SA Rocks

It’s good to occasionally remind ourselves of the path we’re traveling on.  Other than a fringe group of misguided individuals, we all long for a non-racial South Africa.  A South Africa where race does not matter, where we are judged on our abilities and not the colour of our skin.  An irony of the new South is that in the commercial world decisions continue to be made on the basis of race (in order to rectify the imbalances of the past) – even when one applies for a credit card race-based statistics are kept.

The current system has led to discontent:
whites aren’t judged on ability alone when applying for jobs
blacks are never sure whether they genuinely deserved the job or are BEE appointees
blacks who were advantaged by apartheid (yes, there were some) are again advantaged
the same group of people are involved in BEE deal after deal

I abhor racism in all its forms, it “injects into human society a foul air of tension, mutual antagonism and hatred.”  There is a better way of doing things, and it is time we refined the current system.  In doing so one needs to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater – the baby in this case being the channeling of opportunities towards those who would not otherwise have them, and the dirty bathwater being the use of race as a determinator of who should get those opportunities.

Create opportunities for people

Everybody deserves to be given opportunities in life (whether they take them is up to them).  Those with wealthy parents are usually provided with many opportunites, whilst the poor have few opportunities – which is why I’m a strong supporter of initiatives such as free schooling and school feeding programs.  The trick is to set up a system which provides opportunities to those who would not otherwise get them.  Up to now (South Africa pre and post-apartheid) we’ve use race-groups to decide who gets these opportunities, and the time is right now to move on from this, to move from a system which provides opportunities based on race to a system which provides opportunities based on need.  I don’t have all the answers, but here’s an example of what could be done:

The following criteria could be used to determine who is currently disadvantaged:
parents combined income under R100,000
your own wealth is less than R20,000

The main opportunity people require in life is an educational opportunity – with a good education and hard work one can achieve one’s dreams.  All the disadvantaged (black, white and purple) should be entitled not only to free schooling, but also to 3 years of free university.  With this educational background, the world is your oyster.

Popularity: 2% [?]

In my previous entry I wrote about moments I consider pivotal in South Africa’s history.  With our rich history, there are a number of other interesting moments  worth mentioning (and I will not even begin to pretend that this list is conclusive):

Handled the ball

People make it into history books for different reasons.  On the 5th January 1957, in a test cricket match between South Africa and England, Russell Endean made history by becoming the first batsman to be out “handled the ball”.

Master of the universe

In 1961 Gary Player became the first non-American to win the US Masters, and followed this up with further victories in 1974 and 1978.  South Africa had to wait a further 30 years for Trevor Immelman to post its next victory in 2008.

Beatles are unbanned

On the 3rd March 1971 the SABC (for once showing some sense) unbanned the Beatles.  The original ban had been imposed after Lennon had claimed that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”.  Presumably, the SABC had been convinced of the matter.

Wimpy

In 1967 the first South African Wimpy opened (in Durban), forever changing the country’s gastronomic landscape.  Back then a Wimpy Burger with chips and coke would set you back 60c.

4  :  0

South Africa’s greatest ever cricket series victory over Australia, winning all four tests played (the closest Australia came was losing by 170 runs at Newlands).  The victory was so emphatic that Australia refused to play South Africa for over 20 years.

15 : 12

On the 24th June 1995, the South African Springboks led by Francois Pienaar beat New Zealand’s All Blacks 15-12 to win the William Web-Ellis trophy.  The All Blacks explain their defeat as being due to a waitress called Suzie having poisoned them.

Kyoto protocol

On the 31st July 2003 South Africa signed the Kyoto Protocol.  Little did we know how well Eskom would (unintentionally) enforce it.

Gay marriage

On the 1st December 2006 Vernon Gibbs (38) and Tony Halls (52) make history by being the first gay couple to legally tie in the knot in South Africa.  The couple get married at the home affairs offices in George (Western Cape province of South Africa). Even if being gay (in the homosexual sense) is not your thing, it’s liberating that we live in a country where it is tolerated.

Popularity: 7% [?]

From the first time him speak, I have had the deepest respect for Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Far, far more than merely being an Archbishop of the Anglican church; Tutu is a humanist, a lover of peace, a man unafraid to speak out against injustice no matter the audience – witness his statement “I am ashamed to be an Anglican” after narrow-minded Anglicans rejected homosexual practice as being incompatible with nature.

The power of pacifism

Over the last 100 years a triumvirate of distinguished South African pacifists stand out – look no further than Mohandas Ghandi, Albert Lutuli and Desmond Tutu. “People who call pacifists weak, that’s not the case. Actually you go into confrontation. You confront violent people without weapons.” says Tutu. Like Lutuli, Tutu was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (amazingly, Ghandi never won the Nobel Peace Prize, but that is a story for another day), and nobody put it better than Egil Arvik when presenting the Nobel prize to him “we feel ourselves united with him in the belief in the creative power of love.”

The message of truth, love and justice

An orator of note, nobody says it better than Tutu himself:

• On Ronald Reagan’s resistance to sanctions: “Your president is the pits as far as blacks are concerned.”
• On who gets into heaven: “We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”
• On those who chose neutrality: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
• On his father: “I really liked riding with him on his bicycle on Saturdays. He was very fond of fishing. I don’t think I liked fishing. I mean, you had to sit quietly and still, but I enjoyed the ride. And it was fun, it was fun.”
• On Zimbabwe: “We Africans should hang our heads in shame. How can what is happening in Zimbabwe elicit hardly a word of concern let alone condemnation from us leaders of Africa?”

Time and again Tutu has stood up and spoken a firm message of truth, love and justice. We need more of that.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This week SA Rocks is being taken over by South Africa Flights! I called for guest bloggers last week and received great responses from about 4 interested parties! I’ll be spreading the love over the next few weeks so expect to see some fresh and interesting takes on various topics from a wide variety of writers!

If you are interested in participating as a guest blogger please contact me. You’ll also notice that I have kindly provided the guest contributor with an advert in the sidebar! Nice!

History is a surprisingly touchy topic – after all, what’s happened has happened in the way it happened. The controversy arises from the fact that we don’t have the time or knowledge to go through every single incident in all its detail, so we summarise and point towards what we think the important elements were.
Out of its very nature then, writing history is a subjective process and a reflection of who we are. Here’s 8 moments in South African history that I think are worth highlighting:

Emancipation from slavery

1 December 1834 was a glorious day in South Africa’s history when an Act of the Parliament abolished slavery and some 40,000 slaves (from Africa, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka) were set free. This represented a victory not just for the slaves with origins, but for humanity as a whole. The freed slaves celebrated in Cape Town’s streets with bonfires and fireworks, thus beginning the tradition of the Cape Carnival. The Cape Carnival is now celebrated on the 2nd of January – which should be made a public holiday so we can all freely celebrate this pivotal moment in mankind’s history and remind ourselves of Bob Marley’s message to “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind”.

Cable links Europe to South Africa

On the 25th December 1879, the South African Telegraph Company completes the East Coast cable linking South Africa (Durban) to Europe….onward to 1993 and Telkom’s SAT2 cable also linking Europe to South Africa (Melkbosstrand), and hello internet…114 years and a revolution in communications.

God bless Africa

We all want God to bless Africa – not that we’ve got anything against other continents but Africa in particular needs his (forgive the anthropomorphism) help. Happily, in 1897 Enoch Sontonga, a Methodist mission school teacher, put this request for blessings into verse for us. Enoch composed a Xhosa hymn called “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika”. Fittingly, his grave at the Braamfontein Cemetery is a national monument and a place to go to pay one’s respect to this great South African. God bless Enoch Sontonga, even though he’s dead and buried, his spirit lives on each time we sing the hymn.

Satyagraha

Mohandas Karamchand (Mohatma) Ghandi spent 20 years in South Africa, during which he became a champion of non-violent protest against the unjust. Mohatma coined the term “Satyagraha” which he described as “force which is born of truth and love or non-violence”. Ghandi was a gentle man of the highest principles and a champion of peace, South Africa is blessed that he spent so many years here. The event for which he is best known by South Africans occurred on the 16th Aug 1907, when Ghandi lead 3000 people of various religious groups to burn their passes in the courtyard of the Hamidia Mosque in Newtown, Johannesburg.

South Africa’s present day borders are defined

The concept of South Africa with (more or less) its current borders was born on the 31st May 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. Up until then the area was composed of the seperate regions of the Cape and Natal Colonies, the Orange Free State and Transvaal. If not for the Union, a trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town might constitute crossing a national border. Whilst this formation of borders was a powerful defining moment, I can see a future where we move past these colonial-era boundaries into ever-closer union with our neighbours.

The non-violent struggle

Cut from the same cloth as Ghandi, in December 1961 Albert John Lutuli won the Nobel Peace prize for his part in the non-violent struggle against apartheid: “I have joined my people in the new spirit that moves them today, the spirit that revolts openly and boldly against injustice and expresses itself in a determined and nonviolent manner…” Lutuli spent 17 years of his life as a school teacher (all of whom deserve an award for the good they do) and later as chief and then president of the ANC, during which he strove to create harmonious relations and equality amongst South Africans. “It is inevitable that in working for Freedom some individuals and some families must take the lead and suffer: the Road to Freedom Is via the Cross.” – great words from a great man.

Television

From the 5th January 1976, the advent of television (or the “devil’s own box”, as the Dutch Reformed Church called it) brought about a sea change in South Africans’ lives. No need to unpack this statement, as you will probably turn on the tele at some point today and know what I mean.

Freedom Day

Some 160 years after slavery was abolished, the freedom of mankind took another leap forward, when on the 27th of April 1994 South Africans over the age of 18 of all races, sexes, beliefs, genders, intelligence levels and social status went out and voted. With the achievement of universal suffrage has come the realisation that real freedom is not just about political freedom but also economic freedom…the struggle continues.

Popularity: 4% [?]