The New Apartheid
Knysna, in South Africa, is a perfect example of the New Apartheid. Racism is alive and unfortunately “well” here.
The primary fault of racism is not superiority based on hate and greed but the belief in Aloneness. We are not alone in the human experience. We all cry, pain, laugh, dream, ambition, live and die. Right now, during this awful recession, poverty and depression attack all regardless of race or culture. We are in a class war, the rich versus the poor and the irresponsible corporation against humanity and the planet itself.
These criminals i speak of must be laughing. Instead of reality strengthening the common citizen and standing up for his right to health, education, a full belly and a roof, they fight amongst themselves. We fight amongst ourselves.
Here, in my beloved South Africa, and the microcosm of my home town, Knysna, racism has intensified. For the past few years i’ve felt more scared than in the late Eighties when we all wondered if the eradication of apartheid would be done peacefully. It was…to the benefit of big business, politicians and their cronies. These criminals are black AND white yet here on the ground level there’s no acknowledgement of that. Instead, there’s awful segregation of colours, pointing fingers at opposite races, and a refusal to look for common ground that would be a foundation for a common cause. Poverty is massive. As much as half of Knysna may be unemployed.
Until i came to Knysna, the epitome of the new apartheid was Rio’s enormous statue of Jesus. Arms held out wide, it’s Jesus welcoming and embracing the rich and the tourists. Behind his back, however, slums sprawl in smelly defecation of godly proportions. But it is our own world that should serve best as reality for that is what we can change.
Knysna is the most divided town i’ve ever seen. And i’ve seen a lot, as a youthful hitchhiker in search of answers and later when i monthly checked up on 72 offices across South Africa, from Cape Town to Nelspruit, Welkom to Richard’s Bay. The town centre, Leisure Isle and Thesen Island, are in a bowl rimmed by hills. Here, the overwhelming populace is white. On 2 hills, a few kilometres away, the non-white areas of Concordia/Khayalethu (mostly black) and Hornlee (mostly coloured) look down upon these white areas. It’s not only a colour barrier but an economic one too. There’s a vast difference between living in shacks and cheap RDP houses versus properties whose average price tag is over a million rand…and as much as R40 million.
There’s more to this scenario but i’ll discuss that here later, as well as double-up on my personal blog. The point now is that the world that a poor kid can see from his hill seems inaccessible. And, with a lessor education and tougher social challenges, that kid is unlikely to. The irony is that as a non-white he’d be part of the 80% population majority. In contrast, the average white teen i meet has an expectation of entitlement from their parents. A white family is more likely to take a holiday to Cape Town or overseas than travel 5km to see the poorer suburbs of their own town. A black kid is far less likely to take a hike at Brenton-On-Lake even though they can see it just across the Knysna Estuary.
Yes, yes, there’s much more to this! Both sides have wrongs and rights which i’ll, as said, address later. Additionally, before the next, expected criticism, there are always individual exceptions…but generalization holds more truth. I’m more concerned that white people make the mistake of thinking that their version of Knysna is in fact Knysna. Running parallel, i’m saddened that a kid in Concordia, for example, will think of his suburb as his town rather than Knysna itself. There’s a social and economic dislocation in thought that needs to change.
Before you respond, i ask that you take the time to imagine yourself in the other shoes. If you are white, then don’t be a denialist like most i meet. They complain yet never act…as if their fears will never culminate in a reality that will affect them and their families. But history shows that apathy is violence too. They may take their time but the poor and repressed will always rise.
We are not Alone. We are all human. We are all citizens of Knysna. Until we realize and accept ubuntu, that we are all linked together and should treat one another as we expect to be treated, Knysna will never be whole. Instead, Knysna will continue to weaken…maybe even fall. I don’t want that. Do you?
PS1: This is one of several essays that will fall under A White Man in a Black Country on my personal blog.
PS2: I hate words such as white and non-white for they could be black and non-black too. But i don’t want to use “African” and “Causcasian” as descriptions for i am white and African too. So, for the most part, i stick to what is most used (for now) as the problems we’re facing are far bigger than semantics.
I am always saddened by the current status of people who do not look at bright of future of this country with its people whose desire to see apartheid be a thing of the past. I love my country I hate the divides
Me too, Amos. These divides will eventually destroy everything i love about South Africa.
Things in SA always more complex than on the surface…………
According to the latest census, the Eastern Cape Province ‘lost’ 1,5 million people in the last 5 years – 900 000 went to Gauteng, 600 000 to the Western Cape. Cape Town’s population has grown by 28.1% in the last 10 years. As for Knysna – who knows? .
People have been migrating for centuries in search of new opportunities -but ask yourself which city or town anywhere in the world can accommodate such growth in numbers regarding infrastructure and services?
Having said that the neo-liberal economic policies so favoured by this Gvt will mean that the poor and unskilled people will never have real opportunities – waiting for economic benefits to ‘trickle down’ aint never going to happen.
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Yep, trickle down is not going to happen. If it doesn’t work in little Knysna, it’s not going to happen elsewhere.
I may dislike our government and despise some of our politicians but that doesn’t mean i don’t realise the mammoth task in front of them. Migration is a massive issue and i fear that the ANC are deliberately not assisting the Western Cape so as to put pressure on the DA. Again, all about politics and never the People.
Dear Mike you are the first white-african to acknowledge these inequalities,I applaude you sir,the question we should ask ourselves is what can I do for my community rather than what can my country/governing party do for me,it’s nice to point fingers at 1994 but nobody acknowledges to what happened prior ’94 where people were marginalised for almost 300years and people expext it to be rectified in 20years it will neva happen…I agree with the principle of UBUNTU and EQUAL OPPERTUNITY for all,no matter your race or class.(Brown-african)don’t see myself as coloures as we were first classified as mixed race,than non-european than coloured.
I’m definitely not the first to question this but certainly one of the few whites to do so in Knysna. I agree that 20 years is short when looking at history but apathy may be our ‘extra special’ attribute which screws up the future. I agree with you, if everyone said, “What can i do to help?” life would be far better.
I think that people have to stop calling inequality racilism. Since 1994 the so called oppressed people of SA have been told they wil be helped, nothing has yet happened. All you see in Knysna is the growth of squatters that has increased since 1994 for voting purposes, you politician must stop being blinded with what is actually happening in SA. We have bad governing and thats that. A lot of you councillors are in your jobs just for the salary like the insurance agents in this country, you are unconcerned about you clients benefits. Do a marketing job in Knysna and find out how many actual South Africans are squatting in the area.
I agree with you that sometimes there is a difference between the two but in the case of South Africa, both definitions would apply.
Our country is rich so i concur that it’s bad governing by greedy politicians. I’m asking questions that they should have been asking from the beginning e.g. how many unemployed, crime figures, oversight of money etc. I am desperate to meet one politician from any party who i truly believe has a passion to make Knysna more beautiful.
I’m afraid to disagree with you that the tremendous inequalities existing in Knysna are the result of racism! Rather look to saint Madiba. The first thing he did was scrap the RDP. Secondly he oversaw a massive and needless arms deal that corrupted the ruling party to this day. All that’s taken place is that a ‘new elite’, has taken over. So the poor should rather be looking at their party’s failed neo liberal policies where the only hope for the poor is a ‘dribble down’ benefit of economic growth. Capitalism has failed, the world is now in the hands of the banksters.
I agree and disagree. I have written that there is a class war and that very much involves riches and poordoms, rather than the colour of skin. The National Party and the ANC, opposite dogmas and intentions, failed the people. There is a problem with power. But on a societal level, apartheid is reinforced. How many white madams have had dinner with their maids in Concordia? How many Kwikspars, Pick ‘n Pays, Shoprites and Shell garages are there in the Northern Suburbs where the majority of people live? How are the majority of the citizens involved in Knysna itself? All in all, it’s a complicated mess.