BLF had a successful meeting with Amnesty International

Posted on August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 by Black First Land First

Yesterday, a delegation of Black First Land First (BLF) national leaders led by our President Andile Mngxitama, held a succeful meeting with the Executive Director of Amnesty International for Southern Africa, Shenilla Mohamed, in Johannesburg.

The two organizations met on the request of BLF. The main concern of BLF was the use of the image of the architect of apartheid, Hendrick Verwoerd, to promote the #SignTheSmileOff Verwoerd’s face campaign in furtherance of addressing the deplorable educational system.

We are pleased to report that after a robust and frank engagement, Amnesty International has agreed that the image of Verwoerd would be removed within a week and the second phase of the campaign will unfold without the Verwoerd image. This is an important development.

BLF has expressed its endorsement of the objectives of the campaign of Amnesty International which serve to deal with the appalling crisis of apartheid education.

BLF calls on all leaders of society, irrespective of party political affiliation, to take action and address the ongoing crisis in our education. The black learner is facing an educational genocide.

BLF will be writing to the Speaker of Parliament to get parliament to address this situation. Moreover BLF shall write to the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), as the main trade union in the education sector, to lead the battle in addressing the crisis in our schooling system.

We share the concerns of Amnesty International that 25 years after the formal end of apartheid, the state of education for the black child remains appalling. Now is the time for action, not long speeches!

Issued by Black First Land First, National Coordinating Committee of (BLF NCC)

15 August 2019

Contact Details

Black First Land First Mail: [email protected]

Zanele Lwana
(BLF Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225

MEDIA ALERT – #SignTheSmileOff Verwoerd’s face campaign

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Black First Land First

Black First Land First (BLF) is extremely perturbed by the #SignTheSmileOff Verwoerd’s face campaign which uses the image of Hendrik Verwoerd to promote the said campaign.

We have indicated to Amnesty International that better ways can be found to address the crisis of education. To this end a leadership delegation led by BLF President Andile Mngxitama will be meeting Amnesty International under the following details:

Date: 14 August 2019, Wednesday
Time: 9:30 to 10:30,
Venue: office of Amnesty International
97 Oxford Road, Saxonwold, Johannesburg.

BLF President will brief the media after the meeting outside offices of Amnesty International.

Issued by the National Coordinating Committee of Black First Land First (BLF – NCC)

13 August 2019

Zanele Lwana
(Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225

BLF calls on Amnesty International to stop promoting Verwoerd

Posted on August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 by Black First Land First

Black First Land First (BLF) calls upon Amnesty International to stop the #SignTheSmileOff Verwoerd’s face campaign and to find better ways to address the crisis of education. Moreover Amnesty International must desist from promoting the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, because that is the de facto impact of using imagery of him under the circumstances.

While the intentions of Amnesty International may very well be good, the medium chosen to promote the campaign nullifies any such good intentions. Verwoerd represents the main contradiction which is white supremacy. He is the main source of the problem that we are facing which the African National Congress (ANC) government has failed to address.

Bringing giant poster imagery of Verwoerd into the public sphere is not acceptable. Black people are the targeted individuals who will be bombarded with offensive apartheid imagery via every platform imaginable. Its triggering and impairs the dignity of blacks. Its also an insult to the collective pain of black people who are the real victims of apartheid. It moreover serves to miniaturize the horrors of apartheid.

We don’t expect those who will be calling for reparations for Jewish holocaust victims to be using the image of Hitler to further their campaign, because they know what that image would mean. We expect the same application to the victims of the black holocaust of which the apartheid schooling system is a function.

We note that Verwoerd’s apartheid legacy is well represented in parliament. Over half a century since his death, Verwoerd’s grandson, Wynand Boshoff, has been thrust into the National Assembly through the ticket of the racist Freedom Front Plus. This must be corrected through an overhaul of parliament itself.

BLF will make a written request to Amnesty International for a meeting to discuss this matter. We will also canvass with them the need to call on the Zimbabweans for assistance. To this end the following extract from the BLF Black Agenda on education is instructive:

“In the short to medium term, there is a need to turn around the colonial education crisis through a four-year extraordinary intervention which would put the whole education system on a new footing. As a commitment to Pan-Afrikanism and recognition of the generally sound Zimbabwean education system, a four-year process of co-teaching with the Zimbabwean O and A levels graduates in the public schools which have shown the most negative results must be embarked upon. This call must go to build capacity in all the schools in villages, as well as the squatter camps.”

Issued by Black First Land First, National Coordinating Committee of (BLF NCC)

1 August 2019

Contact Details

Black First Land First Mail: [email protected]

Zanele Lwana
(BLF Deputy President)
Cell: +27 79 986 7225