ANCYL recalls December 16 in history

This is a very good example of the ANC youth League realising that as they have no written factual history, they have to rely on the Boers account of what happened. Pity that they leave out the treachery of Dingaan, AFTER he negotiated a treaty with Piet Retief, who he murders. His impis then kill an extimated 500 men women and children, including black servants, mostly at Blaukraans.

Reconciliation Day represents the willingness, dedication and commitment of South Africans to live together in peace, the ANC Youth League said on Tuesday.

The day also coincided with very important days in the history of the struggle for liberation in South Africa.

December 16 was the day when Zulu king Dingane fought against colonial forces at the Battle of the Blood River.

It was the day of the formation of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, which signalled impatience with apartheid repression, oppression, torture and barbarism,

The year 2008 was the 170th year of what was previously known as Dingane's Day and the 47th anniversary of the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe.

The Youth League said December 16 represented the readiness, dedication and zeal of the people of South Africa to stand against any form of repression, oppression and dispossession.

"This is the spirit that should guide all South Africans, particularly the youth to resist the feeble attempts to steal the history of the African National Congress."

In its efforts to foster national reconciliation, the ANC had, since its adoption of the Freedom Charter, been guided by the dictum that South Africa belonged to all who live in it, black and white."

But this commitment did not mean the ANC would abandon the black majority, "particularly Africans, and join political representatives of white monopoly capital, the Democratic Alliance, etc", the Youth League said. - Sapa