Ivor Markman
Freedom Fighters taken across border
EX-UMKHONTO WE SIZWE COMMANDER: Frederick Bafana Gqola, former MK area commander in the Mount Fletcher area of the old Transkei, shares a light moment with his wife Noluntu. They were in Port Elizabeth for the filming of a documentary about the liberation struggle.
By Ivor Markman
In the 1970s and 1980s Frederick Bafana Gqola, leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), and head of its intelligence service in the Mount Fletcher area, would never have dreamed of disclosing his activities to anyone, least of all to the media.
There is no doubt he would have faced the death sentence had the feared security forces cottoned on to his later activities.
Last week, 41 years after his first visit to Port Elizabeth, Gqola was back in the city with his wife Noluntu, as guest of the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, which is shooting a series of documentaries about untold stories of the Eastern Cape.
Like all black people during the apartheid era, he was deeply offended by the laws denying him the freedom of travel in the country of his birth.
Born in the tiny village of Vuvu, west of Mount Fletcher, Gqola wanted to work in Port Elizabeth, but because he was a Transkei citizen he was unable to obtain a work permit.
One had to first get a work contract before a work permit, which allowed the permit holder to work in one of the "South African" cities.
"I felt it necessary to join the MK in order to free my people from the oppressive laws," he said.
Shortly after South Africa became a republic, Gqola joined the MK.
On December 16, 1961, MK carried out attacks against certain of the National Party government's apartheid installations for the first time.
Gqola was actively involved in promoting the ANC when one of his comrades gave him away.
"Members broke when they were tortured. They revealed secrets, so I was arrested," he said.
He was charged with being a member of a banned organistion, furthering the aims of the ANC and intending to overthrow the South African regime.
On December 17, 1964, after a one-day trial in Somerset East, he was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment on Robben Island.
"The trial was just a matter of a day. I was allowed to appeal, but I was sent to Robben Island before hearing the appeal had failed," Gqola said.
He clearly remembers the warder's ill-treatment of the prisoners.
They tried to break them by using various means, including baton beatings, punishments and other hardships.
Meals for the prisoners were deliberately meager.
“We were given coffee and porridge in the morning.
“During lunch we were given boiled mealies and phuzamandla.
“In the evening you would get coffee and porridge,” he said.
Phuzamandla, meaning "drink of strength", is a powder made from mealies (maize) and yeast, stirred into water or milk.
When it is thick, it can be tasty but prison portions were so miserly it barely coloured the water.
Gqola was kept away from Mandela and the other ANC leaders on the island.
“We were not allowed to speak to them, but we found ways of communicating.
“Of course these methods were very secretive,” he said.
Letters were carried secretly between the isolation cells and those of other ANC members.
The criminal prisoners, used as cleaners, as well as those used as kitchen staff, were used to smuggle messages.
“We had no pencils or paper, so we used toilet paper or smuggled paper. We also had no pencils, so we smuggled these in.
"There were no Coloured or black warders on Robben Island. (They were removed in 1963.)
“We used the white warders to carry out messages - exposing prison conditions on Robben Island - to England and other countries,” he said.
Gqola was put to work in the quarries under terrible conditions to get the blue stone needed for building purposes.
“During winter they gave us threadbare old jerseys.
“We had to wear torn clothes.
“They took us to the shed when it was raining, but when it was windy they made us sit and face the cold wind.
“When it was very hot they took us to the very hot place so we should suffer.
“We knew it was going to end because there were free African states.
“Ghana got its freedom in 1957, so we were really sure we were likely to survive until freedom day,” he said.
When Gqola was released from jail in 1973, he was restricted to the magisterial district of Mount Fletcher for two years.
During this time the police made life very difficult for him.
“I was building a community hall in a place called Fubane, but I could not complete that building because I was detained three times for 90 days (under the 90 Day Detention Act).
“After the two-year restriction expired in 1976, I embarked on my duties to take these people across the border (into Lesotho).
“We had secret routes across the border (and) I had to select people who were highly disciplined and who would obey all the commands.
“For security reasons we chose the most difficult route so that they would not be able to trace us or to stop us,” he said.
Those who had chosen exile simply arrived at his home in the tiny village of Paballong.
The journey to Qachasnek took four days and was kept highly secret, as there were informers in the area.
“If anyone suspected anything, they kept it to themselves.
“I took about 150 people across the border.
“There were others who went through Lesotho, but they were taken through by other comrades.
“The police couldn't follow us even when they used horses, as it was very mountainous,” he said.
The journey to Lesotho was tough and the number of travelers varied between three and 20.
To avoid arousing any suspicions, they took nothing with them, not even food.
“It was an extremely difficult route and for four days we went without food. We would get water from the streams in the mountains.
“We established a place we called ‘Heroes' Rest’.
“There was some sort of shelter (where) we used to make fires. We slept there and got up the following morning to continue our journey," he said.
“There were no caves (in which to shelter) and we were exposed to the cold,” he said.
On one of these journeys one of his takkies (sneakers) burst open and Gqola had to walk with one foot bare through the snow.
“I had to carry the torn one in my hand,” he said.
To this day, as a result of these trips, he is unable to wear closed shoes.
Gqola sometimes crossed the border into Lesotho at a mountain known as Three Sisters.
At that point, the border consisted of a rotten fence that had fallen over so it was easy to cross over.
Once in Lesotho, the party would register their presence with one of the local chiefs and then proceed to Qachasnek.
An aircraft was sent to transport the exiles to Maseru.
At first, Gqola would escort them all the way to Maseru, but later he only took them as far as Qachasnek.
He would then walk back to his home in Paballong - another four-day hike.
For the return trip he would take food with him, usually a loaf of bread.
Gqola, who was trained in the use of explosives, would also smuggle pamphlets, AK-47 rifles and explosives back into the country.
The last time he led a group across the border was in the 1980s.
All Text and Photos: Copyright Ivor Markman 2013.
