Sport seems to be the only thing uniting South Africans

"From 1948 there was white power, from 1994 black power, now in 2008, there is no power".

So said an elderly lady from Bloemfontein, reflecting on the electricity crisis that are causing blackouts on a daily basis. Underlying this humour there are deeper and darker feelings felt by many of the whites, whom I met in the Orange Free State, a former Afrikaner stronghold.

I have been shocked, surprised and deeply pained to hear the word 'kaffir' used very frequently during my stay here.  It was as if, as a Jewish person, someone had called me a f**king yid or used the term behind my back. 

When challenged on the use of this word, the white man and women's response is simple: "We have no rights any more. All our houses have to have iron bars, we can't even walk the dog at night for fear of being mugged, murdered or raped".

Certainly, it is true that crime is endemic and few whites will walk the streets in the evening.  Almost every house I have seen in a white neighbourhood - whether it be in Bloemfontein or Johannesburg is protected with barbed wire and bars on the windows. Every white I have spoken to thus far is touched by severe crime in some way whether it be themselves or their relatives and friends.

These whites also point to government corruption.  Even President Mbeki is implicated in an arms scandal and the new President of the ANC, Mr Jacob Zuma, faces a string of court cases.  There is great fear that South Africa will go the way of Zimbabwe. One white told me simply: "We can't tolerate them, they can't tolerate us". He added that there were white armed underground movements ready and waiting if "'Mugabe-ism' came to South Africa". "We will probably lose because there are less of us than there are them, but at least we will have gone down with a fight".

What makes this remark all the more chilling is that it didn't come from a member of the far right, but just a father living in a simple suburb.  He wasn't a political activist by any stretch of the imagination.

Another more liberal-minded Afrikaner suggested that South Africa was like Russia after communism. The country was corrupt and controlled by criminal gangs. He cited the fact that South Africa has apparently the highest road accidents per capita in the world (there were 245 serious crashes on Easter Friday alone across the country), as an example of the anarchy that was occurring post-apartheid. So 'white flight' to western countries by the thousands is cited as an inevitability and also a disaster as when they leave, all their skills go with them.

I was thinking of all this as I read Barack Obama's very powerful speech on race last week. Senator Obama was careful to highlight white grievance over issues like affirmative action and preferential housing.  He also suggested that some black leaders in the United States, including his extremist pastor, were stuck in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite some of progress made on race relations, some of the black leaders had refused to move forward. Many of the whites in South Africa say the same about black organisations such as the Trade Union movements and cite demonstrations with placards saying 'kill all Whites'. 

And yet, writing this piece as I sit in a prosperous Johannesburg shopping mall, it is impossible not to see the other side.  As people walk up and down, mostly whites with designer bags, it is the blacks in this Mall doing all the menial jobs. I have been astounded to go to places of unparalleled luxury such as the Sun City resort built by whites and mainly used by white holidaymakers and tourists and to travel but ten minutes away and see black inhabitants living in shanty towns, in houses made up of corrugated metal.  Such places are not too far from the shopping malls either and often just literally a few minutes away from rich white neighbourhoods.

Such a situation of white resentment against black empowerment and the gap between rich and poor represent a Molotov cocktail ready to be thrown at some time or another.  It is probably thanks to the immense statesmanship of Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk that it hasn't happened yet.

On a final note, there seems to be an ongoing debate as to whether South Africa is 'one nation'. Such a term seems an impossibility. Go to a cash machine to withdraw money and you will be presented with up to ten different languages on the machine. Differences abound between Afrikaner and English South African and between the numerous South African tribes in their millions, not forgetting the ten million Indians who mostly live in Durban. All this makes the prospect of unity that much harder. The only thing that seems to unite everybody is sport. South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup did wonders to unite the country. It is hoped that the Soccer World Cup in 2010 will do the same, if the stadium can be built on time and the problems with mismanagement and corruption are dealt with.

Comments

[John Wilkin]

"...thanks to the immense statesmanship of Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk..."

Robert, it's good to see someone mention de Klerk's role in the end of Aparthied - he's airbrushed out of most what one reads these days.

[Richard Calhoun]

The ANC government has done very little for the Blacks in the townships and there will be an explosion in the not to distance future.

There will be no place for the whites, if they are able they should emigrate

[Gege]

South Africa's problem is about power. (ignore the racial issues)

You had a group of people, who controlled the country for decades. They had unlimited access to the best in the land and they were brought up to believe that they were superior to the locals.

In 1994 the locals were given the chance to partake in government.

It is only natural that the former princes who enjoyed unlimited access to the best in the land will complain that they don't have any rights. It is difficult for them to accept that a group whom they were raised to believe were inferior are entitled to the same rights as them.

It is also difficult to come to terms with the reality of life which others have lived and which they had been sheltered from, for the majority of their lives.

Apartheid is gone but it will take much longer for people to psychologically come to terms with the fact that the people they thought where subhuman are just like them and deserve to be treated in the same way they want to be treated.

All the talk about corruption is a distraction. Kickbacks and others unthical practices were rife even under white rule.

The main grievance is that one group feels they have lost their princely status.

Hopefully, there will be healing in South Africa.

[Richard Calhoun]

Gege

Correction: You cannot ignore the racial issues, there is no meeting point acceptable to both white and black.

Power is through the tribes, witness Mr Zuma's rise to power.

The next stage will be a continuing decline in political stability accompanied by a sharp decline in the Rand.

[Gege]

Zuma's rise was due to the lack of skill on the part of Mbeki. He isolated people with his arrogant and bullying approach. His situation is similar to that of Obasanjo in Nigeria.

Race is irrelevant because, the issue is about a group realisng that their unlimited power has to be shared with others. This would have been the same irrespective of which race was oppressed.

South Africa will not collapse because both white and black love the land. All that is needed is time for the older generation of racists (on both sides) to pass away.

Healing takes time. Mandela's election was not the end, it was only the beginnig of a very long process.

[Toby Berglund]

Interesting observations and notes, but I can see a slight difference between this picture of South Africa and the picture given by the white South African people I have met here. Possibly they are not so interested in picturing up this divisive dimension of their country. On the other hand I have also met some black representatives and they seem to be more tuned in toward a little darker picture of their country.
Interesting to hear more about this.
Toby Berglund

[Citizen Grim]

Somewhat anecdotal, I'll admit, but I was in South Africa in early 2003 working with various church organizations, and I was surprised by the amount of cooperation between blacks and whites, especially contrasted against the USA, where blacks and whites tend to voluntarily segregate into different churches. In South Africa, by contrast, there was a significant mix - most prominent in the newer Pentecostal/charismatic style churches.

Clearly, this isn't to say that there wasn't resentment and distrust under the surface, but that they managed to put it aside for a greater purpose.

One other interesting cultural observation: watching the way American teams played and the way South African teams played... South Africans play hardest when the score is tied, and Americans play hardest when they are behind. Also anecdotal, yes, but I saw it repeated over and over.

[Richard Calhoun]

Gege
Note your comments and optimism about the future of South Africa. I hope you are right.

However I understand that Zuma and Mbeki are from different tribes, Zulu and Xhosa respectively.

I do not think Mr Zuma will wish to share power with anyone, anymore than most other African leaders.

The White's may love the country but they are leaving in unprecedented numbers, why is that??

Finally I do not believe that racism is peculiar to the older generation, anymore than tribalism, and in the case of South Africa I believe it is essentially tribal.

[George]

The White's may love the country but they are leaving in unprecedented numbers, why is that??
Because actuarially we have the highest chance of dying a violent death.
Because realistically many careers are effectively closed to young whites.
Because white owned SMEs will never get the sniff of a contract with govt, parastatal, local govt or large corporations.
Because among other things university places are not awarded on merit but according to racial quotas.
As a responsible parent what would you do?

[Damian Collins]

Robert

I visited South Africa for the first time a month ago, so I won't claim to be an expert. But on a more positive note, what struck me, inspite of the problems you set out, was that there is a relatively strong civil society in South Africa. People are proud of what has been achieved since 1994 and hopeful and determind that 2010 should be a great success. In Soweto, I was struck by the abscence in many neighbourhoods of the walls and fencing common in Johannesburg, the sight of school children smartly turned out in their school uniforms and, from what people told me, a growing civic participation with the police in the fight against crime.

Sure, there is a huge amount to do, but it reminded me of Robert Kennedy's words after the death of Martin Luther King, "We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land."