THE Pan African Congress yesterday celebrated Youth Day by unveiling its newest members – three victims of the 1993 Highgate Hotel Massacre which was initially blamed on the party’s armed wing.
In front of a cheering Mdantsane crowd packed into the Indoor Sport Centre, Neville Beling, Karl Weber and Thora Kristafar received PAC membership cards from party president Letlapa Mphahlele.
“I would like to thank president Letlapa and the PAC for having us here today, and also thank the PAC for having us as members,” said Beling, as former enemies became official allies in the latest dramatic development to the unsolved Highgate case.
One of his relatives, Zille Beling, is also a new member, but could not attend the event.
In the May 1 massacre, five people were killed and seven wounded, four of whom were left permanently disabled. The attack by gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles was blamed on the African People’s Liberation Army (Apla).
Beling, 20 years old at the time, was shot three times and spent two years in and out of hospital.
“We were told that it was Apla that attacked us that night,” he recalled.
That belief stayed with him until 2006 when Beling met Mphahlele, who at the time of the attack was in charge of Apla’s operations. The meeting resulted in a profound change to Beling. “Meeting with Letlapa and the investigating officer made us believe that a third force was involved, and not Apla. Thinking back 32 years today, in 1976 when security forces opened fire on approximately 10000 people, killing 575 and injuring over 2000 youths of Soweto, I can imagine what they must have gone through,” Beling said.
After that meeting, authorities reopened the investigation into the attack following calls for a fresh probe from Beling and his fellow survivors. There has been little reported progress .
Beling also said he believed in what Mphahlele was doing politically. “I would like to support what he is doing and the PAC,” Beling said.
Mphahlele said yesterday was a day in the PAC’s calendar not to be forgotten, and the presence of the white members marked a milestone in the party’s history.
“PAC will never again be called a racist organisation that intends to drive the white people back to the sea. Never again will the PAC be labelled a moribund organisation that will never grow.”
PAC official Mfanelo Skwatsha said it was not the first time in the history of the party that white people had joined as members.
He said the party had taken white people into its fold since the 1960s, and mentioned its representative to Algeria, Patrick Duncan, as an example. “It is not only in East London, but it happens all over the country.”
Skwatsha said 18 whites recently joined in George, more than 10 in Cape Town and surrounding areas and another 10 in Limpopo.
Mphahlele said the party was historically viewed as anti-white because of their militant slogans during the years of apartheid.
Whites could be elected to leadership positions. “We don’t consider pigmentation or skin colour or ethnical background (when it comes to leadership). If nominated and supported then they can lead the PAC in any position,” he added. - By MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA
