22 June 2009 Personal encounter of June 1976 upheaval
I was stationed in Daveyton, working from my office in the Lionel Kent Community Centre, as an Administration Officer, dealing with Parks, Cleansing, Steven Rampou's Bioscope, Hendry Makoko's Library, the Davey Recreation Centre in Wattville, sport and recreation facilities in Vosloorus (the name originates from a medical doctor, Dr Vosloo, from Boksburg, who was an MP dealing with Black Development as Deputy Minister of Plural Affairs) and Mrs. Collin's Nancy Macdowell Creche, Daveyton, adjacent to the SAPS and Township Managers Office. (Dr Matthewson, Township Manager in the sixties introduced women as street cleaners. The action moved to Daveyton and East Rand towns on Friday, 18 June and thereafter. At the time we thought this mayhem would only be within the borders of Soweto but the ideologies of those unhappy people made it to spread to all black townships in the country. The offices, in fact all offices, of the Board at the time, were burnt, or severely damaged. So much so that from Monday 21 June all staff, vehicles and other moveable assets were moved to a central office complex, with ample parking and storage facilities, in New Modder, for the Daveyton, Vosloorus and Wattville area, being Zone 3 of the then Board. The East Rand Board did not operate for about six months. This created chaotic situations. I collected, with my personal vehicle, foodstuff from suppliers, for the little ones in the crèche - companies could not deliver in townships cause their vehicles were also damaged and the like. All administration offices were burnt, files were burnt. Financial systems were in disarray and in all made the township administration non effective for approx. nine months. The worst element was that I also experienced people being shot at, and killed, by the forces at the time. I also knew Dr. Edelstein, who was accidentally killed, who was a good man within the community, very unfortunate. He introduced me to some of the YMCA Crèches in Soweto and my Board established similar crèche facilities in the East Rand Townships . The normal 4 roomed houses were altered into small facilities for children to be cared for while mothers went to work. I witnessed several incidents where people were tortured and even died. The forces would drop teargas canisters in four roomed houses..devastating. Even in the de facto situation I deal with township files, some still carry the scars of being in a fire, but because they were stacked and filed close to each other, only the edges where burnt, the important info, inside, still intact...amazing. This experience left a scar on the humanitarian side of me being a Christian. This is my remembrance of the June Riots of 1976. Issued by: Ronnie Stevens 7 |
I was a young man, working for the now defunct East Rand Administration Board, for about four years, a governing body administering black towns in South Africa , there were a total of 22 Boards in ZA, when the massacre commenced on 16 June in Soweto , it was on Wednesday. 
