Schools 4 Schools South Africa Team Blog

“A history forgotten is a future lost”

June 3, 2010 at 5:38 pm | Posted in Jodie Goldsmith | 1 Comment

Sanibonani everyone.

This last weekend the Schools 4 Schools team got a chance to travel up to Johannesburg with Phakamani, the Gold Facilitator who is currently travelling around Australia on the Speaking Tour. While in Johannesburg we had the opportunity to visit both The Apartheid Museum and Soweto.

The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the finest museum in the world dealing with 20^th century South Africa, at the heart of which is the apartheid story. The Apartheid Museum is the first of it’s kind and illustrates both the rise and fall of apartheid.

The 7 fundamental values that were drawn up in South Africa’s constitution are represented by pillars, shown below, on arrival to the museum: democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom. These  are represented in different ways as you make your way through the museum.

“A history forgotten is a future lost”. These were the strong words that remained with us as we entered the museum through two different entrances. Race classification was the foundation of all apartheid laws. It placed individuals in one of four groups: ‘native’, ‘coloured’, ‘Asian’, or ‘white’. As we got to the museum we were given a card where our classification of white or non-white was handed to us and we were only allowed to enter through the gate allocated to our race group. As we entered the museum we found the identity documents that were used as the main tool to implement the racial divide.

As we made our way through the museum, the real shock started to sink in. The words written and images displayed could only really give us a glimpse of what life then must have truly been like, and even that was so hard to see and read.

We then got a chance in the museum to visit an exhibition on Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela who has inspired and uplifted the lives of so many. Mandela is not just a president. Mandela is a character, a comrade, a leader, a prisoner, a negotiator, a statesman and so much more to so many people. Mandela once said,  “There are few misfortunes in the world that you cannot turn into a personal triumph if you have the iron will and the necessary skill.” This is truly shown by the man Mandela was and has become.

One of the other places we got to experience was Soweto. Soweto is not only where the home of Nelson Mandela is, but is also the scene of the Soweto uprising in the midst of apartheid.

The Soweto Uprising was a series of riots and clashes between the black youths and the South African authorities. We were lucky enough to have an incredible tour guide through Soweto who was living there when the uprising occurred and shared his own personal experiences with us as well as all of the remarkable history of the place. We had a chance to enter the house where Mandela lived, which still shows evidence of gunshots as well as other hardships the Mandela family went through.

After visiting the house of Mandela, we had a tour around to some of the symbolic places around Soweto. One of these places was the place were 13 year old Hector Pieterson was shot and killed by the police during the uprising on the 16^th June 1976. The image of Hector being carried by a young boy and Hector’s sister running next to them is seen as the iconic image of the Soweto Uprising.

We also visited the Hector Pieterson museum, the museum named in his honour, which covers the events leading up to and during the Soweto Uprising. One of the strongest messages for me at least was a poem that was written by a man named Don Mattera in 1976 called ‘First Victim…’

“A bullet burnt

Into soft dark flesh

A child fell

Liquid life

Rushed hot

To stain the earth

He was the first victim

And now

Let grieving the willows

Mark the spot

Let nature raise a momentum

Of flowers and trees

Lest we forget the foul and the wicked deed…”

Once out of the museum we had one more stop on our tour. This was the Regina Mundi Church. This is the one church in Soweto that stood up to the authorities. All churches at that time were banned from holding mass funerals for the blacks killed during the uprising and this was the only church that ignored that rule. This church was bombed several times and today you can still see evidence of bullet holes in the walls and other damages from that time.

The Schools 4 School team, as well as Phakamani, learned so much about the Apartheid struggles during our time in Johannesburg. It was definitely an eye opening experience. Here is one quote to leave you with to think about by Nelson Mandela.

“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is a protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Salani Kahle everyone!