LETTER: Biko had antidote to Verwoerd dogma
The effect of Biko’s influence on high school pupils in the townships culminated in the 1976 riots
TONY Leon writes of Hendrik Verwoerd that "the fall five decades ago of this giant — or monster — passed with little fanfare" (Snapshots of greed, gestures of change, and genuine hope, September 12). I am more surprised that he appears oblivious of the 29th anniversary of Steve Biko’s assassination on September 12. Quite ironic that the real ideological adversaries in SA were in fact Biko against Verwoerd. While Verwoerd preached the inferiority of African people (he called them Bantu) and used the power at his disposal to actualise his opinion of them, Biko generated the Black Consciousness philosophy, a direct antidote to the Verwoerd dogma, and embarked on programmes to pump life into the "empty shells" resulting from Verwoerd’s shenanigans. While Verwoerd died content that any "revolutionary" attempt from the "Bantu" had been crushed, following the Rivonia Trial, with all the "terrorists" sentenced to life imprisonment, Biko’s death in 1977 triggered the dismantling of Verwoerd’...
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