BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Ashley Kriel
By Sulaiman Philip
AshleyKriel
When Ashley Kriel died on 20 July 1987 he was just 20 years old, but he had already been a community activist for six years. Starting with the civically minded Bonteheuwel Youth Movement, he worked to make his poor and crime-ridden hometown a better place.
His work with the Bonteheuwel Inter School Congress and their support of the United Democratic Front (UDF) brought him the unwanted attention of government security apparatus. Identified as a leader in the student protest movement, he was forced to flee to Angola in 1985, where he received military training.
Kriel died violently in a police ambush in Athlone, Cape Town, but even in death he found no peace. His funeral was disrupted by police who refused to allow the funeral procession to leave his mother's home. In death, the police were determined to not allow him to become a martyr. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Reverend Allan Boesak spoke at his graveside, security forces fired on mourners.
In choosing to name its youth engagement programme The Ashley Kriel Youth Leadership Development Project, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation acknowledged Kriel's ongoing influence on young leaders in Western Cape. More importantly, it was an acknowledgement of Kriel's belief that every South African could play a part in changing the world for the better.
By Sulaiman Philip
AshleyKriel
When Ashley Kriel died on 20 July 1987 he was just 20 years old, but he had already been a community activist for six years. Starting with the civically minded Bonteheuwel Youth Movement, he worked to make his poor and crime-ridden hometown a better place.
His work with the Bonteheuwel Inter School Congress and their support of the United Democratic Front (UDF) brought him the unwanted attention of government security apparatus. Identified as a leader in the student protest movement, he was forced to flee to Angola in 1985, where he received military training.
Kriel died violently in a police ambush in Athlone, Cape Town, but even in death he found no peace. His funeral was disrupted by police who refused to allow the funeral procession to leave his mother's home. In death, the police were determined to not allow him to become a martyr. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Reverend Allan Boesak spoke at his graveside, security forces fired on mourners.
In choosing to name its youth engagement programme The Ashley Kriel Youth Leadership Development Project, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation acknowledged Kriel's ongoing influence on young leaders in Western Cape. More importantly, it was an acknowledgement of Kriel's belief that every South African could play a part in changing the world for the better.
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