Family, friends and politicians will pay their last respects to the late struggle icon, Cde Alson Tsumbezeni Tshitahe from Mbaleni village near Thohoyandou, this weekend.
Tshitahe (69) died in the NHC Dental and Medical Centre in Thohoyandou on the morning of 7 July, following a long illness.
According to a family member, Mr Ronny Tshitahe, the late veteran had been a political prisoner at Robben Island for10 years for his involvement in the 1976 Soweto uprising. He himself had been a student at Mphaphuli High School at the time, which was also burned down during the uprising.
"The class boycotts at Mphaphuli High School (now Raluswielo Secondary) started on 20 June 1976, after the riots in the Soweto townships on 16 June that year. The students would gather in the school hall and sing freedom songs, reminding each other of what had happened. The Sibasa Mbeu bookshop was burned down before the class boycotts started, as well as the school's staff room, equipment and materials in the staff room," said Ronny.
"The students were angry with what was happening in Soweto, particularly the police's actions, but they were also worried about the fact that the Afrikaans language was made compulsory as a medium of instruction in schools. My uncle (the late Tshitahe) and some fellow students from Mphaphuli, like Ndweleni Tshikalange, David Matikamuya and many others, organised themselves into a unit to retaliate, which led to a number of arson and sabotage attacks on government buildings and infrastructure. Schools and other public buildings became their targets.
"Soon after all these incidents, Tshitahe became a wanted person, with the police hovering over the villages and Sibasa town, looking for him. He was arrested on 24 December 1977, detained under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act of 1967, sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, and eventually sent to Robben Island," Ronny said.
Tshitahe was a PR councillor at the Thulamela Local Municipality at the time of his death.
A memorial service will be held for Tshitahe on Friday, 15 July, at the Makwarela Community Hall, starting at 13: 00. On Saturday, he will be buried at the Mbaleni village cemetery near Tshikevha Secondary School. The burial service starts at 06:00.