ACTSA; Beshlie goes to Africa.: 4 Sept 2010

So what's it all about then?

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Well hello there. My name is Beshlie and I work for the Marine Management Organisation as a Marine Officer. I joined Prospect, the recognised trade union for marine officers, and soon became involved in union matters, including the young professionals network. I took on the role of environment rep and international development advocate because it is a subject I feel strongly about and thought it would be an opportunity to influence decisions affecting all MMO staff and have a positive influence outside the organisation. I have been working with management, fellow reps and Prospect officers on creating MMO’s sustainable development action plan, which ties in with the bargaining for international development project; the environment and people are very much linked in my mind. As a consequence, I applied for a two week trip to South Africa with ACTSA, an organisation described as the successor to the anti-apartheid organisation. Guess what.... I'm going and this blog will tell you about it. Eventually!

Saturday, 4 September 2010

11: Johannesburg and SOWETO

Today we had a tour of inner city Johannesburg. Far from being the city of nightmares it is a vibrant and lively place, full of colour. In the times of apartheid, the areas we visited were all white, but now, a white face is unusual to see. It is heatwarming to know that black people from Johannesberg have reclaimed the area from their opressors. We were told that many white business owners abandoned their premises when apartheid finished in the 1990's, due to high levels of crime; sadly this has left huge office blocks empty and decaying. I've mentioned balance before.... there's so many hints that balance has shifted, but that the scales aren't yet equal.

We also visited Soccer City; the place where the first and last games of the recent world cup were held. It was difficult for me to follow, as I'm sure everyone knows I am not a football fan. The stadium is amazing and holds 90,000 people! Apparently it was designed in such a way that it takes 7 1/2 minutes to empty! The one fact I did take away from Soccer City was that the place is kitted out with recycled car tyre carpets, so I am a big fan! I also used the loo in Team B's changing room. I've no idea who was on team B, but it's a new claim to fame.

We chatted to our guide about the world cup and how it has affected him; he said that he was proud to have it in the country but that it had not benefited him in the way he had hoped. For exapmle; he is a SOWETO guide, but for the world cup, guides were brought from Cape Town to do SOWETO tours. He also said that Fifa banned street sellers from the areas outside the statium, which did not go down well. The stadium cost 3.4 billion to make and in a country with such poverty, that may be difficult to stomach. Having thought about it long and hard, I have decided that the legacy of the world cup is probably more important than the direct impacts of it. Okay, it cost billions, but football really is a universal language and this stadium put South Africa of the map and gave the nation something to be proud of. It also unified the people of South Africa for the first time anyone can remember. That has to be a good thing.... let's hope it continues momentum, or it will have been a travesty.

We visited SOWETO today. SOWETO stands for South Western Townships;the place that black and coloured people were moved to when apartheid was in full swing. The black resisidents of Johannesberg were originally moved to a place called Sophiatown.There are four million people in SOWETO, in an area 30 km square. It's a busy place.

On arrival in SOWETO, we had lunch in a shebeen, only unlike the one in Langa, Cape Town, this one has been developed for the tourist trade. The food was amazing, even the tripe, which, to be frank, looked revolting. In the Shebeen, we had a little music from a band called Milotones, or something similar. I will upload a short video when I have bought some more internet credit!

After lunch, we walked through SOWETO, we saw the memorial to Hector Peterson. (Look at the back left of the photo above). Hector Peterson was a thirteen year old boy who was shot by the authorities in what is now known as the SOWETO uprising of 1976. The SOWETO uprising was designed as a peaceful student protest at the governments decision to educate students in Afrikaans; not even the second language for many. The people did not agree with the choice of language, so staged a demonstration. Unfortunately the authorities got wind of the plans and appeared in their masses, killing 600 people and injuring 1,200. No one is certain who started the violence, but the authorities had guns and shot Hector. Our tour followed the trail of violence and we learned much about the student uprisings. We visited a church, where I stepped inside to hear the choir practice, we saw Mandela's house, which has been turned into an attraction; cashing in on his name. We saw Desmond Tutu's house too; he still spends time there when he is not on the Cape.

The day has been an emotional one; to imagine that people are capable of such horrific violence.

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Secondary Links

The Nomntu Project

The Nomutu project is run by a friend of mine's family. It provides educational, social and practical support to those suffering from poverty, abuse, HIV/AIDS in small communities in the Eastern Cape. They do good work. Support them if you can!

Artists For a New South Africa

Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) is a nonprofit organisation working in the U.S. and South Africa to combat HIV/AIDS, assist children orphaned by the disease, advance human and civil rights, educate and empower youth, and build bonds between our nations through arts, culture, and our shared pursuit of social justice.

Music you might like

Johnny Clegg: Johnny Clegg is one of South Africa’s most celebrated sons. He is a singer, a songwriter, a dancer, anthropologist and a musical activist whose infectious crossover music, a vibrant blend of Western pop and African Zulu rhythms, has exploded onto the international scene and broken through all the barriers in his own country.

Listen on Myspace here.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: So good were they that after a time they were forbidden to enter the competitions but welcomed, of course, to entertain at them.

Listen on Myspace here. (Yes, they are the ones from Paul simon's Graceland album).

Putumayo world Music - South Africa. Listen to previews through Real/Media Player. These guys are great, as they support NGO's and non profit organisations. For info click here.

Soul Brothers; Initially formed in KwaZulu Natal, the group have remained the slickest and most successful proponents of the mbaqanga sound which dominated South African urban music for over three decades.

Listen on We7 here.

Xavier Rudd and Izintaba: Album Koonyun Sun. Xavier is from australia, Izintaba from South Africa. I won't give you a review, just get it. It's ace. Particularly track 4.

Listen on Myspace here.

South Africa Fact File

For more information click here.

South Africa, officially called the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country of continental Africa, bordered in the north-west by Namibia; in the north by Botswana and Zimbabwe; in the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland; in the east and south by the Indian Ocean; and in the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The independent country of Lesotho forms an enclave in the eastern part of the country. South Africa has an area of 1,219,090 sq km (470,693 sq mi). The administrative capital of South Africa is Pretoria, the legislative capital is Cape Town, and the judicial capital is Bloemfontein.

Government

In February 1990 South Africa’s white minority government lifted the ban on anti-apartheid political organizations and freed African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. The government and the black liberation movement, led primarily by the ANC, then entered into negotiations to dismantle apartheid and open the way to political democracy in South Africa.

Religion, Language and Culture

Religion

About 68 per cent of the people of South Africa are Christians, mainly Protestant. Most Afrikaners belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, and most South African whites who speak English as their first language belong to the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, or Roman Catholic Churches. Blacks are also members of these denominations; in addition, many of them adhere to so-called independent Churches, which combine elements of Christianity and traditional African religions. A significant minority of blacks also follow traditional beliefs. Of the non-Christian religions in South Africa Hindus comprise 1.3 per cent and Muslims 1.1 per cent. South Africa also has a Jewish community of some 67,600 people, although a number of Jews have emigrated to Israel in the past 25 years.

Language

There are 11 official languages in South Africa: Afrikaans (6.2 million), English (3.5 million), Ndebele (588,000), Northern Sotho (3,840,000), Southern Sotho (2,704,000), Swati (1,019,000), Tsonga (1,646,000), Tswana (2,822,000), Venda (666,000), Xhosa (6,858,000), and Zulu (10,700,000). Afrikaans and English are the languages of record. The former, a variant of the Dutch language, is the first language of almost all Afrikaners and many Coloured people. English is used as the primary language by many whites and is also spoken by many Asians and blacks. To most blacks, however, a Bantu language (see Niger-Congo Languages) or Khoisan (Click) language is their first language. In addition to English, many Asians also speak a language of India. Fanagolo, a Zulu-based pidgin, is spoken by several thousand mainly as a lingua franca among mining communities. A group of Afrikaner intellectuals, concerned that Afrikaans is being marginalized in South Africa, met at Hammanskraal in May 2000, to launch the Group of 63, which seeks special constitutional protection for Afrikaans and other minority languages. Members include the South African writer Breyten Breytenbach. It is the first time since early last century that Afrikaners from such a diverse political spectrum have united on a cultural project.

Culture

The historical segregation of racial and ethnic groups in South Africa has resulted in distinct cultural developments. Within the white population English and European cultures have re-emerged as dominant influences, especially with the erosion of the Afrikaner-created apartheid system, and the end of the international isolation it caused. The historical distinction between the more religious and nationalistic Afrikaners and the more cosmopolitan English speakers is diminishing, especially among young people.

Among blacks, urban and rural cultures continue to differ. Urban black culture is multi-ethnic and increasingly draws on international influences, such as those of African-Americans. These influences have increased since the end of international sanctions against South Africa, which restricted artists from other countries from performing in South Africa. In the major urban areas the end of apartheid has brought about more interracial cultural activities. Generational differences within both the white and black populations also play a role in cultural expressions. In rural areas black cultural activities tend to emphasize the traditions of particular ethnic groups. Traditional Afrikaner culture is also strongest in rural areas. In recent years a new sense of self-pride has developed in the Coloured community and has found expression in writing, theatre, and music.

In 1993 the two sides agreed to hold the first multiracial elections in South Africa’s history in April 1994. A Transitional Executive Council was formed to supervise the elections, which would put in place new national and provincial governments. After difficult negotiations amid rising violence, much of it politically linked, an interim constitution was approved to serve as the country’s law until a permanent one could be written and adopted by the new parliament. The negotiators agreed that the new government would be one of “national unity”, in which minority parties with at least 5 per cent of the vote would be represented. However, the minority parties would not be able to exercise veto power over the decisions of the majority governing party.

ACTSA; Beshlie goes to Africa.

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So what's it all about then?

Saturday, 4 September 2010

11: Johannesburg and SOWETO

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