Farewell to a great revolutionary, teacher and community activist
It is with great sadness that we say farewell to Hazel Gelant, a revolutionary, teacher and community activist. There are many APDUSA members who met and had opportunities to interact with Mrs Gelant – as she was fondly called. Some APDUSANS met her in 1982 when she established the detainees committee comprising the mothers of members who were detained upon their return to South Africa; this after attending a meeting with the UMSA exiled leadership in Zimbabwe. It was this committee that demonstrated at the notorious Caledon Square for the release of the APDUSANs who were detained; mostly young workers and students. She assisted some of the APDUSA youth to obtain their passports to leave the country and when some of them were detained she organised for their working class mothers to visit them in prison.
The next generation became familiar with her at Scottsdene High School as an English and music teacher. She was a very soft spoken teacher whose instructional methods ensured that students concentrated when she used the tools of pedagogy for young minds. As is commonly known, most schools were not equipped with musical instruments but she enabled her students to understand music as a tool to enhance the importance of communication, education, arts, culture and progression of society at large.
The generation of 1985 knew her intimately when she became involved in the establishment of the Interschools Coordinating Committee (ISCC) that started with the SRCs of Scottsdene and Harold Cressy high schools. Later, other high schools as well as HEWAT Education College, UWC and UCT students joined the student and broader social revolt.
Her strong stance against gutter education earned her the wrath of the so-called coloured education department; the forerunner of the WCED in repressive policies and non-education. This led to her removal from Scottsdene High School to Parkdene Primary School. As a result, the SRC of Scottdene High School was left with no other option, together with the ISCC to go on the 1985 student class boycott. The schools boycott was later captured and misguided with the slogan “No Education before Liberation” by the collaborationist forces of the ANC in the guise of the UDF.
In the early 1990s, Mrs Gelant hosted a meeting of local youth activists attracted to the politics of APDUSA for an afternoon of enlightening and unforgettable conversations with an UMSA stalwart, Ms Jane Gool-Tabata. This was indeed a brilliant example of how two great educators of revolutionary politics, Ms Gool- Tabata and Mrs Gelant, helped young radicals to situate the political crises at that time in a meaningful historical perspective.
After her retirement some APDUSANS worked with Hazel Gelant in the community, especially in informal settlements as attempts were made to set up a Kraaifontein Radio Station. Although the community radio initiative was unsuccessful a sense of community activism was developed. This can be seen in the different Whatsapp platforms of the different areas within Kraaifontein. Most of those on these platforms came via Mrs Gelant’s classroom doors. Go Well Mrs Gelant. You lived your life to the fullest and you lived according to the ethos of the UMSA.