Former MK fighter, James April encourages youth to actively shape a better society
|Published
Cape Town - Thirty years after the first democratic elections, former MK fighter, 84-year-old James April, who was among the first coloured people to join the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) military wing, said some political parties lacked commitment and encouraged the youth to be more involved in shaping society.
“The leaders of the 90s and early 2000s knew where they came from and they were fully committed to building a new non-racial society,” April said.
“They showed it in practice. Many of today’s cadres lack true political commitment and have a thin veneer of political education.”
April is best known for his bravery alongside slain struggle veteran, Basil February, also an MK cadre.
February died during an ambush attack in the then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1968 when they were still young men.
On December 16, 1993, April received a medal for bravery from former president Nelson Mandela with the dissolution of MK.
April became active in the Coloured People’s Congress in 1961 and underwent training in Mamre in 1962 according to early writings about him. He was detained alongside February in 1962 for painting political slogans and participated in what was known as the Wankie Campaign. He was the secretary of the branch in Athlone, the home of Alex la Guma, political prisoner and activist and later novelist.
He grew up in Bokmakierie and was one of seven children and was just six during World War II. His father was the person who made him politically aware and conscious.
April would later be charged with four counts of the Terrorism Act and was held in solitary confinement and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and was detained on Robben Island.
During this period he completed a bachelor’s degree and was released in 1986 and was banned from the teaching profession by the then coloured education department.
Three years later, in 1990 he was appointed as an officer in the SANDF and served as a budget director in the Department of Defence and in 2012 he also received an award for bravery as a military veteran from then president Jacob Zuma.
On April 27, 1994, April cast his first vote at the church hall of St George’s in Silvertown in Athlone.
April recalled how long the queues were and called on the youth to be more politically aware and conscious and said he felt excited at receiving an award.
“I was somewhat elated but I was not quite sure what part of my actions caused that I receive the award.. But the lustre of the occasion was wearing off, I said for some time to fellow workers at UWC, that we need a strong opposition to keep the government on its toes because the youth need to get involved in public affairs at an early age, in their late teens when they are a bit more mature.”