Celebrating 90 years for Mama Sobukwe is a major feat. It is a sterling life which is exemplary for all, young and old, men and women, that one can serve, suffer and sacrifice for freedom. Her circumstances do not differ much from those of Afrikan women in the rural areas and at the bottom of the pyramid in the social structure.

The same people who did everything they could to vilify both Biko and Sobukwe while they lived – and have taken part in attempted erasure of their legacies – pretend to honour these anti-apartheid icons. Today, those who paid a painful price for associating with Biko and Sobukwe watch how others gobble up the fruit of their sacrifices, as they and their families continue to suffer in silence.

Contrary to repeated claims, the Soweto Uprising of 40 years ago was organised and led by student members of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko. They are the people who politicised other students and imbued them with the revolutionary black consciousness philosophy. They were all found guilty of sedition in the Soweto 11 trial.