personal reflections on south africa and mandela

My step dad is from South Africa and moved to British Columbia as a child when his parents fled apartheid. My mother took me overseas as a child to work with the poor. Because of this I grew up with an interest in human rights and in South Africa's situation particularly. I remember writing a paper in junior high school about apartheid and beginning to understand the atrocities more clearly. 

In 2009 my family went on a holiday to South Africa. It was an incredible trip. What a beautiful country. We spent most of our time in Cape Town, an incredibly stunning port city at the bottom of the continent, and then took a two week 6200km trip across of the country. We traversed through Kimberly, Johannesburg, Kruger National Park, Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth and many other places along the east coast. What an amazing landscape. I was in heaven going on safaris, playing with baby tigers, lions, cheetahs, petting a full grown cheetah. Cage diving with crocodiles and sharks. It was the best. 

 

The African people have a zeal for life that is contagious. I remember pulling up to a gas station where people were dancing around the gas pumps singing their hearts out. There is a human spirit over there that is so wonderful and exciting; we could use a large dose of it over here.

I also remember experiencing a culture living in the aftermath of apartheid. South Africa has come so far with regards to race issues but there is still a very long way to go. I remember feeling white. My step dad is coloured as is the whole extended family that we were staying with. My brother and sister are a beautiful carmel colour. My mom and I are glow in the dark. The family there was the most loving and I rarely felt different amongst them, but a couple times out in the cities it was made clear to me that my colour meant something. I remember going to KFC one day and ordering a chicken sandwich or whatever. The black girl serving me at the counter glanced at me and then shifted her eyes down in what was clearly an automatic posture of deference that I will always remember. It broke my heart. There were a number of incidents like this that highlighted to me the residual day to day impact of racial injustice imposed on this nation. Because my mom and step dad are a mixed couple if we'd enter a grocery store people would double and triple check that they were indeed a couple. We visited some white missionaries living and serving in a township. We were heartbroken to hear that the local white people would refuse to grant them basic amenities because of their association with the black and coloured people. 

All that being said, it is remarkable how far this country has come. We visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg where the atrocities are archived. The entrance to the Museum had two doors, one for whites and one for non whites. It was quite a visceral experience for my mom and I to walk through the white door while the rest of our family went through the non white door. I was so sickened by the idea of being an elite race. Inside we read documentation, watched videos, and looked at photos of the social darwinism that was the law of the land. It was totally illegal for white and non whites to be in the same room together. So many people were stripped of everything and forced to live in slums. Thousands more were killed. When the students rose up against the government they were shot to death in the streets by the police. 

I remember the patriarch of the family, a successful coloured businessman, telling the story of how he was forced to sell his house for nothing to a rich white man and move his large family into the poor coloured area. One day we went as a family to a large public beach where my step dad was not allowed to go to as a child. 

Things have changed in South Africa and it is incredible that the transition out of apartheid didn't end in a massive war. Much of this has to do with Nelson Mandela, the leader of the anti apartheid movement who was imprisoned for 27 years and upon release became the first black president of South Africa. Mandela brought about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was a policy of redemption and forgiveness that changed the world forever. 

We took a trip to Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 prison years. Robben Island is a small island off of Cape Town that was turned into a prison compound and work camp where political prisoners were held by the apartheid regime. Our tour guide, a prison mate of Mandela,  walked us through the hallways of this haunting place and told stories of their time together. One of the stories that is seared in my heart is when Mandela refused a bed. After awhile there was a lot of international political pressure put on the regime regarding Mandela's treatment. Because of this they offered him a bed for his cell. After years of sleeping on the ground Mandela refused a bed unless all of the prisoners were offered beds as well. Amazing. We also heard stories of how Mandela would continually befriend and educate the guards. The guards had to be switched out over and over again because of his effect on them. After his release he remained friends with several of them and would have them over for dinner! 


Nelson Mandela. A remarkable figure of redemption. I will never forget peering into the tiny jail cell that was his for 18 of his 27 years in prison. It is hard to believe that when he walked out of prison his immediate response was forgiveness. This changed the world forever. 

Madiba. We will always remember your sacrifice and your brave example of standing up to brutal injustice with a spirit of reconciliation. Thank you.