Cape Town - The country celebrated Freedom Day on Thursday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the nation; laying out his plans for the country moving forward; and reminding South Africans about their history.
For a country that had promising leaders during the Struggle who listened to the marginalised people, victory was near.
However, as things stand, not much can be celebrated as the nation experiences crises of poverty, poor service delivery, corruption and crime.
The increase in crime has robbed the country of a young and brave leader, Loyiso Nkohla.
As a former ANCYL member and activist and founder of the Ses'khona People's Rights Movement - an organisation that advocates for the right of historically disadvantaged people in townships, Nkohla was a man who stood for what he believed in.
This was evident at his memorial service that took place in a packed O.R Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha this week, where speakers echoed statements about his activism and bravery.
Tributaries included anti-apartheid activist Dr Mamphela Ramphele, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, Nkohla’s co-leader and president of Se’skhona, Andile Lili, and long-standing ANC Western Cape member, Marius Fransman.
By those in power, who never understood what it was like to relieve themselves in an open toilet in full view of people, or use a portaloo that carried a stench until it was collected a few days a week, Nkohla was labelled a “poo flinger”.
His actions of emptying a portaloo at the legislature entrance and stairs, as well as at the airport, shocked the country.
What those in power did not know was that Nkohla listened to those he led, and amplified their struggles.
Ramphele said: “It is wrong to label Loyiso as a ‘poo . We as the people of South Africa are the ones who deserve that label, because we are the ones who subjected our fellow citizens to that humiliation.
Loyiso refused to adhere to the normalisation of inequality in our society.”
Leaders in the country today are notorious for making sweet promises with no action.
“Everything happens at a snail’s pace and is stirred by corruption – something Nkohla was vocal about before leaving the ANCYL, as he accused his comrades of being “thieves who do not care about the people”.
A number of public quarrels with former Western Cape premier Helen Zille and former Cape Town mayor Dan Plato transpired because of the lack of service delivery in the province’s marginalised communities, compared to the suburbs.
Nkohla never backed down and organised a number of protests that led to his arrest for public violence, amongst other things He kept on fighting until his last day. Nkohla was a giant who stood in what he believed in.
His comrade Chumile Sali described him as “lion”, because the “Lion Roars” – a slogan that was started by the late Oliver Tambo as he asked the young people to also take a stand.
Nkohla’s compatriot, Andile Lili, is still disbelief that he will never see Nkohla again.
He said, as he took to the memorial podium to address mourners and people from different political organisations in attendance: “I am heartbroken and still cannot believe that Loyiso is no more. We knew what the pain of our people is because even though we gained political positions at the legislature, we still lived with them in the township.”
What the community has forever lost is someone who listened and fought for them in many ways.
In volatile situations Nkohla would be a mediator between the community and police.
He would be a mediator between the government and the community. He died in a meeting negotiating a relocation of people living on the Philippi railway station.
He took bullets doing what he was passionate about.
Lili has urged the government to find the killers of his comrade.
“As I am standing here, I am saying this to the media to pass this message on.
“The intelligence of this country must not sleep on the job. It cannot be that a man is killed by 19 bullets in a meeting and up until now there is no arrest.
“Please, the intelligence and police must find Loyiso’s killers.”
Nkohla will be laid to rest in the Eastern Cape this weekend, leaving those he represented unsure of who to turn to, because those with power do not listen.
Cape Times
* The Cape Times’ Big Friday Read is a series of feature articles focusing on the forgotten issues that often disappear in the blur of fast news cycles, and where we also feature the everyday heroes who go out of their way to change the lives of others in their communities.
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