been busy moving home again….which is always a bit of a trauma. While I fully understand that things need to be done, when one loses sight of basic CIVILITY, regardless of stress, there is always a problem.
Plus realising how little I am connected to any mainstream ANYTHING here in South Africa, once again drives home the HUGE gaps there are between my self and fellow South Africans.
Once upon a time, this gap was filled by a thriving ALTERNATIVE SCENE….which has all just faded away. Like the gay scene, it was essentially ‘multicultural’ but, as with the ALTERNATIVE SCENE, it was driven by the burgeoning Alternative bands: Bauhaus, Simple Minds, The Smiths, Shriekback, Joy Division, New Order, Jah Wobble, Pig Bag, Kraftwerk, Laurie Anderson, Tuxedomoon, The Cramps, Talking Heads, Violent Femmes, The Cure, Via Afrika, Grace Jones, the Au Pairs,
,, Pete Murphy, Marc Almond, Holger Czukai, Japan, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Misty in Roots, Steel Pulse, the Specials, Aswad, Burning Spear, Twinkle Brothers - to mention but a few - that COHESIVELY melded and ‘informed’ a growing vibrancy of art/performance/costume. Suddenly words in songs had MEANING ‘collectively’ speaking of life’s realities instead of (as with mainstream) just bobbing along thoughtlessly.
This conscious thrust was, in essence, a DEFIANCE of the apartheid Regime and there were the inevitable raids/arrests/closures/harassment’s….but none of this even comes close to what is happening in Gaza/Palestine TODAY.
And yet, the severity of THAT TRAUMA, as mild as it might have been in ‘comparison’ is just as felt, cannot be undone, and has utterly wrecked what could have become a vibrant, integrated, cohesive population when the Nats took over in 1948. They chose revenge for the Boer War, preference for Afrikaner culture regardless of merit, censorship, ‘verkramptness’ and the gradual displacement of the black population, gaining ground literally with ruthless crackdowns as and when they encountered resistance. Annnnddd not to mention the eternal threat of Reds under the Beds in every home. This is all well documented.
But what has the ANC done these last 31 years? Nepotism, corruption, selfserving grabs, no focus, no VISION, just riding what they can into the ground. What a shame. So they have done exactly what the Nats did: they systematically trashed their high moral ground. It is gone.
While ‘alternative’ vinyl shops in Durban were always worth a ‘look in’ I bought the bulk of my albums via direct order, or direct ‘scouring’ at STREET RECORDS in Braamfontein, Jhb.
While I still feel there has to be an ‘alternative scene’ SOMEWHERE not much is happening ‘on the streets’ which is always a sign of vibrancy in the general scheme of things. I don’t even know what the youth are listening to today, or what they do with themselves. I very seldom, if ever, see groups of youths in public spaces during the day….and the night scene all but fades into gambling…
Mainstream pop music (highly avoidable) is now so garish they outdo each other with whatever amount of ‘look at me’ they can paste on!!! And the ‘trans scene’ is little more than an opportunity to use humans as guinea pigs for experimental surgery (read GENITAL MUTILATION) and experimental PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHEADING, particularly in America.
However, back to central Durban today that is teeming with ‘black life’ which always brings to mind “Grey Street” area under apartheid South Africa where I ALWAYS shopped for fabrics, and occasionally vinyl.
At that time I would occasionally see another white face! However, 31 years post apartheid this ‘teeming’ is now spread over the whole city where you are never likely to see a white face. I still find it stimulating and never, as then, felt ‘unsafe’
.
But what began to strike me most under post apartheid South AFrica, has been a growing GAP in lived black/white realities. While the TRAUMA has not been forgotten and certainly clouds the perception of black/white realities the GAP has been emphasized through a failed education system: black people are still just as ignorant then, as now….except that the RESENTMENT IS STRONGER, and unless it can be effectively addressed, we are headed for many more disasters. I am of course, specifically looking at the ‘silent’ areas: the class room. As an (now ex) Educator at the coalface of change from 1997 -2009 I experienced the full gamut of ‘euphoria’ for change, and ten years later, into the resentment of change….not happening as expected. In essence, the graves of the ‘struggle heroes’ were being desecrated.
With our government enriching themselves at the EXPENSE OF WORK ETHIC, the rot began to escalate with no one ‘noticing’ and THAT noticing would ultimately be seen in the CLASS ROOM as (still) the coal=face of change: learners were not interested in learning, they wanted the marks, without the work. And, seeing their ANC cadres wallowing in wealth without doing any work, they also want these ideal jobs:MAXIMUM PAY, NO WORK. Added to this was Malema and his ‘anti-settler’ rants in the townships stirring up racial disharmony because it got him attention, and hence votes. I am not saying his rants were without basis, but using that AS A BASIS for ATTENTION is weak and dangerous….as, in order to be effective, there had to be EXAGGERATION…which effectively works better with a poorly educated population. And of course with job reservations in government going to cadres and NOT TO THE MOST EFFECTIVE PERSON FOR THE JOB, has lead to the gradual mud slide where the idea of a VISION for a prosperous, inclusive South Africa, developing resources, innovation and excellence simply became a quicksand for opportunity.
Our current leaders are ‘sellouts’ and our opposition parties are COMPLICIT in the decline.
We are, collectively, without rescue.
