The Eastern Cape provincial government, led by acting Premier Xolile Nqatha, recently held a commemoration ceremony at the Steve Biko Centre in Ginsberg, just outside Qonce, Buffalo City, in memory of the 1992 Bhisho massacre victims.
On September 7, 1992, current ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa and slain SACP leader Chris Hani led a march of about 80,000 protesters from King William’s Town (now Qonce) to Bhisho, where they were met with a hail of bullets from the then Ciskei Defence Force soldiers under Brigadier Oupa Gqozo.
The shooting incident left 28 people dead and over 200 injured in what is now known as the Bhisho massacre.
The Ginsberg-based Steve Biko Centre also hosted several memorial events, including the annual Biko memorial lecture in honour and legacy of struggle icon and black consciousness leader, Steve Bantu Biko, throughout the month of September.
Born in Ginsberg, Biko is a renowned apartheid struggle activist who was brutally tortured and murdered by the apartheid security police in September 1977.
The commemoration ceremony started with the laying of wreaths at the Bhisho Massacre Memorial site before proceeding to Ginsberg for the main event. Delivering his keynote address on behalf of Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, who was on a state visit to China, Nqatha said the provincial government will continue to honour, remember, and celebrate the courage and sacrifice displayed by those who lost their lives on that fateful day.
Various government departments, including Health, Social Development, and Home Affairs, were brought together in an attempt to provide essential and basic services to the people of Ginsberg, Qonce, and the surrounding rural areas.
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) provided local residents with social grants assistance, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) with tax-related information, while Home Affairs assisted with the application for identity documents (IDs) and birth certificates.
