The real politics struggle and the ever-lasting path to liberation

Figure 1 - Steve Biko
"The most potent weapon
of  the oppressor is the
mind of the oppressed"

Reduced to a simple object, the African was made an outsider in an already sick, unsustainable society.

In 1973 and 1976, several riots put an end to this rugged, dark period. The movement of the Black Consciousness (or BC, a non-violent current of thought imported from the USA, influenced by the Black Theology - aimed at restoring the dignity and identity of the black people) conducted by Steve Biko - "a young and brilliant student" of the University of Durban-Westville which engaged himself in politics in his early 20s and became a founder of the black student union SASO; "a symbol and martyr of the anti-Apartheids"; "the South African Che Guevara" - gives extraordinary hope and impulse to several youth movements.

In 1976, a revolt erupts in the schools of Soweto in reaction to a new rule on the education of the Black - imposing the teaching of certain disciplines as compulsory in the Afrikaans language - and sets fire to the country as a whole making it increasingly uncontrollable. Progressively, industrials and foreign powers seek refuge, protecting their investments by discretely changing political sides.

Figure 2 - Nelson Mandela returns to Soweto 4 days
after his release from Victor Verster prison
in Paarl, South Africa

But 13 more years of struggle will be necessary for the government to resign himself in freeing Nelson Mandela (1990) and engage in talks with the black political unions. A difficult and time consuming compromise allows the definitive liberation of the country. On the 27th of april 1994, despite intense fighting between the Zoulou nationalist organisation (Inkatha) and the Mandela supporting ANC (African National Congress) - which flooded the country with bloodshed violence - the first multiracial, democratic elections take place and the ANC triumphs with 62% of votes. Three hundred years following colonisation.

In 1999, the ANC wins the presidential elections once more and Nelson Madela passes on his power to Thabo Mbeki, his apprentice. Thabo Mbeki was reelected in 2004, 10th anniversary of the young, multiracial democracy.
The FIFA seizes this occasion to allocate the organisation of the 2010 football world cup to South Africa - the first African country to host such event. In turn, the country has undoubtedly benefited from a materialized international recognition although once more, the financial face of the competition was mismanaged and has engendered widespread scandals and abuse. The unprecedented touristic pic reached in June 2010 quickly dropped, returning to no more than average.

Figure 3 - Thabo Mbeki, 2nd President of the
Republic of South Africa;
now African Union mediator

Thabo Mbeki's efficiency in handling power is much contested as the AIDS issue was denied under his reign. The distribution of antiretrovirals (AVRs) was refused until 2003. Also, criminal records have notably pilled up. Today, South Africa is the most AIDS-affected country in the world with over 1/5 adults contaminated.
During his second term, president Mbeki has had to develop his politics with vice-president Jacob Zuma (the actual president), charged in 2005 for traffic of influence in an alleged fraud and corruption affair linked to french armament group Thales. Mbeki dismisses his VP which then becomes his greatest enemy.

Most recently, Zuma is also severely accused of the rape of an HIV-positive woman of which he will ridiculously and unacceptably respond that he has taken a shower afterwards - and the misappropriation of USD hundreds of thousands worth of public funds circumvented to his personal estates. Zoulou, Zuma has also spent 10 years behind the bars of Robben Island.

Figure 4 - An artist's impression of Jacob Zuma's run for SA presidency

The war of influence between the two political leaders takes a turn in 2007 when Zuma decides to prone purposeful left-wing political ideals. He is elected head of the ANC. Following a 2 year-long musical chair type political turmoil, Zuma finds himself in the simultaneous contradictory positions of future convict or future president. He is finally elected president of the Republic of South Africa in April 2009 after the much silenced Thales affair was evicted from the political scene.

In October the same year, an unprecedented strike of the public administration destabilizes power and after a 3-week long blockade, (closed schools, hospitals, etc.) the government decides of a payroll increase of 7.5% and the implementation of an 800 Rand housing indemnity. Zuma surpasses the first major difficulty of his term "successfully".

South Africa, which history?

Trying to recount the history of this country seems like putting yourself in the middle of a field of land mines. As may testify what we retain of the passage of human kind on earth, South Africa's history is a report typed by the "victorious".

Figure 1 - When the British 
government made its 
determination to uphold the 
annexation clear, the Boers 
turned to armed resistance 
in December 1880

The official version of this country's history was until very recently just a recital of the unstable compromise - established on the back of the black people - between the Boers (or "farmers" - the first white to establish themselves in colonies at the Cape, originally from northern Europe - Holland, France and Germany - and called the "Afrikaners" or "Europeans of Africa" at the end of the 19th century) and the British resulting from the anglo-boer war that took place between 1899 and 1902. And even around this partial story laid two distinct versions. The first was British and was to be considered as "the real one", the second was the one of the Boers which was considered to be "misleading" as it was simultaneously connoted as "archaic" and "africanised". Both of them have since then been revised by white anthropologists and historians. With access to university being granted to a much wider spectrum of the black South Africans, one may bet that revisions of the history may derive even further from reality.

Figure 2 - Voyage of Bartolomeu Dias
(1487-88) 

The southern African cape enters the European history in 1487 when Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias discovers the Cape of Good Hope. At the time, technological innovation in navigation eventually allowed to bypass obstacles to the European expansion - then blocked at the East by the Ottoman Empire -, going West and South. Most of what are established as Southern African historical facts have encountered numerous stories spread from mouth to ear for hundreds of years and hence are the result of multiple, ancient influences. Alternative stories haven't ceased to emerge in the recent years - non-negligibly affecting one's comprehension of the continent's history as a whole.

According to the 1996 Walter Sisulu drafted constitution, South Africa counts some 11 official languages with each province being granted the right to make its own linguistic choices by adopting a minimum of 2 official languages. English is spoken everywhere and Afrikaans in an important number of places. The country counts 9 African languages: zoulou, xhosa, swazi, tswana, venda, tsonga, pedi, sotho and ndebele. The two first being spoken by over 40% of the population. This country is hence characterized by a very important linguistic diversity, many speakers changing from one language to another in a same conversation.

Figure 3 - An artist's impression
of the Apartheid

For each spoken language, a different way of thinking, a different approach on life. So who would have bet that this country - long considered as one of the last civilised nations and for tens of years neglected - could chase its own demons and come back to the path of civil peace and respectability? The racial segregation regime (or Apartheid) established by the ruling white in 1948 was abolished on the 30th of June 1991. In April 1994, the South Africans took part in the first democratic and non-racial elections ever organised in their country. After 27 years of detention, the world's most famous political prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was becoming the most popular head of state of the planet. The new-born "rainbow nation" was then witnessing a true state of grace. For some time, South Africa's destiny was even in the hands of 3 peace Nobel prizes.

Figure 4 - South Africa,
a multiracial country

Despite real and ferocious violence, the country opted for the miracle solution of reconciliation. The profoundly humanistic philosophy of a handful of great men associated with an exceptional pragmatism, fostered one of the most spectacular political reversal of all times - not only avoiding civil war but also the leakage of capital and foreign investments which would have economically sunk the country.

In just 15 years, South Africa has become a democratic and multiracial nation arousing fascination around the world. Nevertheless, reconciliation isn't "all-black" nor is it "all-white" and the road to abolish social and economic segregation remains discouragingly long. In a vast majority of urban centers, one hops without transition - in the time lapse of a street crossing - from the most trendy and wealthy quarters to the most miserable townships.
   

Jo'burg in line !

We're glad to welcome you here, on the official African Wagon project blog ! Keep an eye on us throughout the journey to benefit from insights of some of the world's most beautiful, entrenched areas and get yourself a chance to encounter the Southern, Austral and Eastern Africa populations.

On the tracks of the mythic Cape-to-Cairo railway, our 11,077 km-long expedition will investigate 9 countries and attempt to witness some of our time's most promising ingenuity.

First step : Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sien jou binnekort !