Spence News

Freedom Fighter Selby Semela Shares His Story and Wisdom with Students and Faculty

By Alessa K. ’19
“We were referred to as ‘foreign natives.’ I don’t know what that means.”

Selby Semela was born in 1958, just 10 years after the apartheid system became the official form of government in South Africa. During this time, South Africa divided its population into four racial groups: whites, Indians, Coloureds and Africans. The first three were recognized as citizens of South Africa; (black) Africans were not.

During his lunchtime visit in Spence’s Drawing Room, Semela discussed the most important milestones in the uprising in South Africa. “Bantu education,” the education system used only for Africans, emphasized manual labor to prepare children for work in factories, not for intellectual careers. In 1976, the South African government implemented laws that forced Africans to take their classes in Afrikaans, a language that was useless anywhere outside of South Africa. To make matters worse, Semela said the education for whites was free, while Africans were forced to pay for their inferior studies. When he and others met to discuss these unfair policies, Semela was arrested, tortured and held for three months without being charged.

Semela described the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976, and the police attacks that killed an estimated 200 students from primary to high-school age in the midst of a peaceful march. Following the march, he was forced to flee South Africa. The United Nations granted Semela and three friends refugee status, connecting them with members of the African National Congress who lived in London.

For the next decade, Semela dedicated his life to fighting apartheid with the aid of student groups outside of Africa. He discussed the struggles that he and others like him encountered when looking for a country to call home. He gratefully acknowledged the support he received from students across the UK and US who joined in the struggle against apartheid. Semela also shared the ways we need to address global issues to prevent oppression in the future.

Through his midday talk, his individual class visits to the Grade 9 classrooms of History teachers Dr. Lederman and Dr. Smith and his evening session with the Interschool Leadership Fellows, Semela left a lasting impression on Upper School students and teachers. He prompted stimulating intellectual discussions, building on students’ interest in the study of history.

“The presentation really changed the way I perceive the history I’m learning,” Grade 9 student Esme L. said. “It put into perspective the facts versus the human experiences.”
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