Calata family want living monument for their famous ancestors

The family of struggle stalwart Rev Canon James Calata, who died 37 years ago,  wants the government to unveil monuments in his honour which  actively improve the provision of services to the poorest of poor.

This was stated by the family on Friday, to celebrate his legacy.

Calata’s family joined the provincial government in Mthwaku village in Keiskammahoek where a huge monument in honour of him was unveiled by premier Oscar Mabuyane.

The event, which also served as the provincial Heritage Day celebrations, was attended by a huge delegation from the Calata family and religious and traditional leaders.

Calata was praised for his involvement in both the church and politics. He served as ANC secretary-general between from1936 to 1949.  

His great-grandson, former SABC employee Lukhanyo Calata, said the family welcomed the gesture from the provincial government, but wanted more to be done.

“Any honour or any type of recognition that is bestowed unto my great-grandfather is befitting, considering what he has done for this country, both in terms of the church and his work within politics. But this is just the monument, and while we appreciate it a lot, we implore the provincial and national government, as well the SA Council of Churches, to not end here with this monument,”  he said.

“We would like him to be honoured by making sure that the communities that he served are given basic services and treated in a manner that honours them as people and individuals.”

The monument, he said, was “just the start”.

He said Calata had not sacrificed his life “for honours or for riches”.

“We are not here for the statues and monuments, we are here for the people. We just hope from here, there could be some kind of projects that try to bring economic development here, and recoup some of the monies that have been spent in putting up this monument.

“It’s a fine balance that we need to find, but we are hoping that this monument will be the catalyst that helps bring some sort of tourism and some investment into this area, so that lives of everybody here can be improved,” Lukhanyo said.

Lukhanyo is the son of Fort Calata, one of the four Cradock activists killed by apartheid police in 1985.

The family, Lukhanyo said, had just opened the Fort Calata Foundation, which would encompass the legacy of both Rev Calata and his wife Miltha.

“My great-grandfather, my great-grandmother and my father all grew up in the same house in Cradock, and all three of them are recipients of national orders.”

He said the foundation would work closely with the provincial government “to ensure that what is started here today is continued for generations to come”.  

He said the family was adamant that they should be involved in decisions made about their famous ancestors.

“We need to get to a point where we are starting up education funds, art museums and writing academies in the name of those people who died for us, so that we can continue their legacies by giving back to the next generations. We are honoured to have this monument, but we hope it is not the end, but a start,” said Lukhanyo.

Mabuyane announced that a life-sized statue of Rev Calata would be erected in 2021.

He said: “The story of Reverend Calata is worthy of being told and there is no better platform than a heritage celebration to do that, because he is part of the rich heritage of religious leaders who moulded the governing party to lead the revolution against the apartheid regime. This is a rich history of revolutionary religious leaders that can be traced back to the founding fathers of the governing party, the ANC, in 1912.”

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