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Oral History Association of South Africa ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA Oral history: Heritage and identity Proceedings of the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Annual National Oral History Conference White River, Mpumalanga (2010) Mahikeng, North-West Province (2011) & Mangaung, Free State (2012) Editor Christina Landman © 2013 Research Institute for Theology and Religion University of South Africa, P O Box 392, Pretoria, 0003 South Africa First edition, first impression ISBN 978-1-86888-737-8 Typesetting, typographical editing and final lay-out: Nonnie Fouché, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa Cover design: David Kahts Department of Production University of South Africa Printed by: Bontshi Business Services PO Box 51248 Wierda Park Centurion 0149 Acknowledgement: A financial contribution by the Department of Arts and Culture made this publication possible. © 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means – mechanical or electronic, including recordings or tape-recording and photocopying – without the prior permission of the publisher, excluding fair quotations for purposes of research or review. The views expressed in this book are those of the authors of the papers and not necessarily those of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion or the University of South Africa. Table of contents Foreword vii-viii Seventh Oral History Conference 2010 (White River, Mpumalanga) Oral history and heritage: National and local identities Daring to challenge the mightiest: voices and acts of bravery found in the oral history of the Zulu people 1-6 Themba Qwabe (uMngeni Municipality Museums and Heritage Board) The people of Onverwacht 7-10 Sandra Rhode (Librarian: Voortrekker Monument and Heritage Foundation) The fire and the crowd, a case study of Sharpeville 11-16 Zdena Mtetwa (Khulumani Support Group) Re-hearing the homelands: Hammanskraal stories 17-35 Sarah Godsell (Master’s student, University of the Witwatersrand) Land appropriation and expropriation in Zimbabwe: selective memories 37-50 Kennedy Gondongwe (Doctoral student, University of KwaZulu-Natal) Digitising and documenting the oral history 51-63 Roger Layton (Project Manager of the National Policy on Digitisation of Heritage Project, Department of Arts and Culture) Oral history in the classroom: forced removals and the carrying of passes 65-72 Shobana Singh (Teacher, Kharina Secondary School, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal) Eighth Oral History Conference 2011 (Mahikeng, North-West Province) Past distortions, present realities: (re)constructions(s) and (re)configuration(s) of oral history Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indian indentured labourers in South Africa: “unsung heroes” 75-87 Shobana Singh (Kharina Secondary School, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal) The content, handling and role of oral history in the Zion Christian Church 89-101 Prof LJ Rafapa (Department of English Studies, University of South Africa) A “linked data” approach to biographical documentation – a case study of unsung struggle heroes 103-118 Roger Layton (Project Manager of the National Policy on Digitisation of Heritage Project, Department of Arts and Culture) Zdena Mtetwa (Khulumani Support Group, Khotso House, Johannesburg) Emancipating the African voice through photojournalism: Alf Kumalo and his experiences during the struggle for freedom in South Africa 119-130 Nomazizi Jamela and Tembeka Ngcebetsha (Department of Heritage and Knowledge, Freedom Park, Pretoria, South Africa) The conflict between the Mapulana and Amashangaan on a knife edge in 1984 and the impact that remains to this day 131-136 Harold Lekhuleni (Mpumalanga Department of Education, Bohlabela District) Cultural hegemony, distortion of history, memory and identity: then and now 137-150 Zorodzai Dube (Department of New Testament and Early Christianity, University of South Africa) Orality and notation of Korean traditional music 151-162 So Inhwa (Visiting Researcher, International Library of African Music) Ninth Oral History Conference 2012 (Mangaung, Free State) Oral history, communities and the liberation struggle: Reflective memories in post-apartheid South Africa Reliving Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle (Second Chimurenga) through Simon Chimbetu’s selected songs 165-173 Dewah Peterson and Charles Tembo (The University of Fort Hare) Memories of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle among the people from the Bulilimamangwe district in the southwestern parts of Zimbabwe 175-185 Thembani Dube (University of the Witwatersrand) Radio freedom, songs of freedom and the liberation struggle in South Africa, 1963-1991 187-204 Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi (University of the Witwatersrand) The histories of children’s futures 205-210 Christina Landman (University of South Africa) Foreword This volume contains three sets of OHASA Conference proceedings for 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. OHASA stands for the Oral History Association of South Africa and its conferences, as well as the publication of its conference proceedings. These are sponsored by the Department of Arts and Culture.<<Author: Is my interpretation correct? (NT) This is the third of three volumes of conference proceedings that have been published during 2013. The first volume, Culture, memory and trauma, contains the proceedings of the third OHASA conference held in 2006 in Richard’s Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. The second volume is entitled Oral history: representing the hidden, the untold and the veiled, and represents the fifth and sixth OHASA conferences, held in 2008 in East London, Eastern Cape, and in 2009 in Cape Town, Western Cape. The title of this volume, Oral history: heritage and identity, reflects the contents of the three most recently held conferences of OHASA. In 2010 the seventh OHASA conference was held at the Protea Hotel, The Winkler, in White River, Mpumalanga from 12 to 15 October and was entitled Oral history and heritage: national and local identities. The opening of the conference was indeed a festive occasion. Words of welcome were spoken by the MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation of Mpumalanga, Mr VR Shongwe, as well as the Executive Mayor of Mbombela (Nelspruit), Mr Lassy Chiwayo. The keynote address was delivered by the (then) Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile. Day one and two were opened with the wisdoms of organic intellectuals, Monica Zwane and Abby Maloma. On days two and three the keynote speakers were Mathole Motshekga and Ikosa Mahlangu. Apart from that, a total of 40 papers were delivered during the conference as well as four workshops on oral history method. Learners from the local secondary schools also presented their oral history projects. The eighth OHASA Conference was held from 11 to 14 October 2011 at the Mmabatho Palms Hotel in Mahikeng, North West province. The conference theme was Past distortions, present realities: (re)construction(s) and (re)configurations(s) of oral history. The president of OHASA, Professor Sekgothe Mokgoatšana, opened the conference, a ceremony that was enriched with the contributions of the Executive Mayor of Mahikeng, Nontsama Lenah Miga; the MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture of the North West Province, Patrick Chauke; the Premier of the North West province, Thandi Modise; and last but definitely not least, the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Joseph Phaahla. A total of 49 papers were read during the conference and a workshop was hosted by Radikobo Ntsimane and Thandeka Majola. A high point of the conference was the contributions from the North West learners’ Family Tree Project. From 8 to 11 October 2012 the ninth OHASA conference was held at the Black Mountain Hotel in Mangaung (Bloemfontein) in the Free State province. The theme was Oral history, communities and the liberation struggle: reflective memories in post-apartheid South Africa. Welcome speeches were made by the Executive Mayor of Mangaung, Thabo Manyoni; the MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation of the Free State, Dan Kgothule; and the Premier of the Free State, Ace Magashule. Contributing beautifully to the opening ceremony was the performance of the Bochabela String Orchestra. There were 45 papers read at the conference and the guest speaker was Professor Philippe Denis, a founding member of OHASA. From these three conferences a total of 27 papers are published in this volume. Again, it was a privilege to be involved with these manuscripts as the editor of this volume, and the series editor of all three volumes. This volume, too, testifies to the fact that oral history is alive and well in South Africa, that work of quality is delivered by oral historians and that novel research is being conducted locally. Prof Christina Landman Editor Research Institute for Theology and Religion University of South Africa Daring to challenge the mightiest: voices and acts of bravery found in the oral history of the Zulu people Themba Qwabe uMngeni Municipality Museums and Heritage Board Introduction From time immemorial the Zulu people have paid allegiance to their kings. They showed enormous respect for their kings: it was most undesirable, in fact taboo, to challenge the authority of the king. The Zulu kings were known as “Imilomo engathethi manga” (“Mouths that tell no lies”). There were however some instances when the king or his authority was challenged or undermined. This paper therefore looks at some of those instances and gives background on why they happened and what the consequences were. Instances of undermining or challenging the mightiest
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