[Article] die Groot Krokidil

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Joe Slovo Anniversary Memorial Event:
6 January 2010

Joe Slovo

Joe Slovo, 23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995
Springbok Legion; Advocate; Congress of Democrats; Treason Trialist; Umkhonto we Sizwe
SACP General Secretary 1984 – 1991
SACP National Chairperson 1991-1995
ANC NEC Member
Minister of Housing April 1994 – January 1995
Joe Slovo biography: on SACP site; on Wikipedia; Speeches & writings; Google


The 6th of January 2010 is the 15th Anniversary of the untimely death of Comrade Joe Slovo.

The occasion will be marked with the traditional laying of wreaths, red roses and a few words and songs by the family of Cde Slovo, members of the Central Committee of the SACP, members of the Government and comrades.

The occasion will also be marked with the announcement of the launch of the Joe Slovo Foundation, a non-profit organisation whose goals are to support education and housing initiatives as a lasting and ongoing tribute to Cde JS.

The formal proceedings will commence at the graveside at Avalon Cemetary, Tshabuse Street, Chiawelo, Soweto (011 947 1377 or 011 947 2696; see also the map, below) at 9am in the morning on 6 January 2009.

Summary:

* Date: 6 January 2009
* Time: 09h00
* Venue: Avalon Cemetary, Chiawelo, Soweto
* Main Speaker: SACP General Secretary Dr Blade Nzimande

Does anyone remember when Die Groot Krokidil passed away. We need to have a special service for him so we can balance the scales on stupidity and the wastage of taxpayers money.

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And the Lord God got rid of the Tower of Babel (Joe Slovo) and so the ANC, SACP, SACC, and COSATU, were thrown into disarray. Amen

[Dave A]

Joe Slovo may have been a communist, but if you compare the service given to government, I'll take the product of Joe Slovo's short tenure as Minister of Housing against the service record of the groot krokodil any day.

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Dave. When I served in the army he was the Minister of Defense and his daughter was my Corporal. He wasn't Prime Minister yet.

As you can see by my sarcasm that it doesn't make any difference to me, it is still a waste of taxpayers money. We have our memorials why can he not be included in one of them.

I believe we will be erecting a new Beetroot Memorial soon.

[Dave A]

To my mind a wreath laying ceremony doesn't seem over the top at all. And if someone wants to organise a memorial service for PW, good luck to them too.

We seem to be really stuffing up the issue of legacies at the moment. There's quite a feisty discussion around Manto's legacy on Constitutionally Speaking at the moment, complete with sequel - and very little of it is particularly constructive.

I never was a fan of Thabo Mbeki, but I was blown away by the trashing of Thabo Mbeki by the ANC after he was "relieved" of the Presidency. Not only was it totally unnecessary - the man had stepped aside as graciously as he could under the circumstances - it was setting one heck of a bad precedent that I expect JZ will reap his due reward for one day.

There's even a growing chorus trashing Nelson Mandela nowadays. For goodness sake, why?

We need heroes. But heroes are nothing more or less than ordinary people living extraordinary lives. If you look hard enough for the bad, you'll find it. Does it really help us to focus on it?

I sense a culture of intolerance is gaining pace at the moment, and the pace is being driven by a whole lot of people who would do well to consider what their legacy might be one day.

The light I'm holding onto right now is that the PW regime produced FW de Klerk. I'm hopeful that the excesses of the JZ regime may produce a brave leader who will commit to doing the right thing for our country too one day.

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We are pummled too often with political news and not new ways to solve the problems in SA. I have to agree with you whole heartedly. We need new heroes as well as new leaders.