Page 52 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

Access to Justice
MY JOURNeY As AN
activiSt foR fReedom
Left to Right - Volunteer case worker Fezeka Joe Slovo settlement in Uitenhage. Minikina andNobuzwe Mofokeng, Director ILDA.
Nobuzwe Mofokeng campaigns against the illegal deduction of social grants at a meeting conducted by ILDA in Despatch.
nobuze MoFokenG
NOBUzWE MOFOKENG WRITES ABOUT HER 34-YEAR LABOUR OF LOVE WORKING AS A PARALEGAL AT THE INTERCHURCH LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY IN UITENHAGE. ONE OF THE OLDEST LDA’S SUPPORTED BY SCAT, ILDA WAS FORMED AFTER THE LANGA MASSACRE.
On my eighteenth birthday I found out on my birth certificate that my name was Nobuzwe (meaning love of nation at heart). My father gave me this name before leaving the country for exile for political reasons. I at last understood who I was, an activist for freedom who always has the interests of our people at heart. At school I was involved in anti-apartheid protests and in 1979 I was arrested for public violence and sentenced to cleaning the police station after school. After I passed matric, I worked in a company as a personnel officer. I was also involved in monitoring boycotts, not buying from white owned shops and 1000 000 signature campaign for the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. My father’s exile and the Langa massacre, when police killed unarmed and peaceful marchers, ignited my passion for fighting injustice.
I was interviewed for the job as director of Interchurch Advice Office by the late Molly Blackburn, and Lou-Ann Parsons. That was the beginning of my journey as a community- based paralegal. In 1985 our main funder was SCAT. For a very long time our field worker was Nyami Goniwe. sometimes I had to go to work with my last born on my back, putting him in the walking ring while I worked. soon after my appointment Molly Blackburn was tragically killed in a car accident. My priority was to support families to get permits at Louis Le Grange police station in Mount Road, Port elizabeth to enable them to visit their relatives who were detainees. I also had to arrange for families to get permits to visit sentenced prisoners. We organised transport for awaiting trial detainees’ families, working in partnership with the south African council of churches and Red cross for transporting families to Green Point, Victor Verster, Pollsmoor, and Robben Island prisons. Those arrested and charged for politically related cases needed lawyers and finance to pay bail. The Advice Office supported families of political prisoners with transport to visit those awaiting trial every Wednesday.
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RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years