Vuyisile Mini (Breana C.)

Vuyisile Mini was a unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer, and one of the first African National Congress members to be executed due to apartheid. He was born in Port Elizabeth, SA in 1920 and was executed on November 6, 1960. During his lifetime he joined the ANC, and in 1952 he was taken to jail to a Defiance Campaign, then was later released in 1958. In 1960, he became Sactu secretary for the Eastern Cape. During his childhood Vuyisile Mini's father, due to his political activism, was fired from one job after another and employers refused to employ him, saying that he has become a troublemaker.  In the 1950s, Vuyisile Mini struggled to organize workers across the Eastern Cape. He was picked by the (SACTU) to organize the metal workers and later became the Metal Workers Union Secretary.

    He was very influential to South Africa during apartheid because of the songs he composed as well as their delivery with his powerful voice. His words were composed during the Treason Trail, and are remembered for composing one of the most famous liberation songs for the 1950s. He spoke of the struggle and of his absolute conviction of the victory to come. Many of the songs sung by the freedom fighters of today are Mini`s compositions. Vuyisile Mini died singing revolutionary songs and never thought of turning his back. He had always used his gifts as an actor, dancer, poet and singer to advance the revolution. He understood that people needed to be taken from the level of where they were and not to intimidate them with big political talk. His music and poetry inspired the revolution both in jail, and outside even when he was no longer alive.

 Now, while I was researching Vuyisile Mini I learned a lot more facts about the conflicts during apartheid. Reading “Cry, the Beloved Country” in class defiantly gave me an insight on what apartheid was like on both sides-white and black. But actually reading about an actual black South Africans life during apartheid is a whole new ball game. When you learn that Vuyisile’s father was fired from every job he had you can somehow sympathies the Mini’s struggle and understand how it was so easy for Vuyisile to get involved in the revolution so quickly. From a young age he was exposed to the hard truth of the world before he could even comprehend what was exactly going on. And by the time he grew up and became a teen he’s well informed about the unfairness of apartheid and immediately wants to take action. I personally will never know exactly where Vuyisile’s mindset was at because I’ve never experienced the stuff he has.

  I recommend anyone to do some research on not just Vuyisile Mini but many of the members involved in the South African Congress Trade of Unions, because you may think you know a lot about apartheid but you won’t fully comprehend it until you study the lives that certain South Africans had to go through in pain.

                                                               

                                                                                    Breana C.

                                                                                        A2