Struggling with South Africa

Should South Africa be judged by how far that nation has come, or by how far it has yet to go?

I cannot think of a country I have visited where my advance reading disturbed me more than South Africa.  From both historical and current non-fiction and fiction, I got a sense of endless armed struggle which began long before the discoveries of diamonds and gold and the arrogance and atrocities of 17th and 18th Century European invasion. I felt hopelessness for resolution of the economic and racial divide that continues in the current century despite heroic efforts to make changes. I began to worry for my personal safety, which has never  occurred as I planned travel to other destinations.

In Johannesburg we chose a modern hotel in the new financial center — Sandton — far north of the city core but at the terminus of the direct train line from the international airport.  Here, wide roads and high rises have replaced narrow lanes and shanties. We were transported throughout this, South Africa’s largest city, by means of a “hop-on, hop-off” bus, a conveyance we had never chosen before…..a concession to safety concerns. We learned a lot but experienced less than we would have liked.

In Cape Town we booked a modest older and smaller boutique hotel in the heart of a district reminiscent of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, where pulsating beats emanated throughout the night from rough bars beneath wrought iron balconies which overhang sidewalks.  Here, in addition to the overview which a sightseeing bus provided, we felt free to discover on foot what was down this street or around that corner, confronted by beggars only slightly more than in any other major city of the free world.

In Johannesburg we submerged into the subject matter of struggle: Soweto, the Apartheid Museum, Liliesleaf Farm.  Golden hills of waste product and ghetto valleys which still lack electricity are reminders of the extensive gold deposits extracted at the expense of black lives which built this, the world’s largest city not located on a navigable water way.

In more welcoming Cape Town, the undercurrent of struggle can be bathed in ambiance: Camps Bay, V & A Waterfront,  Bo-Kaap, Table Mountain, Truth Coffee Roasting, Africa Cafe .  In good weather, as we had, the compact city and surrounding ocean front are glorious. But the big news story in Cape Town is refugees, some of whom are protesting their conditions, saying they feel unsafe in South Africa, and demanding resettlement to another country.

Soon, we will be on the road (driving on the left side, of course, thanks to British colonialism). We expect to discover expansive views of land and sea, exquisite white wines, and (at least for us North Americans) exotic game.  But, aside from family matters, the centerpiece of our conversations — the question at the top of this posting — is unlikely to change.

JER