UPCOMING EVENT!

INAUGURAL LECTURE TO REMEMBER AND HONOUR MASERU MASSACRES

On Saturday the 09th of December the NHC in partnership with Freedom Park Museum, Le Rona Re Batho Memorial Trust and the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) will commemorate and honour the 1982 and 1985 Maseru Massacres through an inaugural lecture and an Art exhibition at Freedom Park Museum in Pretoria from 09h00 – 14h00.

Le Rona Re Batho Memorial Trust is a non-profit organisation based in the Eastern Cape formed by families and grandchildren of the victims of 1982 and 1985 Maseru Massacres.

The Maseru Massacres inaugural lecture is intended to preserve and promote the legacy of our liberation struggle through the Resistance and Liberation Heritage Programme (RLHR) spearheaded by the NHC.

The lecture and Art exhibition are a culmination of a 3-phase creative arts and storytelling project that is spearheaded by the 2nd and 3rd year Fine Art students from the Walter Sisulu University.

Struggle stalwart and Ambassador Thenjiwe Mthintso will deliver opening remarks and historic overview of the Maseru Massacres. The lecture will be followed by a two-part panel dialogue which will comprise a generational mix of survivors, family members and grandchildren of the victims of both massacres, as well as partner organisations and stakeholders under the themes “The After lives of a Massacre” followed by “The power of remembrance for prosperity”.“The Maseru Massacres shows that there is inter-connectedness and unity of purpose of the struggle for liberation of the entire African continent; shared history and heritage with a common road to independence and economic emancipation,” says Dr Ndivho Lukhwareni, Chief Executive Officer of the NHC.

Maseru Massacre was one of many brazen cross-border raids conducted by the SADF during the 1980s. It was in the early hours of December 9th 1982 when South African Defence Force commandos crossed the border into Lesotho. Their target was a cluster of houses on the outskirts of Maseru where members of the African National Congress were believed to be hiding. 

Meeting no opposition from Lesotho’s tiny 2 000-man paramilitary force, they blasted their way through numerous homes.  By morning of 9th December 42 people were dead, 30 of them believed to be members of the ANC. The remaining victims were Lesotho residents, including five women and two children. A raid by 17 Vlakplaas security policemen on two ANC houses in Maseru, Lesotho saw nine people being killed including six ANC operatives and three Lesotho nationals on 20 December 1985.

“This important yet atrocious part of our liberation history needs to be preserved and promoted for reconciliation, unity, justice and social cohesion” says Dr Lukhwareni.

The Art exhibition of the Maseru Massacres will be exhibited at the Freedom Park Museum for public awareness and education. To attend the Maseru Massacres inaugural lecture, email liberation@nhc.org.za or contact (012) 748 3949 for any further enquiries.