As the soccer world cup heats up in South Africa, it is worth remembering that the present day South Africa is largely a result of the sacrifices of courageous men and women who stood up against apartheid in their native land. These people spent best years of their lives locked away for the crime of speaking for equal treatment for all of South Africans.
These brave souls are a model for not just the South Africans, but for all humans everywhere on this globe. As the saying goes, sacrifices of one generation make way for better lives of the next generation. Below, we reproduce a small yet powerful story about the political prisoners in South Africa, who formed their own football federation behind the prison walls. As they bask in the limelight their country enjoys on the world center stage, we hail these heroes who stood valiantly and selflessly for the equality of all men. May their sacrifices never ever be forgotten.
(AZW)
World Cup Brings Justice for Apartheid League in Former Prison
Reproduced from www.bloomberg.com
By Tariq Panja
June 10 (Bloomberg) — For Lizo Sitoto, the arrival of the soccer World Cup in South Africa is another justice for the former political prisoners who nurtured the sport there.
Sitoto, who was incarcerated on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, was among the group of inmates that formed the Makana Football Association, which ran soccer leagues at the penal colony.
Pak Tea House 