Mayor De Lille was at the launch of Professor Richard van der Ross’s latest book titled ‘In Our Own Skins – A Political History of the Coloured People’ and paid tribute to this activist and educator.
“Today we are all honoured to gather in celebration of the latest achievement by Professor Van der Ross – a man who dedicated most of his life to the rights and freedom of his community,” said Mayor De Lille.
“As a son of the soil, he spent his early years on the Cape Flats, experiencing first-hand the pain and injustice caused by the Group Areas Act.
He was a victim of forced removals twice during his lifetime.
This ignited his deep-rooted passion for justice and led to decades of anti-apartheid activism focused on education as the key to true empowerment and freedom.
As a teacher and a principal, during his involvement in teachers’ unions, and later as editor of the Cape Herald, he maintained the view that education afforded us the greatest opportunity for change.
In 1975 he became the rector of the University of the Western Cape, and it was his ideal that the tertiary institution should not become an ivory tower, but that it should represent the aspirations of the community at large.
Through his life, he has taught us that education and freedom are inextricably linked.
We are set free through education.
Free from the misconceptions we held about each other, but also about ourselves.
Free from the snares of our past.
Free to reimagine the future we want to create.
In his latest book ‘In Our Own Skins’, Professor Van der Ross writes that ‘although this study concentrates on the history of the Coloured people, it should not be forgotten that they are part of the total population of South Africa, and that their destinies are intertwined with those of other population groups’.
We realise daily that the key to building a truly inclusive city lies in each resident feeling a sense of belonging.
That sense must be derived from the assurance that their heritage and culture are not only tolerated, but celebrated.
It must be derived from each resident’s belief that our success as a city is dependent upon their unique contribution.
Each and every one of us has a stake in the future and that future is attainable if we work collectively towards it.
Today we thank Professor Van der Ross for his valued contribution towards the complex and multifaceted tapestry which details our nation’s history.
I am confident that we all share in his determination not to forget the past, but to build on it with the conviction that we will never make the same mistakes again.
On behalf of the City of Cape Town, I would like to thank Professor Van der Ross for sharing his teachings with us.
Your legacy continues to inspire us as we strive towards our shared future, together,” concluded Mayor De Lille.
In Our Own Skins – A Political History of the Coloured People, Richard van der Ross, Jonathan Ball Publishers
Foreword by Franklin Sonn
“….In Our Own Skins is the extraordinary story of a small but proud group’s 84-year battle to regain the franchise, told through the eyes of an uncompromising insider. From the Stone meetings, conducted from a boulder on a windswept District Six hillside, to a petition carried, torch-like, to faraway London in 1909, it maps a trajectory of loss – and of restoration. Its rich cast – among others, the Glasgow-educated Dr Abdullah Abdurahman, his fiery daughter Cissie Gool, the Ghanaian FZS Peregrino, Jimmy and Alex la Guma and Labour Party stalwart Allan Hendrickse – plays a leading role in pulling the Coloured people through the post-colonial morass that is South Africa up to 1994 and beyond and proudly placing them, fully represented, in the Cabinet of Nelson Mandela – one of the most iconic leaders the world has ever known.”
