Lusiba Esdras Ntloko was 22 when he was arrested for his involvement in the student uprising in the greater Queenstown region in 1976. Almost five decades later, his name stands among thousands on the Wall of Remembrance at the Robben Island Museum, a memorial to political prisoners whose contributions to South Africa's liberation have not always received the recognition they deserve.
Ntloko was born in Queenstown on 18 July 1954 and became involved in student activism during one of the most turbulent periods in South Africa's history. He was detained under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act of 1967 and stood trial alongside 12 others, including his brother, Phambili Nehemiah Ntloko. They were sentenced to five years' imprisonment on Robben Island.
After his release, Ntloko continued his political work, joining the Azanian People's Organisation. In 1986 he was elected national co-ordinator of the National Forum and, in 1990, became the national organiser of Azapo. During his time in the organisation, the Black Consciousness Movement experienced an increase in membership and Azapo's public profile grew.
His activism extended beyond political organising. Ntloko worked with the Family Institute alongside Prof Saths Cooper, supporting families of late comrades affected by gender-based violence. In 1988, when Azapo was prevented from operating as a political party by the government, Ntloko joined four other former Azapo members, Thabo Sehume, Charles Mabitsela and Jacky Tshapulutsa, in forming Azaco to pursue the same political aspirations.
He was also instrumental in facilitating a Democratic Future, a conference that welcomed South Africans returning from exile. He was subsequently elected national organiser of Azasco, an organisation rooted in the philosophy of Black Consciousness, a position he held until 1993.
Ntloko remained involved in efforts to facilitate the return of members of Azanla, the military wing associated with the Black Consciousness movement, before his death on 19 November 1997. He was 43.
Today, his name is preserved on the Wall of Remembrance at Robben Island, alongside thousands of other former political prisoners.
The Wall was unveiled in September 2025 as part of an effort to preserve the histories of people who were imprisoned on Robben Island for their opposition to apartheid. The project draws on the Robben Island Museum's Memories Project, which began in 1997 to collect and document memories of significance from former political prisoners.
One of its sub-projects, the Ex-Political Prisoners Database, was established to collect information about people imprisoned on Robben Island for political reasons between 1961 and 1991. The Wall of Remembrance draws on this database, while the museum continues to collect information to build a fuller record of the people whose names and stories form part of South Africa's liberation history.
For Professor Saths Cooper, the chairperson of the Robben Island Museum and a close friend of Ntloko, the project is about ensuring that these histories are not lost.
He says the Wall is intended to “resuscitate the spirit of consciousness” among young people and remind them that the power to shape the future is in their hands. It also serves as a reminder of the role played by young people such as Ntloko, who were arrested during the period surrounding the 16 June 1976 uprising.
“The wall is to awaken the spirit of the sung and the unsung young people,” Cooper says, adding that “our children are our conscience”.
Cooper says the project is also important in preventing the erasure of people's contributions from the historical record. Between 1961 and 1991, at least 7 000 political prisoners were held on Robben Island, he says, but some names were lost from historical records.
The museum's work to recover the names is therefore about more than creating a memorial. It is an attempt to restore a fuller record of the people who participated in the struggle against apartheid, including those whose contributions were never widely recognised.
“We have to memorialise those who sacrificed for us and keep their efforts alive,” Cooper says. “This is just the start, we must do more. It's our common history archive or heritage.”
More former political prisoners are expected to receive medals for their contributions at an event on 31 October 2026, as the museum continues its work to preserve and honour these histories.
For people such as Ntloko, whose political life was cut short at 43, the Wall offers something that history can sometimes fail to provide: a name that remains visible, remembered and connected to the struggle that helped shape the South Africa we know today.