Need to Decompress…
Emotional. That’s the only word I can use to describe today. Over the past 4 weeks, I have driven past the worst poverty I’ve ever seen…I’ve visited the Cape Town townships and saw it with my own eyes…I’ve visited countless museums depicting the oppression and the Apartheid, but it wasn’t until this afternoon that it all came to a head and I had a major catharsis. The agenda for today included visiting the Apartheid and then on to Soweto, the largest township in South Africa right outside of Jo’burg.
Pillars of the Apartheid Museum
Our morning began at the Apartheid museum where we were handed a ticket that said “White” or “Non-white.” We had to enter the museum through our classification we received to simulate what it was like during the Apartheid period. I was designated a “non-white” and walked in and was greeted to identification cards of Africans. I was then greeted with this quote:
“The white man is the master in South Africa, and the white man from the very nature of his origins, from the very nature of his birth, and from the very nature of his guardianship, will remain master in South Africa to the end.” - House Assembly Debates March 15, 1950.
I made my way through the museum which detailed the entire Apartheid experience from the 1948 until the end and Mandela’s election as President in 1994. The museum gave off a very industrial with a prison like feel - cement floors and walls, steel bars and chains leading you through the exhibits. The museum itself was very effective in its use of lots of photographs, videos, and artifacts from the years.
In 1948 the National Part comes into power; it was an alliance of white, Afrikaans speaking farmers, business people, workers, and professionals. They all supported white supremacy and racial purity. However, their main focus was for more material reasons: secured cheap African labor, employment protection from black competition and of course, the best jobs kept for whites. The 1948 election (which brought about Apartheid) centered around the central issue of “swart gevaar” which means black menace in Afrikaans. The election succeeded in mobilizing support of whites on grounds of fear about a black “oorstroming” or flood into the cities.
The Apartheid brought various Acts that included: racial classification for all, prohibition for different racial groups living together, outlawed sex and marriage across marriage lines, prohibited racial groups from using the same facilities (toilets, parks, beaches), and finally separate schooling for native race with an aim in preventing those people to reach the same education and skill level as other groups. These acts lead to the establishment of the ANC (African National Congress).
Africans sought to resist the oppression, and did so in a myriad of ways. I already discussed Steve Biko and his Black Consciousness Movement in a previous post. The BCM concentrated on ideas rather than mass mobilization. Biko, and many other political prisoners were subjected to torture, sleep deprivation, electric shocks with a wet bag over their heads, suffocation, and solitary confinement up to 540 days. 540 days alone in a cell with nothing but a Bible and no contact with others. Of these political prisoners, 131 were executed, yet the state proclaimed that they committed suicide in the detention center. This occurred in the 1960’s and the 1970s.
The ironic thing about the Apartheid is that this was happening only in South Africa while the rest of the world was advancing. The museum did a great job of capturing this irony with a video montage called “Meanwhile, the rest of the world…” The montage contained footage of Woodstock, the moon walk, the Beatles, Elvis, and the most ironic of all: Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech.
As I walked out of the museum, very much affected, I saw a poster that best sums up the experience: “Apartheid is exactly where it belongs: In the Apartheid Museum”
The next part of our day is what affected me most: our tour of Soweto. Soweto stands for South West Township. Soweto is one of the biggest cities in South Africa - 4.5-6 million people live there. The lack of resources include: 1 firestation, 1 hospital and 300 failing schools. Facilities are improving, however, as they are building another hospital. There are no factories or places of employment within Soweto, so residents are forces to use public transport to find work which leads to a 20% unemployment rate. The health system is free, thankfully; however, people with HIV/AIDS get more government funding, and our guide mentioned that some people actually seek to acquire HIV/AIDS so they get more money.
Despite these terrible statistics, our guide, Mandy, told us that Soweto is one of the safest places to live in South Africa. There are no high walls, wire or electric fences. There is a great community spirit which people rally around. I could definitely see this while touring Soweto and visiting Mandela’s house, lunch at Wandi’s Place (amazing South African food: samp and beans, mealie pap, collared greens, curry..yummy!), and the Regina Mundi church.
1976 was a year that made Soweto famous. On June 16, 1976 a group of 15,000 school children marched on the Police Station to protest the Afrikaans Only Instruction in Schools. None of these children could speak, much less understand Afrikaans, so how were they supposed to get an education? It was just another way the Government was oppressing Africans during the Apartheid. When the children arrived at the Police station they were shot at and 600 school aged children ranging in age from 7-17 were killed, captured, detained, and tortured. These were KIDS doing nothing but fighting for their right to get an education. We visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial to commemoration the Soweto uprising. The memorial consisted of a brick for every child killed in the massacre. Many of them said “Unknown” simply because the brutal assault. I still can’t believe this happened in 1976. Our guide recounted that day, as she was shot as a young girl in Primary School. When the children organized, the Secondary School children insisted that the Primary School children march in front so the police wouldn’t shoot at them. Wrong. Today, June 16 is celebrated as National Youth Day. Our guide has a terrible time accepting this. How can a day when over 600 children were killed be considered National Youth Day when all youths are celebrated?
Hector Pieterson monument in Soweto. The water represents the blood flow from the massacre of 600 children.
One of the many unknown bricks
Our last stop of the day was a visit to Kliptown, one of the worst poverty stricken areas in South Africa. Prior to arriving, we stopped at a market and each put in 20 rand (2.50) to purchase rice, eggs, oil, and bread to distribute to the women. When we pulled into Kliptown I had NO idea what was about to hit me. This small community consisted of no running water (one spicket of water for about 1000 people), no electricity, and a slew of shacks one after another. The shanties were so close together there was barely enough room to walk between them. In one of the alleys, there was a stream of water full of filth and garbage just running down the center.
Our guide took us to his house and around the area. He was still a high school student and was living in a one room, one bed corrugated iron shack with his brother, sister, and her child. Both his parents had died. The most heartbreaking thing was when we walked back to where the bus was parked; two lines, one of children, and one of adults, each one at least 50-100 people long just waiting for a handout of eggs, rice, bread, or oil. Elayna and I went to the candy stand and I bought 200 pieces of candy to pass out to the line of kids. It was the best $2.50 I’ve ever spent. I’ve never seen such happiness and excitement over two pieces of candy or a bag of rice. These people have NOTHING…NOTHING AT ALL. One woman said “thank you, I have a meal tonight.” This was after we gave her a loaf of bread. The extreme emotions didn’t hit me until we got on the bus and pulled away. I was writing in my journal and I flipped back to some lines from the South African Bill of Rights that I copied down earlier in the day at the Apartheid Museum:
“
Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.”
“Everyone has the right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and water.”
This begs the question: WHAT IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT DOING? How can these people live under these conditions with no hope of getting out? There aren’t enough jobs…housing isn’t affordable for some (no jobs!). I was in tears almost the entire way home…and I’m still getting choked up writing this….I want to do so much more…I need to do so much more. This whole experience has opened my eyes to so much out there in the world… I can no longer live my life with tunnel vision. This is changing me as a person. All my material possessions and my wants seem so petty after seeing a line up of 100 women waiting for a loaf of bread…
But don't worry...South Africa will be ready for the World Cup. Priorities?
