THEMBA SEPOTOKELE | Honour doyens of black journalism while still alive

One question that lingered on my mind during the 80th birthday celebration of renowned newspaperman, political activist and patriot Joe Thloloe was whether we have honoured and celebrated people like him enough so that their names are not a distant memory when they are no longer with us.

Listening to various speakers – from union organisers, journalists and political activists, among them Sithembele Khala, Cunningham Ngcukana, Thami Mazwai and Jaki Seroke – waxing lyrical about the life and times of this son of the soil, again I realised that his story and that of other doyens of journalism have to be documented and their names remembered for they are an asset to the country.

We always eulogise people when they have taken their last breath.

Sadly, we rarely pay homage to a person while they are still alive. Not only were the likes of Thloloe journalists, they were also activists and patriots who used the might of the pen and camera to fight and help bring down apartheid. They were just not mere conveyors of information.

Mazwai often says they were black first before they were journalists, hence they were also involved in politics, some in the underground movement. During apartheid they fought and campaigned for the free press we enjoy today.

There are many unsung heroes and heroines in the media, some of whom have been forgotten. Some have departed, while others are in retirement. Their names are a distant memory. Some, like Thloloe, were arrested, tortured and humiliated. Thloloe was among those incarcerated on Robben Island and paid the price as did his family.

As much as Thloloe and another legendary journalist, Mathatha Tsedu, were honoured by the government during national orders and bestowed with honorary doctorates by institutions of higher learning, they deserve more for their selflessness.

As we prepare to commemorate Black Wednesday under the banner of Press Freedom Day, the fateful day on October 19 1977, which was characterised by the banning of The World and Weekend World and the arrest of editor Percy Qoboza, including the banning of 19 Black Consciousness Movement organisations, we should not only ponder the events of yesteryear but also to find ways to celebrate, honour and remember the role played by many doyens of journalism.

Their names should not only be remembered or honoured during Press Freedom Day. They deserve better. They too sacrificed their lives for freedom. Legendary journalists and activists such as Thloloe, Tsedu, Aggrey Klaaste, Qoboza, Don Mattera, Joe Latakgomo, Sophie Tema, Juby Mayet, Alf and Len Kumalo and many others deserve a special mention in journalism literature.

This of course should include the Drum generation such as Can Temba, Nat Nakasa, Todd Matshikiza, Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi, Arthur Maimane, Stan Motjuwadi and Casey Motsisi. We have streets, libraries and schools named after political activists and some streets in Johannesburg are named after some artists.

There must also be a concerted effort to name some institutions of higher learning or lecture halls after these bastions of black journalism in order to protect and preserve their legacy. Yes, some have been honoured through the National Orders, good and well, but it is incumbent upon the government, specifically the department of sport, arts and culture and the departments of education and higher education, science and innovation to find innovative and creative ways to honour our heroes.

These doyens of black journalism too deserve to have names on monuments. They are our treasure.

• Sepotokele is a journalist, communication strategist, media trainer and journalism lecturer