Manyoni Reflects on Tumahole 1984 Rent Boycott: ‘History Must Inspire Action, Not Nostalgia’
Manyoni reflects on Tumahole 1984 rent boycott: ‘History must inspire action, not nostalgia’. In a stirring virtual lecture to mark the 2025 Tumahole Day, ANC veteran Thabo Manyoni urged South Africans to draw lessons from the past to tackle today’s woes, warning that dwelling on old glories alone will not fix the country’s deep troubles like poverty, joblessness and crime.
The Historic Spark of Tumahole Day
Tumahole Day honours the bold stand taken by young people in the township of Tumahole, near Parys in the Free State, on 15 July 1984. Back then, under the harsh grip of apartheid, residents faced steep rent hikes and dire living conditions. What started as a protest against these unfair rentals quickly grew into a wider fight against the system’s injustices. Young locals took to the streets, sparking what became known as the Vaal Uprising – a wave of unrest that spread across townships and shook the apartheid regime to its core.
The 1984 boycott was no small event. It came amid rising anger over black local authorities imposed by the government, which many saw as puppets meant to enforce control. In Tumahole, the call to withhold rent payments turned into clashes with police, leading to deaths and arrests. One key figure remembered is Abu Milongo, whose blood, along with others, fuelled the push for change. This uprising helped build momentum towards the end of apartheid, showing how ordinary people could challenge power.
Fast forward to 2025, and the day is still marked with lectures and reflections. On 28 July, Central News hosted a virtual event where Thabo Manyoni, a respected ANC veteran and former mayor of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, delivered the main address. Manyoni thanked the hosts and listeners, saying: “Uh let me also take the opportunity to thank you also for the kind words and also the titles that you are giving me. Uh it is quite a pleasure. I appreciate it and also let me take the opportunity to thank all your viewers listeners all over in the country.”
He chose not to dwell on every detail of that 1984 day, noting many speakers had already covered it. Instead, he focused on its lasting message: the power of youth energy. “Young people were central uh during that day to spark that uh flame which ultimately caught the whole country,” Manyoni said.
A Call to Question Relevance Today
Manyoni posed tough questions: Why remember Tumahole Day in a free South Africa? Is it just to relive past wins, or does it push us to act now? “And I think today when we talk about Dumahul day, one would want to know the answer to the question what there. Yes, it happened during that time. So, so what? And two, what one would want to answer is do we still need another tuma holiday? Uh we’ve got democracy, we’ve got the democratic constitution, we’ve got the government that we fought for. So is dum day still relevant to talk about or we just want to ask in the past glories of what happened in our history and that’s it.”
He answered by stressing that young people are the nation’s future, as shown in 1984. Drawing from old wisdom, he quoted: “a people may lose its liberty in a day and not miss it in half a century,” and “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Manyoni warned that freedoms won can slip away without watchfulness. “You need to be vigilant if you have liberty and freedom because it is God and I think we have not been vigilant enough to date it. Therefore, that’s why we find ourselves in the state that we are in.”
Deep Worry Over South Africa’s Current State
Manyoni shared his growing concern for the country. “It is my privilege to participate and share my thoughts with you on this occasion of Duma Day anniversary of July month. I must say I feel a deeper solitude for the future of South Africans and Africans now than before. The main cause of my anxiety is the deplorable condition poor South Africans find themselves in at this juncture.”
Since 1994’s first free vote, he said, many have lost hope amid hunger, no jobs and rising crime. “Since the first democratic elections in our country, many Africans have lost now hope as they wait in this deplorable state of affairs where hunger, joblessness, escalating crime are common features of our country. At the same time, the center seem not to be holding as our ruling party, the beloved a gigantic organization and also a government in general seem to be irrelevant and not having a vision or a way out of this quagmire.”
He boldly stated the ANC is dying, becoming out of touch. As a fighter against apartheid, Manyoni does not want another battle like 1984. “I have assisted in fighting one battle for the abolition of apartate and many South Africans have shed their blood in pursuing of freedom and democratic constitution in our country. And neither I nor they should wish to fight this battle over again. I would not want us to see another tum day again.”
To avoid that, face today’s evils – joblessness, poverty, crime – head-on. All hinge on better leadership.
Drawing from History’s Lessons
Manyoni quoted Frederick Douglass from 1888 on freed slaves’ plight, adapting it to now: “What is the condition of majority of South Africans at this moment and what is the state of our country. We are often confronted of late in the press and on the platforms with the discouraging statement that the problem of the black people as free people and as citizens is not yet solved. that since his emancipation he has disappointed the best hopes of his friends and fulfilled the worst predictions of his enemies and that he has shown himself unfit for the position assigned him by the mistaken statemanship of the nation.
It is said that physically, morally, socially and religiously, he’s in a condition vastly more deplorable than was his conditions as under apartate. That he has not proven himself so good a master to himself as his old master was to him. that he is gradually but surely sinking below the point of industry, good manners and civilization to which he attained in a state of apartate. That his economy is wasteful. Everything that we touch gets rotten. That his honesty is deceitful. That his morals are impure. That his domestic life is beastly. And his worship is simply emotional. And that in a way is falling into a state of barbarism.”
Media echoes say things are worse than under apartheid. Manyoni invoked Antonio Gramsci: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” But these monsters are human and beatable. “As usual, Gramsci is right. But also, monsters are what we make of them. While their actions are monstrous, the men performing them are human beings. We should be wary of giving them the power of monsters, of affording them mythical, unopposable status. They are human beings. In other words, they can be defeated.”
He slammed leaders with “turtle syndrome” – stuck in high posts without know-how. “We presently find ourself with leaders and mainly in government of people who don’t know how they find themsel in positions they are in. That is the turtle syndrome which is said that a turtle once found itself on the high pole and he did not know how did it arrive there and he did not know how to perform and so forth being in that high position.”
Time for new leaders with backbone, not just names or slogans. “The time has come for a new departure as to the kind of leaders who are to be the standard beers of our ruling party and also of our government. We must agree we have had enough of names. We now want good results not names. We have had enough of good feeling, enough of shaking hands over the bloody chasm, enough of reconciliation, enough of ludation, of the bravery of our poor like we are doing about holiday that those were the brave people. But that is enough. The issue is what are we doing about the state of affairs? Let us have a leader this time of pronounced opinions and above all a backb. This must apply to all spheres of government local, provincial and national.”
Politics as Power to Act
Politics is more than voting every five years or protesting. “Politics is about the power to act. Mobilizing people’s power should not be limited to voter participation or protest. Politics is also not the sole domain of political parties or career activists. Mobilizing people’s power needs to be a basic and a pervasive part of participation and political life in a democracy. In other words, we should stop this thing of selling South Africans that they have a democracy and their democracy only applies every 5 years when they go to the market to buy the political party that they want and then after that they have to fold hands and do nothing.”
Rely on youth – not age, but mindset. “Our answer is to rely on the youth like it happened during that dum 15th July. Not a youth in terms of time, but a youth in terms of the state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and deplorable state we find ourself in will not yield to absolute dogmas and outworn slogans. They have been there all the slogans that we always say long live tambbo long live mandel but all this would not change the deplorable state that we find ourselves. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.”
Today’s youth face bigger hurdles than apartheid fighters, as the foe is hidden – inequality, no vision. “The young of this generation at present at present moment has had the thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. because they will be faced with challenging the present status quo and the present status quo is not necessarily apartate. So their challenge is bigger than even ours during that time because ours at least the enemy was clear.”
Future belongs to bold ones. “The future does not belong to those who are content with the present status. Apathetic towards common problems and their fellow men alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather, it belongs to those who can blend vision, reason, and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and greater vision of our African society.”
He criticised youth chasing tenders without purpose. “We must deplore also the young who basically are more merit and running after tenders with no vision about the South Africa that they want to have.”
Learn from 1984: Youth said enough, others followed. “And I think if we have to learn anything from the July 15 of that day of tum is young people stood up and they said enough is enough and everybody followed later. Even today faced with the challenges as we call them in South Africa which basically it’s a state of deplorable uh affairs. Young people are expected to stand up and chart their own history just like during holiday.”
Casualties may come, like Abu Milongo, but change follows. “Yes, there will be casualties along the way. as it happened with Abu Milongo and others who were there. But at the end of the day, their blood actually assisted us to be at this phase where basically we can be able to say we are a little bit better than before.”
In Tumahole now, act: “I therefore would say the message that we want to send and the message that we basically must be talking about is what is it that we are doing about the state of affairs that we find ourselves at the moment in our country particularly in Tumah where things seem to be falling apart and no one is willing to stand up and say enough is enough.”
For 2026 local polls, choose leaders with spine and vision. “And I think as we prepare for the forthcoming local government elections, we must then look into having those leaders, the leaders that I mentioned, the leaders with a backbone, the leaders with vision, leaders who will make sure that we change the status quo, we address the issue of poverty, we address the issue of unemployment, leaders who are willing to sacrifice their comfort. zones like I’m saying in this lecture.”
Reflections and Closing Thoughts
Host Intabani thanked Manyoni: “Thank you so much uh Mr. Manonyi for for those words and you know taking us on a journey not only of the history of of Dumah but also on a journey of reflection as young people. one of the most powerful things you said um when you were addressing you know um you said young people it’s a state of mind it’s having an imagination you know it’s having that courage that boldness of wanting to change the status quo.”
She noted instability, unemployment, drug wars, and urged youth action. Manyoni replied: “I think as time goes on, we would like to bring young people under one roof and discuss the state of affairs. But what I’m saying is we the old are dying and the new cannot be born. And as I indicated from Kamsky, we are in a state of the monsters. And it’s upon us, particularly young people, to stop those monsters, so that we can then be able to to chart the Africa and South Africa that our phobias wanted to have.”
The Constitution promises equality and better lives, but youth must unlock it. “We all know what our constitution is saying that uh we need to have a South Africa where everybody is free, where we all are equal, where basically we are living better than what we had yesterday. But at the moment that new cannot be born and the key lies with our young people.”
Platforms like this can mobilise bold ones. The event ended honouring Tumahole’s bravery and its ongoing inspiration.
Manyoni’s talk echoes his past reflections, like in 2022 and 2023, where he saw the boycott as a turning point that shifted the struggle from pleas to direct action. As South Africa faces high youth unemployment at 45.5% and crime rates soaring, his call for vigilant, visionary leadership resonates deeply.
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