Robert Sobukwe's Grave Vandalised

I read this morning that the grave of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, the founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress, was vandalised or rather desecrated (for those of us who revere his teachings and historical memory).

Robert Sobukwe's grave in Graff-Reinet

I am greatly saddened to know about this.

I can only imagine the anguish and pain this horrendous act has caused for Prof's wife, Veronica Sobukwe.

Dini Sobukwe, Prof's son, told the Dispatch Online that this was the third act of vandalism directed at his father's grave.

It is not known if the vandalism is a political stunt or just a random act.

I suspect the former. Why would anyone just push over the headstone of Robert Sobukwe?

Whatever the reason though, his soul is among the great ancestors who look over our troubled nation.

When I close my eyes I can still see his warm smile and hear his infectious laughter booming from the kitchen at number 11.

And, when I listen really closely it is as if I can hear him say:"Don't worry Ridi their actions do not direct us."

Sobukwe is not his grave by any stretch of the imagination. Nonetheless, disrespecting his grave is a grievous insult to a man who loved this African soil more than anyone I have known or anyone I know about.

May the "son of the soil" rest in peace despite.

Until that day.

Onward!

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