In Mandela’s footsteps

Tourism as political history

I want to go back to South Africa. To make up my mind about what Nelson Mandela signifies. And because I have never seen his house, the village where he was born, or the places where he was hiding. Maybe I will bring some tourists with me. In Nelson Mandela’s footsteps. Wouldn’t that be a good idea?

“I’m sure Flemish people won’t want to pay thousands of euros to learn about a hero,” says Johan Beke of VIZA, the Flemish Institute for South Africa, “without also wanting to see the lions in the Kruger Park or the whales in Hautboy.”

Johan has organised trips to South Africa before in collaboration with a local travel agency. Moreover, from 2014 onwards, anyone in Flanders will be allowed to organise a group trip as the licensing obligation will be abolished in full. “You know what? I’ll ask my travel agency to write a proposal, something like in Mandela’s footsteps.”

Johan is Flemish but also speaks Afrikaans, just as Nelson Mandela does incidentally. Today, Afrikaans is one of the eleven official languages in South Africa, primarily spoken by white people and bruinmense (the so-called ‘coloureds’). However, it was also the lingua franca of the Nasionale Party (NP), who during the previous century advocated a ‘separate evolution’ of white and nieblankes (non-white). In 1948, the NP pronounced this apartheid the racist state ideology. Die kaffer op sy plek – the Kaffir in his place. A black person could no longer leave his township and his homeland or bantoestan, unless he or she could produce a pass, and even then it was mainly to slog it out as a servant girl for a white boss, as cheap labour in a deep mining shaft, or at a large farm. It was against this discrimination of South African inboorlinge (indigenous people), which had in fact been going on for centuries, that Nelson Mandela would fight – and successfully.

Never, never, never again

It is 10 June 2013 and Madiba – as Mandela’s clan name goes – has been in the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria with a pulmonary infection for two days now. My printer spits out the travel programme Johan promised me. Tourist favourites (Tsitsikamma, Drakensberg, Table Mountain) are mentioned alongside places I recognise from Mandela’s autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co.

In the Transkei region lie the villages of Mvezo, die dorpie waar Mandela gebore is (the village where Mandela was born), Qunu, waar hy ‘n beeswagter was (where he was a shepherd boy) and Mqhekezweni, where he came under Thembu-chef Jongintaba’s guardianship and grew up with the latter’s son, Justice. Madiba was destined to be councillor to the heir to the throne, until both ran away to Johannesburg, fleeing from prearranged marriages they did not want to go through with. In Johannesburg the young Nelson Mandela started a law office with Oliver Tambo, and rekindled the ANC, which had lain dormant, so to speak, since its foundation in 1912. In front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, waar die kantore van die Staatspresident gehuisves is (where the State President’s office is located), Mandela would be sworn in as the new president on 10 May 1994. “Never, never, never again will this beautiful country witness the oppression of one person by another.” Mandela has become an icon and South Africa is no longer the world’s pariah.

Yet KwaZulu-Natal, the province of the current President Jacob Zuma, also features on the eight pages that emerge from the printer. In Howick, 100 km from Durban, city of the Sharks, you will find the most beautiful of all the Mandela monuments in South Africa. Op 5 augustus 1962 is Nelson Mandela in hegtenis geneem in Howick. Dit het gelei tot die Rivonia Verhoor en sy skuldigbevinding (On 5 August 1962 Nelson Mandela was taken into custody in Howick. This led to the Rivonia Trial and his conviction). This year, the second Mandela Day Marathon ends in Howick. Of course, Robben Island also has a place on the trip, with its damp prison where he contracted tuberculosis, as does Victor Verster prison in Paarl, from which he was freed on 11 February 1990, after 27 years and 7 months of imprisonment.

Mandela was sentenced to life in prison on charges of sabotage, during the so-called Rivonia Trial, officially ‘The State vs. N. Mandela and Others’ (1963-1964). In Rivonia, now a suburb of Johannesburg, the Liliesleaf Landgoed still stands. Almost the entire supreme command of Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘Spear of the Nation’) were arrested here. They were the armed wing of the ANC founded by Mandela, and incriminating evidence was found against him and his fellow accused. Die plaas is nou ‘n museum en werelderfenisgebied (The place is now a museum and a world heritage site). While the world was also holding its breath, Mandela used his plea in the Law Courts at Church Square, Pretoria, to criticise the apartheid regime. From then on, he was South Africa’s most famous freedom fighter.

Inside 8115 Orlando West on Vilakazi Street, however, the conjugal bed remained cold and empty after his liberation. His second marriage to Winnie Madikizela, who had made life impossible for herself due to murder and arson, had failed. During the painful divorce trail in 1996, Mandela would reluctantly declare that since his release, Winnie did not once enter the bedroom while I was still awake.

Soweto

I phone some South African friends and ask them what they think about a trip in Mandela’s footsteps. Clive van den Berg, a well-known urban planner, advises us to go to Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg – which makes sense. He himself collaborated in the refurbishment of the old prison complex where the Constitutional Court is now located, hence the name. The cell complex of Old Fort Prison was built during the Boer War by Paul Kruger and would later house Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe (leader of the Pan African Congress) and the entire cream of the crop of the anti-apartheid movement. In the book Clive gives me, Mapping Memory. Former Prisoners Tell their Stories, I find some stories and drawings by thousands of ordinary South Africans who were also imprisoned here, caught in the web of colonial and apartheid oppression.

“The mainstream story perpetuates the notion that few were involved in the struggle against apartheid.” Melissa Mboweni sighs on the phone. In 2007, she was curator of the exhibition Jive Soweto in the Hector Pietrson Museum in Soweto, the SOuth WEstern TOwnships. This honours the many students who took to the streets on 16 June 1976 against the introduction of Afrikaans in the already substandard Bantoe-onderwys (Bantu education). Almost two hundred youngsters fell to the bullets of the South African armed forces. The Soweto protest became a turning point in the apartheid struggle and came at a time when the ANC stood powerless. Mandela and his comrades in arms were in prison at Robben Island, the exiled ANC was undecided and divided – so says current spokesman for president Mac Maharaj – and the Spear of the Nation was no match for the NP’s repression apparatus.

“It may be that we idealised President Mandela too much and paid too little attention to our role as citizens to build our future together alongside our leaders.”

Has Madiba Magic blinded us from other people’s struggles as well as our own? Didn’t Mamphela Ramphele, girlfriend of the late Steve Biko who was the biggest inspiration for the angry youngsters at Soweto, say something similar? “It may be that we idealised President Mandela too much and paid too little attention to our role as citizens to build our future together alongside our leaders.” It is a quote from the very readable Rough Guide to Nelson Mandela, which Ramphele cites in a 2009 opinion column that is otherwise full of praise. Indeed, Mandela himself had also stressed in his autobiography that he “was not a Messiah, but an ordinary man, who became a leader in extraordinary circumstances.”

“I do not see much use for a Mandela trip,” says Melissa Mboweni, “because he gave us hope when everything was against us. But we have all fought our battles, including me. The only thing is that my name is not in the history books. I’m not with the ANC, so I lack in Struggle Credibility and all the advantages that come with it.” According to Melissa we should not go to Vilakazi Street, although it is recommended as die straat waar twee Nobel Vredespryswenners, naamlik Mandela en Tutu, het gewoon (the street where two Nobel Prize winners have lived, namely Mandela and Tutu). “Go chat in a hair salon in Soweto or buy tickets to a concert in Orlando Stadium.”

Fun for youngsters will be wall climbing or bungee jumping from the Orlando Towers, or why not participate in the Soweto Marathon. “By doing this you get to talk with regular South Africans who all have their own stories.” Indeed, why not? Wasn’t Mandela, as well as being a boxer, also a gifted runner?

Zuma’s cattle

It is 18 July and unfortunately the old man is very ill. Today he turns 95. There is an email from South Africa in my inbox – This has to be handled with extreme sensitivity and care – followed by 64 exclamation marks. The message is from Natalie Buttress, a radio presenter from Plettenberg Bay. “For me there is only one angle: Madiba the Legend, a man who won the hearts of the world, a saviour and conqueror of oppression! But that’s what you get from a true Madiba-fan, of course.” Natalie’s advice is to contact the Nelson Mandela Foundation. It governs the man’s legacy and is in the news because Mandela’s (grand)children are arguing about his inheritance, while Tata is terminally ill in Pretoria. “The last thing you want to do is offend a grieving nation.”

But according to the latest news, Mandela is still alive. Today, people are even celebrating Mandela Day all over the world. At the UN’s request, volunteers will spend 67 minutes doing something for charity, honouring Mandela who sacrificed 67 years for the common good.

This morning, Andy Mason went to Muizenberg, Cape Town. In a township there he has planted a tree. “Mandela gave democracy space.” Andy is a writer and a veteran political cartoon artist. Mandela always showed respect for the separation of powers, for unity and diversity, and for freedom of speech. That’s all well and good, but how do you discover such a thing during a group tour? “You could come for the Easter holidays. That’s close to election time and then you’d see our democracy at work. Besides, in the run-up to the twentieth anniversary of Freedom Day many things will be happening.”

Or should we make a detour via Nkandla, where President Jacob Zuma had his house built? The villa complex in Zulu style, located in the KwaZulu-Natal province, has caused a lot of controversy. Nkandla’s kraal alone, the place where Zuma’s livestock is kept, has cost the taxpayer 1 million rand, according to the Mail & Guardian. “Nkandlagate, as we call it, has become a metaphor for how the ANC is destroying everything Mandela stood for, through lust for power and corruption. As we were planting trees this morning, we felt a great desire among our people to live in a non‐racist, peaceful, democratic society. All slogans from the Struggle; our fight against apartheid.”

So maybe we will go into the townships, searching for schools, crèches and hospitals that have been named after Mandela. “Or ask about the Mandela Children’s Fund and the projects they support. You would get to see places which you usually wouldn’t, and it would be a most inspiring experience.”

Safety

Or perhaps you would prefer an afternoon at the beach? In Muizenberg, the ideal spot for beginner surfers, we learn the tricks of the trade at Gary’s Surf. Gary Kleinhans runs what he claims to be the oldest school in South Africa and he has also led youngsters from troublesome neighbourhoods to be champions. Perhaps we will be able to learn more this way than doing a ‘city run’ through the poorest areas.

“In essence, there is nothing wrong with a township tour”, states Andre Trantraal, the last South-African we call. “But even despite your good intentions, it remains a dangerous thing.” Andre is a cartoonist and together with his brother he draws Coloureds and The Richenbaums: sweet manga cartoons, yet with tragic scenes in Bishop Lavis and Mitchell’s Plain. Andre speaks the way he draws: soft, but without mercy. “A European’s main concern, when (s)he goes to a predominantly black township, should be safety, at least in some areas. Because the main concern for our poor people is economic, if you know what I mean. They still have difficulties making ends meet.”

Does apartheid, when colour and race live completely separately, still cast its long shadow? Chenette Swaenepoel, another curator from Johannesburg, claims that South Africans live in their own air bubble. There is no common ground for most South Africans. And, as if to make her point clearer, she emails me a link to Bittereinder, a video clip by Jack Parow and Tumi Molekane. “But there was hope,” she says. “You should look at the photo blog I see a different you. Those two are the living proof of Mandela’s heritage.” Andre Trantaal is more careful: “In the neighbourhoods I grew up in, you will still be regarded as people with money, with better education, a higher status, and … white. The closer you are to whites, the lighter your skin, the better. That’s the paradigm I grew up with and that is still very much alive.”

“Now I have told you all the secrets of my stam (tribe),” he laughs, a bit embarrassed. Yet I am grateful for such frankness and ask whether Andre might consider introducing us to cartoon drawing next year. “So our creative folk might get the urge to draw our trip, like Jacques de Loustal recently in Road Trip South Africa.” Andre likes the idea a lot and even wants to talk Afrikaans with us. “You do understand that, don’t you?”

There is more hopeful news from South Africa. Personally I believe this is a good project, not only to attract tourists, but also to educate and coach them about the relevant facts regarding our respected Hero. A friend of mine who is a former diplomat in South Africa has praised our trip to someone in the highest echelons of the Nelson Mandela Childrens’ Fund. That’s promising. We’re going to start making concrete plans. Would you like to reserve your seat now?

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