Apartheid, correctly refashioned in English by the media as Apart-Hate, was a notorious construct of racial engineering, but this week I read an observation about what it really meant for white people, living under its deadening thumb.
“Less attention is paid to the cultural dimension of living under a dour state-imposed Calvinism – no television, no Sunday sport or entertainment, and a draconian censorship regime which added to an officially decreed joylessness.”
THE SCARS REMAIN
Every one of us who has suffered some trauma can attest that it stays with one, programmed into the psyche and embedded in our ‘software’. I have lost both parents within a short time, and in the middle of their lives. The scars remain. Some people have life altering medical interventions, and they will tell you that they live with that moment of intervention for the rest of their lives.
So it is with APARTHEID. For the small white minority, of which I am one, there is a tendency to think that is was a time of joy, but it was actually joyless if I think back to that time, which seems to have taken place in another reality. And in my experience, together with that of many other white South Africans, it seems that our memories of that time are becoming heavier and our sense of disbelief is like a delayed trauma event, only manifesting itself in its fullest severity 30, 40, 50 years later.
The trauma and its manifestations are a thousand times worse for our black countrymen. After the initial release of joyous energy, made possible by the intervention or Nelson Mandela in our history, it has become clear that the road to recovery is substantially more challenging and much longer than we expected.
We have a National Election in May, on the 30-year mark of the dawn of our democracy in South Africa. For those who seek office and for the leaders of the various parties, I have 2 notes – the titles borrowed from Springbok Radio, one of the few joyful media platforms from Apartheid South Africa.
No Place to Hide
"No Place to Hide" was a radio drama series that aired on Springbok Radio, a South African radio station, from the 1950s to the 1980s. The show was known for its intense narratives, cliff-hangers, and dramatic twists, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats throughout each episode.
There is No Place to Hide for those who seek another mandate from us in this election. For the past decade we have been kept on the edge of our seats by the sordid betrayal of our democratic trust and the fraudulent wielding of the power invested in our democratic leaders; but this time the voters are going to confirm that THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.
Consider Your Verdict
“Consider Your Verdict” was another popular radio drama series broadcasted on Springbok Radio. The show was a legal drama that presented fictional court cases for listeners to follow, allowing them to act as jurors and decide the verdict based on the evidence presented. The show was known for its realistic portrayal of courtroom proceedings and often explored complex moral and ethical dilemmas. It engaged listeners by encouraging them to critically analyse the evidence and arguments presented, ultimately arriving at their own verdicts.
South African voters have the privilege to critically analyse the evidence and arguments put forward by those who have been in power for the past 30 years, and ultimately arriving at their own verdicts.
It’s Howzit time
Don’t let us perpetuate joylessness. Discard mediocrity. Deny incompetents access. It’s time to embrace; something were are very good at. It’s time to release, again, the joy and the optimism of those early days of the New South Africa.
Here is a small, but important manifestation of why we need to intervene and vote decisively this time:
“Policy expert Ann Bernstein had just last week put matters into grim perspective. Noting that "there is no other country in the world in which a smaller proportion of the total population is engaged in income-generating work than South Africa." This is an outcome we live with today. There is really No Place to Hide and time to Consider Your Verdict.
But in the meantime, I celebrate my mountain, the autumn palette, the never resting ocean and the space. For me it’s simple, South Africa is the place I know & love best, and my heart will always lie here. I celebrate All of Us, the Rainbow Nation because in the rain and amongst the clouds, we only need a sliver of sunlight to shine our colours – we are so beautiful.