Well-known Cape Town political activist Roland Jethro, who was involved in various anti-apartheid political activities, has died.Jethro was born in Genadendal but educated in Cape Town and Durban. He was a teacher, having taught at Nerina High School in Bonteheuwel, Mountview High, in Hanover Park and Gugulethu Comprehensive High School.
As an activist, he was one of the founding members of a community youth organisation in Hanover Park which became a branch of the Cape Youth Congress. Through Cayco, he became a founder member of the United Democratic Front . Jethro was also involved in the then-banned African National Congress and its military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe. More recently, he was a founder member of the Hanover Park Foundation which was established to provide bursaries for young people from the area to study at universities and other tertiary institutions.
Among the many organisations in which he was involved, he was also a co-founder and chairperson of the School Environmental Education Project and the chair of the Western Province Schools Cross-Country Association. He was also an active member of the Western Province Mountain Club. The funeral service will be held at Groenvlei High School, Barend Road, Yorkshire Estate, Lansdowne, on Saturday.