Strike Thokoane

I was born in Soweto, Johannesburg on the 10th August 1952. At the age of six (6) I was chosen to be the captain of the boy scouts group of my age.

I started schooling in 1960 at Jabavu East Community School in Rockville and in 1963 proceeded to Isaacson Higher Primary School where I spent four years. I completed standard six (6) in 1967. In 1968 I entered high school at Morris Isaacson High School until 1970.

I left school for a year (1971) to preach the Word of God since I was a Student Christian Movement activist. This project took me to places like Lesotho, Swaziland, Durban, Bloemfontein and some small towns of our country. I rejoined the education stream in 1972 at Orlando High School where I matriculated in 1973.

In 1974 I worked as a teacher of mathematics and physics at Musi High School.

I enrolled at the University of the North (Turfloop) for a science degree in 1975. My studies were interrupted in June 1976 when I was detained by the apartheid security police for activities related to the June 16 uprisings.

Political Life:

Following the Turfloop university student strikes of 1972, we were conscientized by the Black Consciousness (BC) striking students who came to our high school to explain their actions. I joined the South African Students Movement (SASM), that subscribed to BC, and engaged with the teachings of Onkgopotse Ramothibi Tiro who had been expelled from Turfloop in 1972.

The assassination of Tiro made me to consciously follow political trends in the country. While I was still in the Students Christian Movement (SCM), I became a member of The South African Student Movement (SASO), in 1975 through campus affiliation. I left the country for exile in 1976 and settled in Botswana.