Sent from my iPhone
This man taught Zuma English
4211
Vicky Somniso-Abraham
image001.jpg
Former Robben Island political prisoner Mark Shinners speaks to The Citizen
in Tshwane, 17 April 2015. Picture: Refilwe Modise
Meet Mark Shinners, a former political prisoner who taught President Jacob
Zuma junior certificate (JC) English while they were incarcerated on Robben
Island.
Shinners, 71, prisoner number 493/63 on Robben Island, is among the
ex-political prisoners who built the late president Nelson Mandela’s prison
cell prior to his arrival on the island.
He revealed to The Citizen President Zuma and the late minister of safety and
security Steve Tshwete were in his English class.
Shinners, a member of the Pan African Congress (PAC) and Zuma, a member of
Umkhonto We Sizwe – although they were members of different political
organisations and lived in different regions – were sent to Robben Island for
conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government.
They were both sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Shinners said a large number of PAC members and a few from the ANC arrived on
Robben Island early in 1963. Zuma arrived later that year. He and Shinners
were locked up in Cell B3. Although Cell 1 was a designated study cell, the
underground studies took place in Cell B3.
Shinners described the young Zuma as a well-disciplined and loyal freedom
fighter.
He said despite the age difference, Zuma was more than willing to be taught.
“He showed maturity and discipline while he was in prison. On the island, you
are trained to listen and listen carefully – and I can still see those
elements in him. Zuma does not panic when faced by difficult circumstances.
Even on Robben Island, when the boers came down hard on us, we remained calm
and laughed about it,” he chuckled.
Although there were qualified teachers – such as Jeff Masemola who served
life imprisonment on the island – those who served shorter sentences were
released earlier.
Therefore, Shinners and others had to teach their fellow prisoners.
Shinners had a junior certificate and taught Zuma, Tshwete and others
“construction of sentences, sentence and clause analysis and syntax”.
“Zuma was very diligent, always neat and making sure he performed his tasks
and submitted his assignments on time,” he recalled.
“People underestimate him. He may not be certificated but clearly the man is
highly intelligent. He said he was a herdboy before he went to prison – and
look at where he is now.
“He is a self-taught man, very cautious and very structured – unlike Higher
Education Minister Blade Nzimande. That’s what makes me feel ‘that’s my
student’ every time he addresses the audience, because we know where he
learnt that.
“People may say he is struggling but we, who know where he comes from,
understand.”
Shinners said Zuma was barely literate when he arrivedj in prison but “when
he left prison he had a complete different personality; he was quite
confident of himself”.
vi...@citizen.co.za
Source: http://citizen.co.za/367492/this-man-taught-zuma-english/
--
--
Sending your posting to payco@googlegroups.com
Unsubscribe by sending an email to payco-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco
Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Pan
Africanist Youth Congress group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to payco+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
