Basil February

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Basil February , also Paul Petersen (born August 9, 1944 in Cape Town , † 1968 ) was a South African freedom fighter and opponent of apartheid .

Life

The second child of Paul February and Janet Petersen, Basil February grew up in Somerset West near Cape Town. He attended Trafalgar High School , which he graduated with honors in 1960. His request to study law at the University of Cape Town was rejected by then Education Minister BJ Voster. Although he then enrolled at the university's medical faculty, he was de-registered a year later because of his political activities. In 1963 he became a member of the South African Colored People's Organization (SACPO) , a political organization affiliated with the ANC . Because of a public gathering, February and his friend James April spread their political message by putting up graffiti . As a result, he came into conflict with the law and was arrested several times. In 1964 he became a member of the Umkhonto we Sizwe , the military arm of the ANC. To protect his family and friends, he left South Africa and first went to Botswana . There, in other African countries and in Czechoslovakia , he received paramilitary training. He also wrote articles for Dawn magazine . After completing his training, he was sent back to South Africa in 1968 to lead a guerrilla unit. On their way, the unit was ambushed in Rhodesia . February succeeded in helping his comrades to escape; he himself was killed in the battle.

In 2003 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Mendi for Bravery in gold.

literature

  • South African Democracy Education Trust: The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970. Zebra, 2004, ISBN 978-1868729067 , p. 511 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Eliakim M. Sibanda: The Zimbabwe African People's Union, 1961-87: a political history of insurgency in Southern Rhodesia. Africa World Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1592212767 , p. 153 ( limited preview in Google book search).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Durbans New Street Names, Section 27. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on December 22, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.newstreetnames.co.za  
  2. ↑ Presentation of National Orders - December 2, 2003. (No longer available online.) The Presidency - Republic of South Africa, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on April 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thepresidency.gov.za

Web links

personal data
SURNAME February, Basil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Petersen, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African freedom fighter
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Cape Town
DATE OF DEATH 1968