SA Rocks

This video was filmed in 1962. What a fantastic find. I first watched it over at OpenCulture

SA is actually a democracy and with that in mind let me ask: What the hell is Julius “Kill them all” Malema going on about?

To quote the genius himself:

We must … intensify the struggle to eliminate the remnants of counter-revolution, which include the DA and a loose coalition of those who want to use state power to block the ANC president’s ascendancy to the highest office of the land.

Uhu… so should we remove our internationally acclaimed constitution at the same time or is that little document OK Julius? There is something in there about freedom of speech I think, but correct me if I’m wrong.

I’m not sure if Malema completely understands the concept of democracy and the role of viable oppositions in a democratic society?

Mr Malema let me briefly explain myself. If you are to “eliminate the remnants of counter-revolution” you will be removing the opposition. If you do that, you are left with a single party state (roughly translated as a Mugabe-esque Zimbabwe government). This is not a good thing Mr Malema. This is not a good thing at all. This will not help our country become more representative. This will exclude more than the white people in this country (I think that’s what Malema means to say), this sort of talk or move will isolate freedom of choice, freedom of expression and inherently take us 40 years in to the past where opinion, choice and freedom did not exist. Do you remember those days Mr Malema?

One of the reasons that SA Rocks and will only grow in leaps and bounds is because we are a democratic state that allows people to be represented in government, that allows people to speak out against their leaders who say that they will kill anyone who opposes their leader, this is the reason that it rocks to be a part of a democracy. It’s a little thing called freedom Mr Malema.

And let me say one thing in closing. I will die before I let you take away my freedom to choose, my freedom to oppose Jacob Zuma, Helen Zille, Mangosutho Buthelezi, You (Mr Malema) or any leader that we might have one day. Considering the past of this nation, it would only be a mistake to take away the public’s freedom to choose a leader, look where it got us in the past.

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SouthAfrica.info has a fascinating story providing insight in to the 72 days that may have shaped SA.

I wont go in to too much detail but here is an excerpt:

Just how miraculous was South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy? How close did the country really come to civil war?

Check out our press clipping snapshots of the 72 days leading up to Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as SA’s first democratically elected President in 1994 – and see how heavily the odds were stacked against the rainbow nation.
1 MARCH 1994
Walvis Handover ‘a triumph’

Walvis Bay – South Africa’s last remaining dispute with the international community was formally ended at midnight last night as the South African flag was finally lowered in Walvis Bay and the Namibian flag raised in its place.
The formal handing over of the enclave ended a worldwide campaign for its incorporation that had been linked with the demands for Pretoria to surrender control of Namibia and to end apartheid in South Africa.
The last lowering of the orange, white and blue flag was watched in silence by a South African delegation headed by Justice Minister Kobie Coetzee, Namibian President Sam Nujoma and by representatives of African states and the Organisation of African Unity.
The Star, Tuesday 1 March 1994
2 MARCH 1994
IFP, ANC in ‘breakthrough’

The IFP is to consider provisionally registering for the April 27 elections. This emerged after several hours of talks between the African National Congress president Mr Nelson Mandela and IFP leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi in Durban yesterday.
Both the IFP and the ANC are also to explore possible international mediation to resolve outstanding constitutional deadlocks.
Buthelezi said the IFP was determined to contest the election, but added that his party’s demands, as contained in the Freedom Alliance’s proposals, had to be met.
The Zulu king’s demands also affected the IFP’s participation in the elections, he said.
The Sowetan, Wednesday 2 March 1994

Please do yourself a favour and read the rest of the article. It’s extremely interesting and relevant to each and every one of us today.

Source: SouthAfrica.info
The all-in-one official guide
and web portal to South Africa.

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This is it. This is what the waves are about, the controversy, the admin, the fighting. And you know what? I can’t decide where I stand.

Let me relay a little story that I have been dying to fit in on SA Rocks somewhere. The apartheid museum in Jo’burg is a phenomenal remembrance of our past in SA. it is explicit, graphic and a staunch look at where we have come from to get to where we are. I think it is a necessary part of our present and possible future.

However I heard once that young kids in school were taken there on a school trip. This is not the problem in my eyes. I take issue with the fact that the children were seperated along racial lines and taken through the museum in very specific contexts. This is wrong.

The children should share the experiences as humans. None of them experienced the injustices of the past so instead of making them try to relate to their race, why not allow them to share in the horror of what happened? Black, White, Indian or any other race should all equally be shocked by the injustices of the past.

Where am I going with this?

I’ll tell you. I like the pledge, although it is somewhat American. In essence I think it can’t be too bad to make children aware of their role in a country, an absolutely important role. However I take task with one sentence – this is the part where my apartheid museum story is relevant – “Recognising the injustices of our past”. Why include this sentence? Why make children bitter from such a young age? Why try to force them to relive something that they were never apart of? Why not just teach them history, the history of our ancestors and of this country? Why the need to state explicitly that we must recognise the injustice? Because in my mind all this is being insinuated is that we recognise the past and are going to get our own back today.

Let it go and move forward, don’t harp on the past. The pledge could be a very positive move, but don’t harp.

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It’s not often that I fell old or out of touch. But I think that I might be.

I have a cousin who is going on 17 years old. She is in touch with life, she is mature and knows about the world around her. She knows about the past (apartheid) and all that jazz – as she would say. But she doesn’t live it.

What she does is live, with everything, altogether, all the time. No questions, analysing, deep thought about the past and the implications of her relationships with that in mind.

While I sit here blogging and debating the life that I live here in SA, she is living it. She lives it to its full extent. Black friends, white friends, male, female, humans. Altogether everyone collectively makes up a part of her life. It’s not about race.

Browsing through her Facebook photos (I wasn’t stalking her I swear). I found myself thinking that I was out of touch. Why? Because she is surrounded by a multitude of people of every race, age, creed and background. It’s all the same to her and her mates. There is no bias one way or the other. They are all just living.

Then I thought about my life here and realised that I am somewhat trapped in the predisposition of my recent past and the extended past of my relatives and readings in Politics class. I am not race conscious nor am a racist but I don’t think I am a race-free thinker. I am still bound by the ideologies that I have been taught about. Whether I am actively denouncing the past or actively getting rid of it in my mind. I am still apart of it.

My point? I think I am still debating things while there are those that are living. Simple.

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So Heritage Day rolled around recently, while I was 10 000kms away from my home, and left this Saffa-in-the-UK feeling more than a little homesick (which I guess is natural), and somewhat bewildered.

Firstly, “what was my heritage?” I pondered, and am still unable to find an answer that fits 100%. I am a white, English speaking South African. Technically, I am of European extraction (English, Dutch and French), but my family have been in the Eastern Cape of South Africa since around 1800. There’s even a book about them. It’s called The Frontier Family. I wish I could tell you where to find this book, but Google has failed me. My entire family tree, however, is in it [excluding me as it was published about five years before I was born] tracing my lineage back to a settler family called Miles.

Now if you’re an Eastern Cape local, you’ll understand if a Thompson, a Cloete or Miles says they couldn’t reproduce with anyone born in the Eastern Cape, but suffice to say there’re a lot of us about.

And here I am in the UK, never been closer to my ancestral home, and I feel no link, no attachment. This place and its people, and their ways, bear very little resemblance to my South African life and values. Is this my heritage? And if not, what is?

A friend said to me this weekend that it must be hard being Afrikaans in South Africa on Heritage Day, and when prompted went on to say that she sees a lot of people conflating proud Afrikaaners with racists. I think she has a point.

We are so keen to be PC and be recognised as “proudly South African”, but can you not be if you went to Stellenbosch Uni and count “De la Rey” among your favourite songs? Sometimes I think that is the message politicians are sending out. Surely, the best move forward for our country is to be as inclusive as possible now? No, we don’t want racist afro-pessimists, but you cannot label an entire group under that heading because the nationalist government of our ugly past was largely Afrikaans.

Moving on, I feel disconnected from my European heritage. It is too far removed from me and my experience and even my grandparents’ lives to have any daily significance. I feel that I am South African, and take offence when the implication is made that I am not because of the colour of my skin.

So what is heritage? I think it is the answer to this question: What of my past do I carry with me into the future? I carry knowledge, not just from my grandmother, but from news, history and friends. I carry hurt, for my once divided nation. I carry hope, to live in a safe, equal society with majority rule and minority protection. In this way, I claim a South African heritage – and one you cant take from me.

“It’s my home it’s where I’ll stay and where I belong
I didn’t choose to be here I was born I might seem out of place
but everything I hold dear is under the African sun”
-Hog Hoggidy Hog.

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I am always reluctant to blog about Nelson Mandela in spite of the undoubted affect he has had not only on SA but on the world. I am reluctant because I personally feel that the exposure he constantly receives has desensitised South Africans to his incredible achievements.

In the name of heritage I am blogging this post that I found on thepropertymag.co.za.

It is always refreshing to see where our leaders, icons and heroes have come from. This is where Mandela started:

Madiba’s first home was a tiny ‘matchbox’ house in the older area of Soweto called Orlando West.

His first son was born in this house. I am sure that this makes the home even more special and holds fond memories for Mandela.

Heritage is what we make of it and the future is what we learn from our past and subsequently alter. Much has been learned from a man like Nelson Mandela and I am sure he is not done imparting knowledge on the world.

I am very interested to find out if South Africans have had their fill of the man? Not taking anything away from his astounding past and incredible presence, but do people rather want to learn things like this about the man or rehash the knowledge? I personally am more interested in the random facts and interesting historical tidbits regarding his past and his heritage. I have studied the struggles that he overcame and the history that he made, I want to know about the man, not the achievements.

What would you ask Mandela if you met him? Have you met him?

I have on a few occasions and I must say that his presence is quite overwhelming. His humble nature is grounding and his humour is extremely surprising!

photos and quotations courtesay of thepropertymag.co.za

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Our decorated, passionate and complicated past has left us with some very interesting personalities and characters. But have we separated them yet? Have we branded Zuma a clown and Mandela an eternal hero? Do we remember Biko and forget Verwoerd?

I believe that the struggles of the past have left SA with a very tricky political conundrum. How do we forget what some of the “clown” did for SA in the past if they are being clowns now? Let’s be honest, the likes of Zuma are riding the crest of collapsing wave that was the past’s freedom fight. That fight is done with and there are real and tangible issues that these leaders need to be dealing with.

We, as a nation, need to pull together and rid ourselves of the belief that we need to entertain the “struggle” leaders who invariably are, themselves, riding out our pseudo-guilt about the past. Enough already.

Heritage day is a fantastic idea and in my opinion should be used by everyone in SA to reflect on our past, our heritage and ourselves and make some decisions about our future here in SA. Let’s start with our mentality toward our leadership because I think that it might just be a joke sometimes. The struggle is over, apartheid is dead.

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