Edited by Azizi Powell
Update November 23, 2019 [Post added on lyrics)
This is Part III of a four part pancocojams series about the South African song "uPhephela".
Part III presents information about individuals and organizations that are or were mentioned in the lyrics to the song "uPhephela" or are mentioned in comments about that song.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/what-south-african-song-uphephela_23.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents some lyrics for this song.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/what-south-african-song-uphephela.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II presents some comments from the discussion thread of a February 2019 YouTube vlog. Those comments correct the misinterpretation of the song "uPhephela" that was given in that video [vlog].
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/video-examples-of-south-african-song.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part IV presents several YouTube videos of the South African song "uPhephela".
The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composers of this song and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
"uPhephela" ["Helicopter" or "Airplane"] is an old ANC song that is now mostly associated with E.F.F. has been adopted by ANC's rival E.F.F.
Here's information about these organizations and other organizations that are mentioned in this song or in association with this song [The song's lyrics are found in Part I of this series]. Information about two individuals who are also mentioned in versions of "uPhephela" (Nelson Mandela and Julius Malema] are also included in this post.
Note that I've not added as much information about the ANC and Nelson Mandela because my focus audience for the posts in this "uPhephela" series are Americans [people in the United States] and other people who are at least somewhat familiar with Nelson Mandela and the ANC, but are far less likely to know the other individual who is mentioned in that song and the other organizations that are also mentioned in that song.
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INFORMATION ABOUT ANC
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_National_Congress
"The African National Congress (ANC) is the Republic of South Africa's governing political party. It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa since the election of Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election, winning every election since then. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent President of South Africa, has served as leader of the ANC since 18 December 2017.[4]"...
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INFORMATION ABOUT NELSON MANDELA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
"Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela... 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
A Xhosa, Mandela was born to the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, British South Africa. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. There he became involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics, joining the ANC in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League in 1944."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY (IFP)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkatha_Freedom_Party
"The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is a political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. The IFP is currently the fourth largest party in the National Assembly of South Africa and yielding third place to the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters.[1][2]"
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INFORMATION ABOUT OLIVER TAMBO
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Tambo
"Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 1917 – 24 April 1993), also known as O. R. Tambo, was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.
[...]
In 1943, Tambo, Mandela and Walter Sisulu founded the ANC Youth League, with Tambo becoming its first National Secretary and a member of the National Executive in 1948. The Youth League proposed a change in the tactics of the anti-apartheid movement. Previously, the ANC had sought to further its cause by actions such as petitions and demonstrations; the Youth League felt these actions were insufficient to achieve the group's goals and proposed their own "Programme of Action". This programme advocated tactics such as boycotts, civil disobedience, strikes, and non-collaboration.
[...]
In 1955, Tambo became Secretary-general of the ANC after Sisulu was banned by the South African government under the Suppression of Communism Act. In 1958, he became Deputy President of the ANC and in 1959 was served with a five-year banning order by the government
Guerrilla activity
Tambo was directly responsible for organizing active guerilla units. Along with his comrades Nelson Mandela, Joe Slovo, and Walter Sisulu, Tambo directed and facilitated several attacks against the apartheid state."...
-snip-
Read the comment given as #1 in Part I of this pancocojams series on the song "uPhephela". The lyrics to a version of that song given in that comment mentions Mandela and Tambo. At least one other old version of that song mentions the ANC.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENT CONGRESS (SASCO)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Students_Congress
"The South African Students Congress (SASCO) is a South African student organisation which was founded in September 1991 at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, through the merger of the South African National Student Congress (SANSCO) and the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). The predecessor of SANSCO, the Azanian Students Organisation (AZASO) was initially formed in 1979 as a continuation of the South African Students Organisation (SASO) when the latter was banned by the Apartheid government. SASO, in turn, got started by Steve Biko as a breakaway faction from NUSAS in the 1960s.[1]
SASCO is the biggest student movement in Africa[citation needed]. It organizes students in institutions of higher learning striving for the transformation of not just institutions of higher learning but the whole system in order to achieve a non-sexist, non-racial, working class biased and democratic education system."...
-snip-
Some comments about the song "uPhephela" in Part I of this pancocojams series included the abbreviation "SRC". I looked up the meaning of "SRC" as it pertains to South Africa and learned that "SRC" means a university's "Student Representative Council".
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS (ORGANIZATION) [E.F.F.]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Freedom_Fighters
"The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African far-left[15] political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and his allies, in 2013.[16] Malema is President of the EFF, heading the Central Command Team which serves as the central structure of the party.[17]
It is currently the third-largest party in both houses of the South African Parliament.
[...]
Policies
The EFF "draws inspiration from the broad Marxist–Leninist tradition and Fanonian schools of thought in their analyses of the state, imperialism, culture and class contradictions in every society", according to one of its declarations.[21]
It criticises the African National Congress and their primary opposition, the Democratic Alliance, for their allegedly pro-business stances, which it claims have sold out the black people of South Africa to capitalism as cheap labour. It promises to tackle corruption, provide quality social housing, and provide free primary healthcare and education for all, as well as proposing to expropriate stolen land, nationalise the mining and banking sectors, double welfare grants and the minimum wage, and end the proposed toll system for highways.[22]
[...]
Support base
According to a November 2013 Ipsos survey, the party's supporters are younger than average, with 49% being younger than 24, overwhelmingly black (99%) and mostly male, with women representing only 33% of the support base. A disproportionate number of supporters live in Malema's home province of Limpopo (28%), while only 1% live in KwaZulu-Natal, a more populous province.[39] A 2018 survey conducted by social research company Citizen Surveys found that around 70% of EFF supporters were between the ages of 18 - 34, overwhelmingly black (97%), mostly based in major metropolitan cities (48%), predominantly male (62%) with 43% of their support base located in Gauteng Province.[40]”...
-snip-
I've watched YouTube videos and their discussion thread comments that refer to "EFFSC". However, that Wikipedia page on EFF doesn't mention "EEFSC". I believe that "EFFSC" means "Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command" and, if I understand this correctly, those university student organizations are affiliated with the EFF political party.
Here's one tweet and one YouTube discussion thread comment about the EFFSC:
From https://twitter.com/DlaminiMarshall/status/1167703195377983488
"Marshall Dlamini
@DlaminiMarshall
Congratulations to the EFFSC for a decisive victory at DUT, your battle was not only against other Student movements, but the Entire System, University, Criminal Business people, Police.
#UPHEPHELA @EFFSouthAfrica @EFFKZN @EFFStudents
12:38 AM - 31 Aug 2019"
**
Mpho Kgomotso, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx9fTa3o1Fc
"EFFSC vs SASCO... these are students movements, and ANC sang this song *aiming it at IFP back in the late 80's and 90's, so where do they say white people in the song? the context of the song has nothing to do with people but university students' bodies"
-snip-
*this song = "Uphephela"
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INFORMATION ABOUT JULIUS MALEMA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Malema
"Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a South African Pan Africanist politician who serves as Member of Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African political party, which he founded in July 2013.[2][3] He previously served as President of the African National Congress Youth League from 2008 to 2012. Malema was a member of the ANC from the age of nine [4] until his expulsion from the party in April 2012 at the age of thirty-one. He occupies a notably controversial position in South African public and political life, having risen to prominence with his support for ANC president, and later President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. He was described by both Zuma[5] and the Premier of Limpopo Province as the "future leader" of South Africa.[6] Less favourable portraits paint him as a "reckless populist" with the potential to destabilise South Africa and to spark racial conflict.[7]"...
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This concludes Part III of this four part pancocojams series.
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