I caught the tail end of a documentary on Ingrid Jonker on SABC2 last night.
Sandile Dikeni went to Langa to interview the sister of the child that Jonker wrote about in Die Kind. She’d never heard of Ingrid Jonker, and was unaware of the poem.
She told how her baby brother died.
He was sick, and his grandfather was taking him to hospital. There was a roadblock, and the grandfather crossed the police line. Shots were fired and Wilberforce was killed.
Jonker’s poem ensured his death wasn’t in vain.
Why did we wait so long to tell his family?
Dusty Muffin 