At least 50 people killed. Dozens more injured. Lest we forget.
06 August 2020
A peaceful protest turned violent and bloody on the morning of August 6 1990, setting off a series of riots across Port Elizabeth’s northern areas that resulted in more than 50 people dying and dozens more being injured.
Several businesses were looted - never to recover.
Homes and vehicles were destroyed - even a church.
We remember.
HOW A PEACEFUL PROTEST TURNED VIOLENT
“I am a revolutionary slave of the uprising. Not a day goes by that my mind is not occupied by 6 August.”
As Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk held peace talks that ended in the signing of the Pretoria Minute on August 6 1990, ...
ByRoslyn Baatjies-Klaasen
August 6 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the start of what was undoubtedly the deadliest week for residents of Port Elizabeth’s northern areas.
LOSING LOVED ONES
“I knew that he died. I could feel it in me because I woke up that night, and I came to knock on the door by my granny, and I said ‘Ma, something happened to Chris’. And at the same time, the phone call came to say that he was shot.”
“I knew that he died. I could feel it in me because I woke up that night, and I came to knock on the door by my granny, ...
ByRoslyn Baatjies-Klaasen
“Every time I see one of those Casspirs I think that my father was in one of those and that he was begging for his life. That is what I think about every time.”
“There was chaos everywhere. It was tense. There were people standing at their houses to see what was going on. It was an experience that you cannot describe to anyone else that wasn’t there.”
Veteran newspaper photographer Charles Pullen worked for the Evening Post for just over a month when the Northern Areas ...
ByRoslyn Baatjies-Klaasen
IN THEIR WORDS
Whenever Bettie Hendricks sees a police Casspir, she is reminded of August 6 1990, when her father was allegedly thrown from a similar vehicle during the northern areas uprising.
Veteran newspaper photographer Charles Pullen worked for the Evening Post for just over a month when the Northern Areas Uprising broke out on August 6 1990.
OPINION
“Hundreds of people still carry the physical and psychological injuries inflicted during the conflict, with buildings, and bodies, left derelict, looking for ways to be repurposed.”
There was no government support and no justice for the victims of the 1990 northern areas uprising, South End museum ...
ByRoslyn Baatjies-Klaasen
DEDICATED TO
All the victims of the 1990 Northern Areas uprising - the named and the unnamed
Neville Dennis Gwendoline Malgas Deon Massyn Kenneth Mitchel P Nel Peter Nelson Michael Paulus Deon Raymond Christopher Seale Dennis Van Schalkwyk Brian Van Wyk Alton Walker
Elliot Bloemetjie Edward Claasen Lesley Coetzee David Goliath Thomas Castello Roderick De Boer Fred Douglas Rubin Enfin Warrick Fillis Abraham Fredricks F Friesland Zelda Gallant
Michael Jacobs Carolus Jacobs Nathaniel Robert Godfrey Sauls Cyril Jasson Shafiek Johnson Elsie Goliath Jacob Goliath Christo Plaatjies Pieter Louwskieter Madelaine Korkie Gavin Louw
Samuel Williams Tony Bennet Andrew Roberts Melvin Armoed Korkie Shavon Hendrik Koert Ernest Lowkee Marius Walker David Plaatjies Derrick Abrahams Martin Andrews Benjamin Seagarts
IN MEMORY OF: A memorial at the Paapenkuils Cemetery bears the name of 48 people who died as a result of the Northern Areas uprising of August 1990
Image: Fredlin Adriaan
Remembering the 1990 Northern Areas uprising
At least 50 people killed. Dozens more injured. Lest we forget.
A peaceful protest turned violent and bloody on the morning of August 6 1990, setting off a series of riots across Port Elizabeth’s northern areas that resulted in more than 50 people dying and dozens more being injured.
Several businesses were looted - never to recover.
Homes and vehicles were destroyed - even a church.
We remember.
HOW A PEACEFUL PROTEST TURNED VIOLENT
“I am a revolutionary slave of the uprising. Not a day goes by that my mind is not occupied by 6 August.”
- Godfrey Ackley
‘Had police kept back, there would be no August 6 ...
As Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk held peace talks that ended in the signing of the Pretoria Minute on August 6 1990, ...
August 6 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the start of what was undoubtedly the deadliest week for residents of Port Elizabeth’s northern areas.
LOSING LOVED ONES
“I knew that he died. I could feel it in me because I woke up that night, and I came to knock on the door by my granny, and I said ‘Ma, something happened to Chris’. And at the same time, the phone call came to say that he was shot.”
- Shireen Mentoor
Scars from fateful August 1990 northern areas ...
Whenever Bettie Hendricks sees a police Casspir, she is reminded of August 6 1990, when her father was allegedly ...
‘All of us whose family members died in the riots ...
“I knew that he died. I could feel it in me because I woke up that night, and I came to knock on the door by my granny, ...
“Every time I see one of those Casspirs I think that my father was in one of those and that he was begging for his life. That is what I think about every time.”
- Bettie Hendricks
AUGUST 1990: A TIMELINE
CAPTURING THE CHAOS
“There was chaos everywhere. It was tense. There were people standing at their houses to see what was going on. It was an experience that you cannot describe to anyone else that wasn’t there.”
- Charles Pullen
It was an experience you cannot describe to ...
Veteran newspaper photographer Charles Pullen worked for the Evening Post for just over a month when the Northern Areas ...
IN THEIR WORDS
Whenever Bettie Hendricks sees a police Casspir, she is reminded of August 6 1990, when her father was allegedly thrown from a similar vehicle during the northern areas uprising.
Veteran newspaper photographer Charles Pullen worked for the Evening Post for just over a month when the Northern Areas Uprising broke out on August 6 1990.
OPINION
“Hundreds of people still carry the physical and psychological injuries inflicted during the conflict, with buildings, and bodies, left derelict, looking for ways to be repurposed.”
- Allan Zinn
Reflections on the 1990 northern areas uprising
Hundreds of people still carry the physical and psychological injuries inflicted during the conflict, with buildings, ...
Northern areas residents never got justice
Despite the enormity of the 1990 Northern Areas riots and the lasting impact, it is not commemorated annually on the ...
THE WAY FORWARD
“You have to have something positive come out of it [the uprising] — not just a commemoration every year where we say ‘ag shame’.”
- Michael Barry
Community needs living memorial, not ‘ag shames’
There was no government support and no justice for the victims of the 1990 northern areas uprising, South End museum ...
DEDICATED TO
All the victims of the 1990 Northern Areas uprising - the named and the unnamed
Neville Dennis
Gwendoline Malgas
Deon Massyn
Kenneth Mitchel
P Nel
Peter Nelson
Michael Paulus
Deon Raymond
Christopher Seale
Dennis Van Schalkwyk
Brian Van Wyk
Alton Walker
Elliot Bloemetjie
Edward Claasen
Lesley Coetzee
David Goliath
Thomas Castello
Roderick De Boer
Fred Douglas
Rubin Enfin
Warrick Fillis
Abraham Fredricks
F Friesland
Zelda Gallant
Michael Jacobs
Carolus Jacobs
Nathaniel Robert
Godfrey Sauls
Cyril Jasson
Shafiek Johnson
Elsie Goliath
Jacob Goliath
Christo Plaatjies
Pieter Louwskieter
Madelaine Korkie
Gavin Louw
Samuel Williams
Tony Bennet
Andrew Roberts
Melvin Armoed
Korkie Shavon
Hendrik Koert
Ernest Lowkee
Marius Walker
David Plaatjies
Derrick Abrahams
Martin Andrews
Benjamin Seagarts
Image: Fredlin Adriaan
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