Landless People’s Movement to March on June 16th to Repoliticise the Meaning of the 1976 Uprisings

Landless People's Movement Press Statement
27 May 2009

Landless People's Movement to March on June 16th to Repoliticise the Meaning of the 1976 Uprisings

The Landless People's Movement in Gauteng will march from the Maurice Issacs High School to the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto on the 16th June 2009 to repoliticise the meaning of the 1976 Soweto Uprisings.

We, as the Landless People’s Movement, met with different social movements in Gauteng on 18 May 2009. Decisions were taken that the march should be done as a coalition, under the banner of the Poor People’s Alliance. We took this decision as we are trying not to own this march as the LPM. We are trying to revive the history of 1976. As part of this we will be holding workshops with the youth communities in Soweto.

For more information contact:

Bongani Xezwi – youth Coordinator LPM Protea South Branch – 071 043 2221
Maureen Msisi – LPM Gauteng Chairperson – 082 337 4514
Or by email: bongani.xezwi@gmail.com

For more information on this march, see our previous press release (below):
http://abahlali.org//////?p=5135

Landless People’s Movement (LPM) to have Liberation March on 16 June 2009 to Commemorate 1976 Soweto Uprisings

The LPM is organising a march from Maurice Issacs High School to the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto on the 16th June 2009 to repoliticise the meaning of the 1976 Soweto Uprisings. This march is a response to the ANC’s hijacking of the 16th June as they have turned it into a bourgeois event. We as the LPM believe we should not celebrate this day, as our government does, but commemorate it by reflecting on the struggle for the liberation of the youth that is still being fought for by poor communities 15 years into our so-called democracy. We would like to invite all the civic organisations and social movements, regardless of their political affiliation, to be part of this march.

We are asking comrades to attend our meeting on the 18th of May 2009 at the Jubilee offices on the 4th floor of the Vogus House, 123 Pritchard Street (cnr. Mooi), Johannesburg. We request that all organisations email or phone us by the 14th May to confirm their attendance at our meeting. Please bring ideas and an open mind and also forward this message to others who may be interested so that we can make this march have a strong impact. Because we continue to be denied our most basic human rights, we refuse to let our government forget that our struggle for liberation is not over.

Our parents will also be doing a night vigil on the 15th June in the hope that the march on the 16th will help set us on the path towards a renewed liberation for the youth in South Africa.

For more information contact:

Bongani Xezwi – Youth Coordinator LPM Protea South Branch – 071 043 2221
Maureen Msisi – LPM Gauteng Chairperson – 082 337 4514

Or by email: bongani.xezwi@gmail.com