Thebe Mabanga
The Steve Biko Foundation, under the leadership of renowned academic Xolela Mangcu, has used this week to launch a year-long programme to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of the black consciousness icon Steven Bantu Biko.
The foundation works with various youth organisations such as Sharpe- ville native and playwright Gama- khulu Diniso’s Culture Reclamation Youth Movement and Movement 76 to celebrate black consciousness.
This week’s programme takes place in Sharpeville, the site of the massacre that gave rise to Human Rights Day, for a range of cultural activities. On Friday, there will be a theatre festival under the directorship of Diniso to be followed by an address from the Minister of Social Development and Welfare Zola Skweyiya.
On Saturday, a photographic exhibition on family life in Sharpeville will be held alongside a series of theatrical productions. Also from Thursday, there will be a youth festival that is an exchange programme between Sharpeville youth and their counterparts from Ginsberg, Biko’s hometown in the Eastern Cape.
The commemorations, which Mangcu describes as “an examination of the soul of the nation”, are expected to culminate in September, the month of Biko’s death, with a visit by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.
The details
The Sharpville Arts Festival is at the Vaal Technikon’s main hall. Call 072 368 9523 or (011) 403 0310 for details