RECONCILIATION DAY
By Magistrate T. Lendore
The Day of Reconciliation is very important in the history of our country; owing to the emotive and turbulent origins of two major historical events. First, the battle of blood on the banks of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838 between the Voortrekkers and Zulus. The Voortrekkers, who moved inland during the Great Trek to South Africa, were keen to settle down on this land. The Zulu people already populated the area they chose to settle in. With the advantage of gunpowder, the 470 Voortrekkers, defeated the 10 000 strong Zulu army in battle. Secondly, on 16 December 1961, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was formed. This was the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC),
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which was launched to wage an armed struggle against the apartheid government. Before its formation, the ANC had largely approached the fight against apartheid through passive resistance, but after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, where peaceful protestors were indiscriminately shot by police, such was no longer regarded as a viable means to oppose the regime. The Day of Reconciliation has been created to mark the end of apartheid. South Africa’s first nonracial and democratic government aimed to symbolically acknowledge the significance of this date. The day, therefore, has been in existence since 1995. The purpose of this day was to foster unity and reconciliation across the country. The reason the date was
selected is due to its significance to both African and Afrikaner cultures and an attempt to find a balance between a division-fraught past and the promotion of national unity, racial harmony, and reconciliation in a new South Africa. In the Bible, reconciliation involves a change in the relationship between God and man or man and man. It assumes there has been a breakdown in the relationship, but now there has been a change from a state of enmity and fragmentation to one of harmony and fellowship. As we commemorate this day, let us therefore Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 2:13).
