Renewed calls for Sobukwe’s grave to be declared national memorial

Fresh calls have emerged for the grave of anti-apartheid activist and PAC founder Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe to be declared a protected national memorial. This after land reform and rural development minister and PAC president Mzwanele Nyhontso visited the vandalised gravesite in Robert Sobukwe Town, formerly Graaff-Reinet, on Tuesday. Nyhontso’s visit comes days after Sobukwe’s grave was desecrated again, the second such incident this year and the latest in a string of attacks that have plagued the site for years.

The vandalism has reignited calls for the grave of Sobukwe, who died 48 years ago at the age of 53, to be formally protected and developed into a national memorial. This is according to Azania Movement president Nolubabalo Mcinga who joined Nyhontso during the visit. They were joined by the party’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Thami ka Plaatjie, and members of Sobukwe’s family.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mcinga, who had motivated for the name of the town to be renamed from Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe Town, said the continued vandalism of his grave was heartbreaking, shameful and completely unacceptable. “It is not merely an attack on a grave. It is an attack on the legacy of one of Africa’s greatest sons and on the history of our liberation struggle,” she said.

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Mcinga said repeated attacks on the gravesite demonstrated the need for a permanent solution involving the government, heritage authorities, the Sobukwe family and political organisations. She revealed that after an earlier incident this year, she had discussed possible security measures with Nyhontso, including the idea of protecting the grave with a steel structure. According to Mcinga, Nyhontso told her the proposal had previously been discussed with Sobukwe’s late widow, Veronica, who opposed the idea because she did not want her husband to be “locked up” again after the years he spent imprisoned under the notorious Sobukwe Clause. “We must respect that deeply personal decision,” she said.

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