Although a significant historical account, the story of the 1956 treason trialists is as much about the present as it is about the last fifty years, writes Kgalema Motlanthe.
Half a century ago this year, 156 of South Africa's most extraordinary sons and daughters were brought together into one room, courtesy of the apartheid government, to face charges of treason.
Their lives, their experiences and their contribution to the liberation of our people has never been more relevant than it is today. It is for this reason, that all South Africans owe Phyllis Naidoo a profound debt of gratitude for putting together such an important account of the lives of these people.
As an account of one of the most important eras in our history, this book is invaluable. As a prism through which we can view our own time, with its own challenges and responsibilities, it is essential.
The 1956 Treason Trial took place in the context of a resurgent national democratic struggle, that was able not only to mobilise the oppressed masses of South Africa, but was able to inspire a vision of a new society founded on the principle that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
It took place in wake of the Defiance of Unjust Laws campaign of 1952, in which thousands of our people demonstrated their determination rather to be imprisoned than to accept the imposition of discriminatory and oppressive laws.
The trial took place in the immediate wake of the Congress of the People of 1955 and the adoption of the Freedom Charter. It was the contents of this Charter - which boldly declared that the people shall govern - which earned these 156 leaders the charge of treason.
In the dock in this trial were not only the 156 individuals, but also the very vision of a free society that the people of South Africa had so clearly articulated in the Freedom Charter. In the dock alongside these brave men and women stood the hopes and aspirations of a nation.
In documenting the lives and struggles of these people, Naidoo has provided valuable depth and insight into the lives of a group of individuals who were both shaped by history and who shaped history. She has provided us not only with a collection of remarkable life stories, but also with a detailed and nuanced story of the life of a nation struggling to be born.
In doing so, she has given life to the vision that inspired these heroes and heroines to stand up to the might of the apartheid state, and to the vision that formed the nucleus of one of the most significant liberation struggles of the 20th century.
This book may be a significant historical account. But it is as much about the present, as it is about the last fifty years. It reminds us, in clear and unambiguous terms, of the qualities of leadership, and service, and sacrifice, which characterise true revolutionary heroism.
It reminds us that we are today both the beneficiaries and the custodians of a legacy of struggle and sacrifice which is far more significant than any of the petty preoccupations of the moment. It reminds us that we are engaged in a struggle to create a society that is largely without parallel in the course of human endeavour. It reminds us that however far we have come, we still have so much further to go.
As we grapple with the challenges of transformation at the beginning of the second decade of democracy, we would do well to look to the example set by the 156 treason trialists. As we are confronted with profound decisions of how best to realise their vision of a new society, we are called upon to draw on the values, the ideas, the commitment and the courage that they demonstrated and embodied.
It is their vision of a free, democratic and just society that we have been charged with advancing. So let us draw strength and inspiration from their lives as we, like them, solemnly pledge that these freedoms we will fight for, side by side, throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty.
* Kgalema Motlanthe is the Secretary General of the ANC. This is an extract from his speech at the launch of the book, 26 August 2006.
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