Today I went to meet ACTSA and the other delegates who are going on the trip. I got lost. well, technically I did not get lost, but i thought I was lost. Apparently I was standing right outside when I telephoned......... Cut through the admin and an awe inspiring itinerary (yikes I am going to be tired) and we went to the South African High Commission for the UK at south Africa House on Trafalgar Square. South Africa House is an amazing building, designed by Herbet Baker. Walking into the building, our lovely guide told us how South Africa House has an open door policy and purposely has large glass windows to convey the transparency of the new South African Government. Once inside the building, away from the public reception, I was technically no longer in the UK. I know that sounds strange, but in the High Commission building, South African laws apply. The building is absolutely stunning, with dark wooden panelling, marble pillars and floors, the most shiny brass rails and handles I have ever seen and fantastic artworks by artists such as Pierneef. It smelled a bit like a museum, which, with the quality and age of the things there, shouldn't have suprised me, but it did. I'm not sure how I expected it to smell, but to notice that it smelled of age, was unusual!
Our first stop on the tour was to view the gigantic picture wall of the anti-apartheid protects in Trafalgar Square. Our guide told us about how the international anti-apartheid movement was started in the UK. There were pictures of Joanna Lumley, Tambo and Mike Terry, amongst 20,000 others, all in Trafalgar Square. The picture wall may have been flat, but had so much life, the people's anger, frustration and general strength of feeling jumped out of the wall.
In the "reading room" we were given an informal introduction to South Africa and to the work of Coca Cola there, but it was the room itself that made the biggest impression, with the hanging crests, such as those of the East India company and Simon Van Der Stel circling the room and the beautiful but sinister painting of Jan Smuts the "architect of apartheid". Our guide mentioned that he often gets asked why such things are displayed as they are relics of an unpleasant past. He said that it is to remind Southern Africans of what went before and that it is not possible to change history. I guess it must be a similar reason Auschwitz is a museum; to learn from mistakes and ensure that such atrocities do not happen again.
The floor in the building was magnificent, as I already mentioned, it was made from marble, both black and white. The white was from Southern Africa, the black from Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and was designed in squares and circles. It looked beautiful, the black and white contrast really worked. How ironic. If only the generations who encouraged institutionalised racism and who supported apartheid had looked at the floor of their High Commission, they would have seen how two colours can make something beautiful.
After a smasher of a cup of tea and the thoughtful gift of a woolly scarf in the colours of the South African flag, I plodded across London to catch my train home. The train was packed, but I ended up sitting next to a very nice chatty lady who turned out to be from Johannesburg. We got talking about my trip. She said she wasn't a racist, but knew she had been institutionalised. She left South Africa 13 years ago, in the wake of the civil unrest and after her 13 year old son had been shot at by a black man. She firmly believes that apartheid wasn't a problem until the international community became involved; it worked for her and her family and for her staff. According to my train buddy, when the laws against apartheid were abolished, a minimum wage was brought in. She and her husband could not afford to pay her staff the 700rand required by law, so she had to ask Rosie and her husband and two children to leave. It was interesting to hear the other side of things, from the perspective of a white South African. I firmly believe that everyone has freedom to express themselves how they wish and enjoyed listening to her, despite some of it being hard to hear.
One thing my train buddy said that made me think was about Mandela. she said that it makes her angry that he is heralded a hero. She asked me why he spent all those years locked on Robben Island and I responded by saying that it was because he was against apartheid. She became quite animated and said that Mandela had sanctioned the Church Street bombings which killed around 250 people (all white). This isn't the first time I have been confronted with the quandary of right and wrong of this. It was brought to my attention by family when I was little. Is it right that Mandela and the ANC did wrong to get results?
My train buddy is off to a gala ball next month and needs a new dress. She wants something vibrant. Nothing black. She won't wear black. She hates black.
