Alex Heroes Honoured
On Saturday 25 October 2008, Alexandra honoured its liberation
heroes in a street renaming ceremony.
The Alexander Renewal Project (ARP), in partnership with the City
of Johannesburg, hosted the gala event in which a parade of marchers
wound its way through the streets of Alex for the unveiling of
the new street names. This was followed by a ceremony in the newly renamed Meshack Kunene
Stadium where the Alex Jazz Band, with DJ Pablo and DJ China,
entertained the crowd.
The festivities were graced by the presence of members of the heroes'
families and dignitaries representing all three tiers of government. South Africa's
Deputy President, Ms Baleka Mbete; Gauteng Premier and son of Alex,
Paul Mashatile; Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Amos Masondo; Gauteng
Housing MEC, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane and Johannesburg MMC Transportation,
Clr Rehana Moosajee, together with Linda Memela of the ARP, all
addressed the assembly.
The Alexandra Stadium and six major thoroughfares have been
renamed. The new street names were approved by a full sitting of the
Johannesburg City Council, after the township's Zone 13 approached the
City to honour those heroes of Alex who had been involved in the
struggle and had also played an active role in developing the township
and improving the lives of the people of Alex.
Vasco da Gama Street was renamed after the prominent
activist Florence Moposho. Florence Moposho, who died in exile
in 1985, was the first woman elected to the ANC National Committee
from Alexandra. She participated in many political activities in the
township, including the bus boycotts of the 1950s. When the ANC was
banned she went into exile and rose up the party's ranks until she
was elected to the National Executive at the Morogoro Conference in
1969, a position she held till her death.
Originally from the Free State, Moposho's family settled in
Alexandra in 1912 and still resides in the township.
The Alexandra Renewal Project has constructed a bridge across the
Jukskei River, extending Florence Moposho Road and creating a new
transport corridor between Old Alex and the ARP’s Extensions 5 - 10
housing projects on the far East Bank. This development will also be the main feeder from central Alex to the Marlboro
Train Station.
Hofmeyr Street was renamed Richard Baloyi Street. Recognised as one of the martyrs of the Alex bus boycott
and a prominent businessman in the township, Richard Baloyi lived in Second
Avenue. He played a leading role in the area's civic matters,
contributing to its general governance and fighting against injustices.
He died in 1962 after playing a huge part in reshaping Alex.
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Selborne Street was renamed after Reverend Sam Buti, in
recognition for his role in the "Save Alexandra" campaign, which ended
victoriously in 1979. Buti was instrumental in the campaign to look for alternative shelter when Alex was condemned to
extinction by a parliamentary resolution in 1958.
The programme to evict all Alex residents started in the 1960s, when
people were forcibly removed to Tembisa, Diepkloof, Meadowlands and
later to Klipspruit. Other forced removals happened in the mid-1970s
to hostels in Johannesburg. In these removals women and children
were sent to "homelands" or "bantustans", far away from their husbands
and fathers, and work opportunities.
With the support of the student movement, the Alexandra Student
League, Buti mobilised support to help feed and provide necessities
such as blankets, clothes and mattresses for affected families. He
also helped residents to acquire identity documents, known as 'dompas',
which allowed Blacks to stay in the cities. This culminated in the
"Save Alexandra" campaign with mass meetings, petitions and protests
that drew international attention and forced the apartheid regime to
negotiate. Reverend Buti is still alive, and was a guest of honour
at the ceremony. The City's naming and renaming policy states
that names of living people should be avoided and only in
exceptional cases will these be considered.
Roosevelt Street was renamed after Alfred Nzo.
Alfred Nzo was the longest serving Secretary General of the ANC, a
resident of Alex in the 1950s and 60s and a community activist. Born
in 1925 in Benoni, Nzo was active in the Health Committee, which ran
the civic administration of Alex before the Peri-Urban
Administrative Board took over. Nzo also participated in civic
matters and the Alex bus boycott.
He went into exile in 1964 and was elected Secretary-General of the
ANC at the Morogoro Conference in Tanzania. Along with Oliver
Tambo, he is seen as one of the architects of the ANC in exile.
After the 1994 elections, Nzo became the first
Minister of Foreign Affairs in democratic South Africa. He died in 2000.
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London Road was renamed after Vincent Tshabalala, a
student, youth activist and intellectual. Born in 1964, Tshabalala was one of the martyrs of the struggle. He left the
country in 1983 and joined the ranks of Umkhonto we Sizwe, later
returning on military and underground missions in the country. He
was sold out and was killed in a street battle with the police at
the corner of London Road and 12th Avenue in 1985.
In one of the ARP's earliest projects, Vincent Tshabalala Road was
widened and upgraded in 4 phases to accommodate additional traffic
while remaining open for public use. A new bridge on this primary
access road in and out of Alexandra has been built across the Jukskei
River.
Rooth Street was renamed after Josias Madzunya, one of the
most prominent political activists to emerge from Alex in the 1950's. Well-known for
the trademark long coat he
wore whether it was hot or cold, Madzunya was active in the ANC and
formed part of the Alexandra and Transvaal leadership.
However, he broke away from the ANC and became a founding member of
the Pan African Congress in 1959, together with Robert Sobukwe and
others.
Madzunya participated in the 1950's defiance campaigns against
apartheid evils such as bantu education and laws that excluded
Blacks from entering certain places. He was arrested many times and
banished to Venda in what is now Limpopo province. He remained
militant and a leader in the PAC until his death in the early 1970s.
Alex stadium was renamed after Meshack Kunene who, at the
age of twenty-three, was killed by security police on 30
June 1990 during a welcome rally for the ANC Secretary-General, Mr.
Alfred Nzo.
The Meshack Kunene Stadium (formerly the Alexandra Stadium), at which the renaming ceremony was held, is being upgraded in phases to facilitate
its continued use during the process. The project includes the full
installation of all engineering services and includes commercial sites
and public facilities. The upgrade also ensures that the light
intensity is of a standard sufficient for nighttime television
broadcasts from the stadium, which will be used as a training
facility during the 2010 World Cup.
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