Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, hosted a powerful commemorative event marking the 35th anniversary of the 1990 Northern Areas Uprising.
Delivering a keynote address, Reverend Allan Boesak rejected the term uprising, insisting it should be called what it truly was - a massacre.
He condemned the killing of over 50 people by apartheid forces and criticised the historical silence that has surrounded the tragedy.
Boesak drew sharp comparisons with the widely remembered Sharpeville and Langa massacres, questioning why the Northern Areas tragedy has remained largely unacknowledged.
"This is called an uprising, but in fact, it was a massacre. If you kill more than 60 people, then we must talk about a massacre and ask the question that, while we know about the Sharpeville massacre and we know about the Langa massacre in Uitenhage, why is there so little known about this massacre? There is a certain erasure of serving people with power and people who don't want this to be known."