TRIBUTE TO 1976 HERO JEFF MARISHANE OF MAMELODI

Brave 1976 Mamelodi students’ uprising hero and leader Jeffrey Marishane has passed on.

He was buried on Saturday 19 September at the Garsfontein cemetery after a funeral service held at the Nellmapius Community Hall.

He was 70 years old at the time of his passing.

As a 20-year-old Matric student at Mamelodi High School he bravely led Mamelodi students in their revolt against the apartheid regime on the fateful morning of Monday 21 June 1976.

The Mamelodi students’ uprising against the erstwhile racist white government followed the world-renowned 16 June 1976 Soweto students’ uprisings led by Tsietsi Mashinini.

Here is how some of the student activists of that time remember the late Jeff Marishane.

1.JUNIOR MALOBOLA (1976 STUDENT ACTIVIST)

I still remember the fateful 21 June 1976 day very well.

Marishane is the one who led the students’ march from Mamelodi High School which is in the West of Mamelodi township.

Our school, Ribane Laka High, was situated in the East of Mamelodi (Khalambazo) down the road from Mamelodi High School across the local Moretele River.

I remember him commanding his fellow students during the march to be calm and walk steadily.

I still remember him repeatedly saying the following to his apparently exuberant, overzealous fellow students:

“Be steady, be steady.”

After 21 June 1976 all student leaders including Marishane were hunted down by the apartheid government’s security forces and their families were also persecuted.

Several leaders like Marishane went into exile almost immediately after the aforesaid students’ uprisings in Mamelodi.

When he returned from exile after the apartheid era I had the privilege to meet him and I must say I enjoyed the wisdom he shared with me through his insightful narratives about his selfless sacrifice to fight for the just cause of liberating the black man from oppression and reclamation of the land of which they have been dispossessed.

Marishane never benefited from the freedom for which he fought for.

Cry our beloved country Azania!

2.SANDY LEBESE (FORMER ROBBEN ISLAND INMATE AND 1976 STUDENT LEADER)

We had a good leader in Jeffrey Marishane and he sacrificed his life for the people of South Africa.

He was a very interesting cadre of the ANC and I knew him back then during the Mamelodi students’ upheavals in 1976 before he skipped the country and I met him again later on in life during the Africa Continental Conference held in South America during which he worked as a translator; translating from Spanish to English for the benefit of the conference’s delegates during the conference’s sessions.

Comrade Jeff Marishane was a humble, disciplined and dedicated leader who will always be remembered for his unselfishness.

I knew him very well and would like to send my condolences to his family.

May his soul rest in peace!

3.SELBY MOYO (FORMER STUDENT ACTIVIST)

Eish! Sorry to hear about his passing on.

He was quiet but brave and I suppose many people would never have thought that somebody who worked as a hawker inside train carriages (smokeser) would eventually become a hero who would awaken Mamelodi politically.

He will be sorely missed!