Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Waiting for us at the airport was a pleasantly plump woman. Charmaine gave us a brief on Cape Town as she drove towards the hotel. 8220;Do not venture out on foot after evening. It is dangerous.8221; As the car sped on the wide roads, she assured us that Cape Town was otherwise safe. It was amply demonstrated by the fact that a single woman had received us at the airport at midnight.
From the hotel window I could see the twinkling lights of the grand waterfront and the beautiful expanse of Cape Town. Framed in the window was the scene in any developed country. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in the Dark Continent!
As the day wore on we went to the picturesque winemaking town of Stellenbosch. The car sped by a black township. People were returning home from work. Scores of cars sped by and an equal number of people were walking. All the walkers were black and the drivers white. Our Argentine co-passenger could take it no longer. 8220;Why do the blacks walk and live in shanties still, while the whites drive cars and live in beautiful houses?8221; A deadly silence. It was as if a bullet had been fired. Then Ben slowly replied. These are the idiosyncrasies of African life.
A few days later, in Johannesburg, we boarded another minibus. Our guide was smart, bright-eyed, articulate Sepaw, a resident of Soweto. Driving towards Pretoria, he told us the history of his country. It began with the time before the whites came. He told us about the original tribes and their languages, of which today he can speak 11. He spoke about white rule and gave details of the struggle against apartheid. Mahatma Gandhi was an icon and Nelson Mandela a symbol of hope. Sepaw took us to Mandela8217;s house in Soweto. He also took us to Kruger8217;s Palace in Pretoria.
At the close of our trip, at Johannesburg airport we saw huge hoardings proclaiming proudly: 8220;South Africa, the Rainbow Nation8221;. A transforming nation has given itself a wonderful dream. How apt is the motif 8212; the rainbow has many colours, but no black or white.
