Azapo calls for black dignity in honour of Steve Biko

The best way to remember and honour Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe and Chris Hani is to give dignity to the black people they fought to liberate from apartheid and colonial oppression, says Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) president Nelvis Qekema.

He was speaking during the 45th anniversary commemoration of the death of Black Consciousness leader Biko, held in Ginsberg in the Eastern Cape.

Qekema called for citizen activism to fight against decisions made by the current government on their behalf without them. He said it was important for people to know where they came from.

“The reason we commemorate this Steve Biko Day is to let it be known that the new struggle is the struggle against forgetting. “We should not forget that we lost land, we were colonised and enslaved and we lost our dignity in the process,” he said.

Many forget that there is a black president, a black government and black councillors because Biko, Sobukwe and Hani and others died for them, he added.

“Out of the deaths of Biko, Sobukwe, Hani and Anton Lembede the life of freedom emerged. “We need to acknowledge that Biko and these other leaders did not die in vain and that we must wage war against forgetting.”

The government was responsible for perpetuating poverty by giving people social grants instead of creating jobs, said Qekema.

“Grants ought to be a temporary measure while people are being developed to be productive to grow the economy instead of dependent on state handouts. “When 17 million people live on grants, you are depriving the nation of initiative to shape their destiny.

“We need a type of government that has soul, type of leaders that have remorse or mercy. “It is about time that the people of this country realise that nothing is to be done without them. “I am agitating for citizen activism.

People ought to know they have agency to be who they wish to be. “I am saying people should not just vote, but must dictate what that vote is for.”

Qekema lashed out at what he called “black self-hatred”, referring to the violence in which black people killed each other at an alarming rate.

“Why do people hijack a car but still kill the owner? Isn’t the car or his money what you wanted from the owner?” he asked.

He added that the corruption involving top leaders confirmed the racist notion that the black man could do nothing for himself.

“The small RDP houses built by the black government perpetuate the belief that the black man did not deserve dignity, but to live in a “state-sponsored cave,” he said. “This is the colonial mentality.”

ALSO READ: ‘If Steve Biko found us in this condition, he would cry’ – Azapo

– ericn@citizen.co.za