ECHOES OF HISTORY BETRAYED

 

ECHOES OF HISTORY BETRAYED

The 1980s was a decade which became a turning point in South African history. Popular protest by masses of ordinary South Africans against the apartheid regime reached its height in the 1980s, and the government responded with extreme brutality and repression.

On July 20, 1985, faced with the collapse of its authority in the townships, the continuing prospect of spreading violence, and an increasingly uneasy white population, the government responded with its first state of emergency over many parts of the country. 

The State Of Emergency was re-introduced in 1986 when the elimination of people who were considered the enemies of the apartheid state was deemed of confidential importance.

At no time had apartheid been resisted by as large and united a constituency as in the 1984-1986 period, in spite of PW Botha’s vicious and repressive reign.

It was during this time that a number of activists disappeared under suspicious circumstances, many of whom were never found. Boikie Tlhapi, was one among the many voices that continue to haunt the present from the unresolved past.

The story of Boikie Tlhapi is undeniably full of contradictions, and those emerge with all recollections about the man and his activism from those who were closely related to him, either through the struggle or familial relations.

His death in the hands of the apartheid police continues to haunt the community, more so, those who were once incarcerated with him and those who were part of the protestation he spearheaded within the community of Ikageng.

These unsung heroes and now persons relegated to obscurity are people who are memory-keepers of how the struggle transpired in the late 1980’s.

As protagonists, they speak about their experience and motivation for joining the resistance, and their stories and memories that continue to build an incredible narrative of the history of resistance against oppression as expressed by activists in Ikageng and the Western Transvaal during those time of the infamous State Of Emergency of 1986.

The documentary thus unearths some living activists of yesteryear, who have unfortunately been overlooked by the current democratic dispensation and its beneficiaries.