Early breakfast with a morning tour of the history of Cape Town from the early Spice Island trading in the 1500’s, then an afternoon tour and history of modern Apartheid and how Cape Town has managed to cope with the results of this endemic/cultural racism.
This “graffiti” at the entrance to District 6 introduces the visitor tothe history and demise of apartheid in South Africa. The 60’s on the right with the notorious “passbooks” for travel within South Africa, to the victory of Nelson Mandela’s election to the presidency in 1994 on the left.
A new word, then a quick bit of history. The word: “revictualize”. That one is a winner in Scrabble. For centuries prior the the 1500’s, all the “spices” from the Orient were transported by land to Europe and beyond. Vasco Da Gama was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope to the Spice Islands (modern day Indonesia) and return by sail. A breakthrough in time and lives. But still at a cost. It was a two year journey. After leaving Europe, by the time the ships got to Cape Town they had typically lost half their crews to scurvy and other diseases. Cape Town, a Mediterranean Clime, had the ability and opportunity to “revictualize” the ships with men and food for the final sail north and east. Similar to the shop keepers in the California Gold Rush, who also became wealthy at revictualizing the 49’ers. These were Dutch merchants and for the next 200 years traded sovereignty with the British as Dutch holdings diminished and the British Empire expanded.
As the invading civilization enlarged in Southern Africa, as all civilizations have required through history, slaves were needed to do the work the conquerors were unwilling to do. But a surprise to me was these slaves were not the indigenous Africans, but Malaysians. Captured as the ships returned from the Spice Islands. Hence the three cultures that continued through the 19th century were the whites, blacks and coloreds. The coloreds were the Malaysian slaves. This continued through 1833 when William Wilberforce tirelessly convinced the British Parliament to pass the Slavery Abolition Act for the entire British Empire. He died three days after its passage.
We also visited the Malay Quarter. Segregation has always been the norm in South Africa, where the Malaysians (coloreds) lived was no exception. Most were Muslim, indeed there are 7 small mosques in the Quarter. Although segregation was discontinued in 1994, those who live in the Malay Quarter continue to build and paint as they have for two centuries. Interesting note, in spite of the dismal history of racial fratricide, South Africa has never exhibited any religious strife or intolerance.
Now, a definition of a word few of us fully understand: Apartheid. Literally means to “divide and rule”. It was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the government after World War II until 1994, under which the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner (white) minority rule was maintained. From 1960 to 1983, 3.5 million non-white South Africans were removed from their homes, and forced into segregated neighborhoods, in one of the largest mass population removals in modern history. Non-white political representation was abolished in 1970, and starting in that year black people were deprived of their citizenship. This corruption became so intolerable that it laid the groundwork for the reemergence of Nelson Mandela and his release from prison in 1990 after 27 years, the end of Apartheid and his election to the presidency in 1994. (We will be visiting Robben Island in two days, where he was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 years.)
This is a brief introduction to our afternoon tour of two “districts” or “townships” where segregation is so deep that black people are struggling to emerge into the modern world. Other terms we herd were “Shanty Towns” and “Informal Structures” All are euphemistic for extreme poverty and abject desperation. Most homes have electricity, few have running water or toilets. Most families share a port-a-potty lined up along the roads with a community spigot for water. Unemployment runs 50% and compounding this, South Africa has the highest ratio of AIDS patients in the world. 500,000 die each year from the complications from AIDS. One of the townships we visited, Intlanganiso, is approximately 6 square miles and has a population of one million!! Overwhelming to see.
BONUS INFORMATION: If you have way too much time on your hands check out Cecil Rhodes. Entrepenuer, British businessman, mining magnate, and politician. For a time, the richest man in the world, two African countries were names after him, and originator of the Rhodes Scholarship. It is amazing what he did for and to South Africa. As Winston Church was quoted concerning Russia; “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”.
Today wasn’t all depressing history! Cape Town has one of the premier Waterfront’s in the world. Shops, restaurants, galleries. Beautiful. This is a sculpture from one piece of rock.
