The Northern Cape Provincial Administration will conduct a wreath laying ceremony on the graves of 13 victims of the 1952 Mayibuye uprisings. This ceremony will be led by the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture Ms. Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba on Friday, 16 November 2018. She will be accompanied by some of the family members of the victims of the fateful year. The ceremony be conducted to honour the struggle icons who contributed towards the freedom and liberation of the country. 

 

The day will begin with the keynote address to be delivered by MEC Mbinqo-Gigaba at the Bantu/ Batho Hall in the morning. It will be followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Mayibuye precinct before the delegation proceeds to the West end cemetery to lay wreaths on the 13 victim's graves. The ceremony will be conducted to mark the 66th anniversary commemoration of the 1952 Mayibuye uprisings. 

The Mayibuye uprisings took place on Saturday, 8 November 1952 at Number Two Location Galeshewe. It came as a result of culmination of the Defiance Campaign which started in 1952. The Campaign was meant to protest against unjust laws used by the apartheid regime to oppress black people in South Africa. 

 

On Friday, 7 November 1952, protesters led by Dr. Arthur Alias Letele demonstrated against apartheid laws by occupying racially segregated public spaces in Kimberley. They blocked whites-only entrances to the main post office and defiantly sat on whites-only benches at the railway station. Dr. Letele and seven other leaders were arrested and that fuelled further resentment and led to uprisings in Galeshewe Number Two Location where both public and private properties were destroyed. 

 

The protest continued into the second day 8 November 1952, with more arrests. The police station and several other buildings including the crèche were burnt. Police, Municipal and private vehicles were set alight. When the protesters were marching towards town, they were stopped by the police who indiscriminately opened fire on them. Thirteen people were killed and seven injured.