26th May 2008

 
The South African Democratic Students Movement (Sadesmo) at the University of Zululand has joined in the countrywide protest against the Grade 12 history textbook 'In Search of History' which gives a biased account of the role of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the IFP in the struggle against apartheid.

"As tertiary learners, we are acutely aware of the dangers involved in presenting the youth with a distorted view of not so distant history. We are also aware of the damage this textbook may be doing to the IFP in the run-up to the 2009 election," said Unizul Sadesmo representative Nomfundo Hlophe.

The Unizul branch of Sadesmo has joined the IFP in its demand that the Minister of Education Naledi Pandor withdraw the textbook from South Africa's classrooms. The IFP has previously presented the minister with a memorandum to that effect.

The textbook, published by the Southern African Oxford University Press, features a cartoon with Prince Buthelezi 'signing up' to the first democratic elections in 1994 with the blood of the victims of internecine violence that claimed the lives of thousands of IFP and ANC supporters.