(abstract from the book "The Greek presence in Mozambique")
Dimitris Tsafendas was born in Lourenço Marques on 14/1/1918.
His father, Michael Tsafendis, emigrated from Crete in 1915, and worked on the farm of his compatriot Antonis Kalogerou.
He got in love with Amelia Williams, a Mozambican of mixed race, and had a son, Dimitris. Amelia died quite soon, and Dimitris grew up with his grandma Catherine, who lived in Alexandria of Egypt. As his grandmother had grown up and was not able to take care of him, he returned to SA in 1928. In the meanwhile, his father got married to a Greek woman, Marica, and had moved to Pretoria in South Africa. Since Marica did not give much attention to Dimitris, he left for Mozambique and changed his surname to Tsafendas.
In his adolescence, he returned to South Africa and worked as a labourer. He was organized in the Communist Party due to his political beliefs and because no other political party accepted the mestiços (people of mixed race), including the African National Congress (ANC). In 1942, he worked as a sailor and travelled to Canada and USA. During a period of 20 years, he travelled a lot, learned eight languages, and acquired many experiences that influenced him.
In 1957, he participated in the unarmed demonstration of 20,000 coloured South Africans in the town of Sharpeville, a few kilometres outside of Johannesburg, where 20 police officers killed 69 people and wounded 830, including Dimitris Tsafendas.
In 1964, he returned to Mozambique. By the death of his father, he got back to South Africa. According to the apartheid laws, he was a mulatto. As a result, he had difficulties in finding a job. Without any help, he moved to Cape Town and stayed with a black family. He fell in love with their daughter and wanted to marry her, but apartheid laws did not allow marriages between people of different race.
That period, Antonis Kalogirou, a landowner from Durban, helped him to find a job in the Parliament of South Africa. On September 6th, 1966 at 14:30, Tsafendas assassinated the prime minister of South Africa who died three days later. The trial started on 20/10/1966 and lasted four days. Tsafendas refused the defense lawyer and declared "I did my duty. Kill me". Initially, the judges condemned him to death. Nevertheless, the government of South Africa in its effort to avoid the political effect made the judges changes their verdict. Finally, they sentenced him to imprisonment since his crime resulted from his mental illness. Tsafendas was transferred to a high-security prison in Pretoria and was tortured on a daily basis.
He died on 10/10/1999 and the Greek community of Krugersdorp covered the cost of his funeral. He was buried without a gravestone, only with a stone with the number J59 inscribed on it, the number he had as a prisoner.
It was a desperate attempt by the government of South Africa to eliminate the presence of one of the most controversial personalities in the history of Africa.
Tsafendas is a hero, a free man who dared to oppose apartheid. He became the symbol of the struggle against the apartheid and in the great demonstration of 1976 in Johannesburg, people chanted rhythmically “Tsafendas inyanga yezizwe” (Tsafendas liberated the nation). Tsafendas passed into oblivion even after the end of apartheid. The new government of ANC treated him as a mental patient. Although he was a pioneer in the struggle against the apartheid, no one ever made any reference to his role. Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography ignored him on purpose. After the election of Mandela in 1994, Tsafendas remained in prison although he had serious health problems.
Dimitris Tsafendas was born in Lourenço Marques on 14/1/1918.
His father, Michael Tsafendis, emigrated from Crete in 1915, and worked on the farm of his compatriot Antonis Kalogerou.
He got in love with Amelia Williams, a Mozambican of mixed race, and had a son, Dimitris. Amelia died quite soon, and Dimitris grew up with his grandma Catherine, who lived in Alexandria of Egypt. As his grandmother had grown up and was not able to take care of him, he returned to SA in 1928. In the meanwhile, his father got married to a Greek woman, Marica, and had moved to Pretoria in South Africa. Since Marica did not give much attention to Dimitris, he left for Mozambique and changed his surname to Tsafendas.
In his adolescence, he returned to South Africa and worked as a labourer. He was organized in the Communist Party due to his political beliefs and because no other political party accepted the mestiços (people of mixed race), including the African National Congress (ANC). In 1942, he worked as a sailor and travelled to Canada and USA. During a period of 20 years, he travelled a lot, learned eight languages, and acquired many experiences that influenced him.
In 1957, he participated in the unarmed demonstration of 20,000 coloured South Africans in the town of Sharpeville, a few kilometres outside of Johannesburg, where 20 police officers killed 69 people and wounded 830, including Dimitris Tsafendas.
In 1964, he returned to Mozambique. By the death of his father, he got back to South Africa. According to the apartheid laws, he was a mulatto. As a result, he had difficulties in finding a job. Without any help, he moved to Cape Town and stayed with a black family. He fell in love with their daughter and wanted to marry her, but apartheid laws did not allow marriages between people of different race.
That period, Antonis Kalogirou, a landowner from Durban, helped him to find a job in the Parliament of South Africa. On September 6th, 1966 at 14:30, Tsafendas assassinated the prime minister of South Africa who died three days later. The trial started on 20/10/1966 and lasted four days. Tsafendas refused the defense lawyer and declared "I did my duty. Kill me". Initially, the judges condemned him to death. Nevertheless, the government of South Africa in its effort to avoid the political effect made the judges changes their verdict. Finally, they sentenced him to imprisonment since his crime resulted from his mental illness. Tsafendas was transferred to a high-security prison in Pretoria and was tortured on a daily basis.
He died on 10/10/1999 and the Greek community of Krugersdorp covered the cost of his funeral. He was buried without a gravestone, only with a stone with the number J59 inscribed on it, the number he had as a prisoner.
It was a desperate attempt by the government of South Africa to eliminate the presence of one of the most controversial personalities in the history of Africa.
Tsafendas is a hero, a free man who dared to oppose apartheid. He became the symbol of the struggle against the apartheid and in the great demonstration of 1976 in Johannesburg, people chanted rhythmically “Tsafendas inyanga yezizwe” (Tsafendas liberated the nation). Tsafendas passed into oblivion even after the end of apartheid. The new government of ANC treated him as a mental patient. Although he was a pioneer in the struggle against the apartheid, no one ever made any reference to his role. Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography ignored him on purpose. After the election of Mandela in 1994, Tsafendas remained in prison although he had serious health problems.
