This was a bit of South African history I had not heard about. So, seeing a sign for the Bulhoek Massacre, on the road between Queenstown and Tarkastad, I set off to explore.
The road was newly tarred and, on arriving, it was obvious the site was being given more than just a lick of paint. Gangs of workers were levelling the land, planting grass and indigenous shrubs. Pathways were being marked and the memorial grave spruced up.
What exactly was the Bulhoek Massacre? Enoch Mgijima, who was
born in 1868, often had visions as a boy, and became a preacher/prophet. He was baptised in 1910 by a bishop of the Church of God and Saints of Christ (Israelites).
In 1912, Mgijima had a vision in which he was told to build a church at Ntabelanga (Bulhoek) Mountain. Each year, people came from all over to celebrate Passover at the foot of the mountain.
In 1920, after such a gathering, they refused to disperse. Mgijima was ordered by authorities to tell the people to leave. He refused, saying: “I am preaching the word of God and will not send anyone away from hearing the word of God.”
About 800 policemen were sent to force the worshippers to leave. The authorities thought the people planned to riot. When negotiations failed, on May 24, 1921 the police opened fire, killing at least 183 Israelites and wounding hundreds.
Mgijima was arrested and sentenced to six years of hard labour in Kimberley. He was released in 1924, and died in 1929.
The victims were buried in a mass grave. The headstone reads: “Because they chose the plan of God, so the world did not have a place for them.”
The memorial was opened on the 80th anniversary of the massacre in 2001, but new buildings have since been added and, by chance, we had arrived just before the 90th commemoration of that tragic incident. - Sunday Tribune