2008 Woodie Awards
Lecturer Discusses Apartheid Activism
Michelle Firestone
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: News
Survivor. Political prisoner. Inspirational leader. Thulani Mabaso identifies with all of these labels.
Mabaso, a native of South Africa, spoke at the Dodd Center Monday about his experiences as an activist and victim of the apartheid government in his country. Apartheid, which granted the white minority population power and control over the black majority, was dismantled beginning in 1990.
During the uprising of 1976, Mabaso and other schoolchildren threw stones at police, harassing them.
"That was our way of fighting back," he said.
This incident was the beginning of a lifetime of activism for Mabaso. At the age of 19, he led a group of South African revolutionaries throughout the country. The first stop on their tour was Swaziland, where they were confronted by military officers who questioned them about their intentions. Mabaso - who had received official military training, including how to use explosives - had every intention of fighting his repressive government.
"He asked what we wanted, and I said we wanted guns to kill the white people," he said.
Their next stop was Johannesburg. One Wednesday, Mabaso and his comrades entered a building carrying a shoebox full of explosives. Before detonating the explosives, the group made efforts to notify people so they could escape. While some people received injuries in the bombing, none were killed.
After three months of activism, Mabaso was arrested and administered to Superior Court to be placed on death row in 1984.
The human rights lawyers who defended his case managed to get him off death row, getting him an 18-year prison sentence instead.
In his speech, Mabaso described the horrific details of his treatment at the hands of the South African police. At the John Foster Square police station, the police made him take off his pants and proceeded to squeeze his genitals. They also chained him, covered his mouth with a handkerchief and plaster and put his feces in his mouth.
Mabaso, a native of South Africa, spoke at the Dodd Center Monday about his experiences as an activist and victim of the apartheid government in his country. Apartheid, which granted the white minority population power and control over the black majority, was dismantled beginning in 1990.
During the uprising of 1976, Mabaso and other schoolchildren threw stones at police, harassing them.
"That was our way of fighting back," he said.
This incident was the beginning of a lifetime of activism for Mabaso. At the age of 19, he led a group of South African revolutionaries throughout the country. The first stop on their tour was Swaziland, where they were confronted by military officers who questioned them about their intentions. Mabaso - who had received official military training, including how to use explosives - had every intention of fighting his repressive government.
"He asked what we wanted, and I said we wanted guns to kill the white people," he said.
Their next stop was Johannesburg. One Wednesday, Mabaso and his comrades entered a building carrying a shoebox full of explosives. Before detonating the explosives, the group made efforts to notify people so they could escape. While some people received injuries in the bombing, none were killed.
After three months of activism, Mabaso was arrested and administered to Superior Court to be placed on death row in 1984.
The human rights lawyers who defended his case managed to get him off death row, getting him an 18-year prison sentence instead.
In his speech, Mabaso described the horrific details of his treatment at the hands of the South African police. At the John Foster Square police station, the police made him take off his pants and proceeded to squeeze his genitals. They also chained him, covered his mouth with a handkerchief and plaster and put his feces in his mouth.
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