction but for a noble cause of our time - the liberation of the people of South Africa...
These are the poignant words on an epitaph at the well-kept cemetery in Mazimbu, Tanzania, where the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (Somafco) is situated.
The college was the home of South African refugees during the apartheid era and is named after Solomon Mahlangu, an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cadre convicted by the apartheid government of murder and terrorism in 1977.
Mahlangu was hanged in 1979 and was given a posthumous award for bravery and sacrificing his life for freedom and democracy in South Africa.
The epitaph appears on one of the many hand-crafted tombstones by the late Johannes "Pass Four" Phungula, an ANC leader from Hlokozi in KwaZulu-Natal's High Flats.
It succinctly captures the objective of Mazimbu - and by extension - Somafco: ". ours was not for personal glory nor distinction but for a noble cause of our time - the liberation of the people of South Africa and the entire humanity.".
Somafco has been transformed by the Independent Development Trust-sponsored Somafco Trust Initiative into a site of youth development on three fronts: social advocacy, entrepreneurial development and educational initiative.
One of these is the OR Tambo Educational Tour - a nation-building partnership with Sowetan, Kaya FM, Soweto TV and South African Airways.
The tour is named after former ANC president Oliver Tambo, who spearheaded the establishment of Somafco after the mass exodus of youths from South Africa following the 1976 student uprisings. Some of the youths were too young to join MK and just wanted to further their education.
The tour involves arranging a visit to Somafco next month for several South Africans aged between 21 and 35. They will take part in social cohesion or nation-building activities, entrepreneurship development projects and community building programmes.
The 10-day all expenses paid tour of Tanzania, starts in the capital, Dar Es Salaam, where they will visit various heritage sites.
The better part of the tour will take place in Morogoro, where the historic 1969 ANC conference took place. The site is now a guest house-cum-hotel.
The students will also visit Magadu Camp, which was home to many of the 1976 students who laidthe foundation for the construction of Somafco, which was originally known as the "ANC School".
After the intense programme the students will unwind for two days in serene Zanzibar, a small island off Tanzania with its own unique history of slavery.
Two "dialogues" will take place during the tour: one at the Solomon Mahlangu Campus of Somafco and another at the Dakawa High School for Girls, which houses the Ruth First Orientation Centre, named after another slain struggle martyr. It is today one of the best performing boarding schools in Tanzania.
On July 9 1992 Tambo handed the settlement of Mazimbu to the people of Tanzania as symbol of friendship between Tanzania and South Africa.
The tour is essentially an initiative that makes a statement against xenophobia and a bold reminder that South Africa's freedom would not have been possible without the support of other nations such as Tanzania.
Interestingly, South African exiles were the special guests of the then Tanzanian president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and his people. Nyerere had said his country could not truly consider itself free while South Africa remained under apartheid rule.
- The author is the head of the Somafco Trust.
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