The political turbulence that played out in the country in the early 1980s was something anti-apartheid activists spoke about as they marked the 40th anniversary of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
The UDF was an umbrella political movement made up of more than 400 organizations with one common goal: to overthrow the apartheid government.
Former UDF members marked the historic day at various events held across the country.
In Cape Town, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Rocklands Civic Centre, where the UDF was launched.
Naseegh Jaffer, an ex-UDF activist, recalled what he needed to do to evade the security police.
“You don’t stay at home, you don’t stay at home for more than two weeks or three weeks. You move all the time. You change your appearance. I remember the first time I went on a flight to Johannesburg in the height of the state of emergency. I dressed up like a tennis player with a tennis racket and white pants and white shirt. We did all sorts of things to disguise.”
Another former UDF member, Barbara Friedman, shared how she, like many activists, needed to endure constant harassment from the security police.
“You know, they would come knocking on the door at 4 in the morning ‘bang, bang, bang’. I remember the one time they came and arrested us, you kind of get up and get into their vans and their cars.
“For years later, I would wake up at 4 in the morning because that was the time that they came knocking on the door.”
The UDF-40 organizing committee will be holding a few more events this week to commemorate the UDF’s 40th anniversary.
‘We have to say no, like we did in those days’ – UDF’s 40th anniversary
-EWN
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