After leaving their families behind, following a brief service in the chapel, the 140 political prisoners sentenced to be hanged at the Pretoria Central Prison, got ready to take their “final walk” – 52 steps to the gallows.
The freedom songs, sung by them, in defiance of the oppressive system, as they clumsily shuffled up the 52 steps, can still be heard as eerie whispers along the narrow path, if you concentrate hard enough. One cannot help but wonder what the last thoughts of the prisoners were as they climbed the 52 steps – one by one – each one taking them closer to their inevitable end.
Who would have thought that any good could be turned out of something that was once a hellish nightmare?
When the South African Constitutional Court voted unanimously for the abolishment of the death penalty in June 1996 the gallows and cells used for executing those given the death penalty were destroyed.
It was thought the building would be locked and the key thrown away forever – becoming a beacon of the pain and torture the prisoners, their loved ones - as well as the prison guards – experienced during those years.
But the Minister of Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has ordered that the gallows be restored and opened to the public as a museum, in a move aimed at not only preserving the history of the country for future generations but also giving families the chance to make peace with the past.
Sibongile Khumalo, Head of Communications at the department said the gallows had been seen as a weapon of terror, used against thousands of working people in South Africa by the apartheid regime.
“As a result, Minister Mapisa-Nqakula believes they should be revamped because they are an important part of the history of this nation.”
“This section of the correction centre will become a museum, which will assist to teach many generations to come about the history of this country and the sacrifices that were made by many who lost their lives for the liberation of our country.”
The museum, which is currently under construction, is expected to be launched December 8 by President Jacob Zuma along with the minister.
It will include the death row cells, the chapel, the famed last “52 steps”, the gallows itself as well as the mortuary rooms below.
The 140 political prisoners are among the thousands who were hanged at the prison. Some of them include Solomon Mahlangu, Vuyisile Mini, Zinakile Mkaba, Khuzwayo Joe Mlangeni and Msayineke D. Khuzwayo.
Visiting the building and recounting the steps of these freedom fighters who were sentenced to be hanged will be a lingering experience for any South African, once it is opened as a museum.
At the landing at the top of the stairs, the prisoners were asked to say their final words before a cloth hood was shoved over their heads, before being led to the gallows.
In this small room, a telephone stands daringly to the left – a life line - in case a reprieve was granted at the last minute. To the right - four small windows with grey steel bars and a cupboard.
In the middle of the cement floor is a wooden trap door, above it, the seven steel loops with nooses tied to it. At the time, there were footprints stencilled on the wooden platform indicating where the prisoners would have to stand. Seven prisoners could be hanged at a time; seven lives taken at one go.
A guard would put the noose around their neck and pull down the hood. The final moment arrives and the lever is coldly pulled.
On the other side of the room, stairs lead to a downstairs area where the prisoners were declared dead, cleaned up and stored in fridges until the mortuary van arrived for collection.
Many of them were buried in one of the four cemeteries used by the prisons at the time. They were given a pauper’s burial.
“[The restoration of the gallows] is aimed at honouring heroes and heroines who died fighting for humanity and freedom, as well as symbolic of the contribution by department to the new South African identity of a nation that triumphed over the repressive system,” said Khumalo.
The department is also expected to launch a campaign requesting those who know that their families were executed at the gallows to come forward to tell their story.
“As a token of our appreciation and gratitude, the families of these fallen fighters must know that their fathers, brothers, relatives, sons and daughters did not die in vain. We owe our freedom to people like Tata Vuyisile Mini, Solomon Mahlangu and many others who died in the struggle for our freedom and democracy,” said Khumalo.
A toll-free number will be set up whereby families can call and submit the names of their loved-ones who died in the shadows of that once notorious Pretoria prison gallows.
“Ultimately, the aim of restoring the gallows in correctional centres is to foster social cohesion among South Africans by acknowledging defining moments, people and places in the country’s historical struggle for democracy and equality.
“Reclaiming our cultural and historical identity and celebrating the triumph of the human spirit over all evil system that characterised previous regimes are central to the Department’s campaign to restore all gallows in our correctional centres,” she said. - BuaNews