Thula bopela biography of william hill

Something was wrong with me but I could not tell what it was! The turmoil continued and became unbearable.

Thula bopela biography of william hill: Thula Bopela is an ANC veteran

What was wrong with me, I asked myself. I went away from the office and sat facing the Indian Ocean. It was calmer here, no people. Only the gentle sea and the high palm trees waving in the wind, and some seagulls in the distance. I became calmer and began to analyse my feelings. Yes, there was nothing wrong with going to school as we planned to do; the country was going to need professionals to run it when freedom came.

The only thing that I needed to answer for myself, me, Thula Bopela, son of Simo kaMhlathini kaDambuza kaVananda kaBatshwazayo was whether it was right to go to school when other men were going to war. I come from a family of warriors, men who always understood that their supreme duty was to the nation, not themselves. All my great grandparents had served the Zulu nation as warriors, without exception.

I come from a culture where every man is considered a warrior from the day he is born. If there is no war during his lifetime, fine. But if there was, nobody needs to tell you what role you are expected to play, and it is not about going to school. I had not known that the ANC had trained men here in Tanzania; I had not seen them, but then I knew that MK was there, ready to go and fight to free the land.

The question I needed to settle for myself was whether I was going to select the role of a scholar for myself, wait for other young men to die in my place and come back to a free South Africa. The problem was that even if I lived to see a free South Africa, deep inside me a voice would admonish me and say: 'Other young men went to do their duty and died so that you could be free.

I came back to Mtoni a quieter man than I had been when I had left that morning. The other students noticed it but decided to leave me alone, assuming that I was maybe just home sick. I sat on the veranda and pondered my next move. The people of South Africa needed warriors at this particular time, not scholars. They would need scholars after the country had been freed; just now the need was for warriors.

All nations go through this phase in their lives. The British men and women heeded Churchill's call to 'fight them the Germans on the beaches, fight them on the landing grounds, fight them in the hills, fight them in the air, fight them in the sea, fight them everywhere, and never to surrender! Joining the African National Congress at that time was a dangerous undertaking.

Joining MK was tantamount to signing one's own death warrant. How then did a sensible person abandon a safe life, a promising school career in an English university, and plunge himself into an organization whose main business is to be killed or imprisoned? I was not the only one who was faced with such a choice. Young men and women of my age in South Africa were faced with the choice of joining the struggle, and most probably perish or go to Robben Island.

Many chose not to fight endured oppression and let others stick their necks out. They obtained degrees, found good jobs, got married and started families. They read in the newspapers about their former schoolmates who had opted for the struggle, that they were being imprisoned or were being hanged. They congratulated themselves on their good sense for staying out of it all.

Joining the African National Congress at that time was coming into something far greater than oneself.

Thula bopela biography of william hill: Bleek and his sister-in-law

That is how most of us saw it. The taxi arrived, not quickly enough for me, who was aching to depart with my sorrow. Ron then delivered the coup de grace:. We whites consolidate power, which means we share it, to stay strong. We may have different political ideologies and parties, but we do not kill each other over political differences, not since Hitler was defeated in Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe will not stay friends for long.

In your free South Africa, you will do the same. There will be so many African political parties opposing the ANC, parties that are too afraid to come into existence during apartheid, that we whites will not need to join in the fray…. I shook hands with the Superintendent and boarded my taxi. I slept deeply; I was mentally exhausted and spiritually devastated.

I only had one consolation, a hope, however remote.

Thula bopela biography of william hill: She was my inspiration at

Thula Bopela, South African struggle veteran and author, writes in his personal capacity, and the story he has told is true; he experienced alone and thus is ultimately responsible for the ideas in the article. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of new posts by email. Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

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Thula bopela biography of william hill: Umkhonto we Sizwe: Fighting

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Trees matter: The more, the better. First Lady leads national tree planting campaign. Home Opinion Liberation struggle alive and kicking. Liberation struggle alive and kicking. Additional information Weight 0. Reviews There are no reviews yet. Filter by price. Thula BopelaDaluxolo Luthuli. Umkhonto We Sizwe This publication is a memoir written by men who fought as guerrillas with the liberation forces of countries in southern Africa.

The authors joined the liberation struggle as young men in the early s when they left South Africa to join the ranks of MK in Tanzania. Full description. Loading interface About the author.