capetown

i was happy although probably not passionate to come to come to South africa. funnily alot of it is like being in australia. similra climate which sounds a bit silly given that there is more than one climate in australia so may be its like living in sydney. they have teh beaches the agriculture, similar white standard of living. similar plants although i am led to understand that soyj africa has veryu different plants. anyway they’ve planted alot of eucalypts ad bottle brushes so i feel at home.

of course the big difference here is that they have teh black white issue which makes australia’s challenges look pretty nothing. in central australia we talk about town camps with hundreds of people. in capetown we have had teh honour of staying in a township (one of teh many) where tehre are probably 10,000 in just this one. most have humble but perfectly pleasant little houses, whilst thousands of others lives in makeshift shelters that makes alice spings towncamps look pretty comfy. thats the physical stuff but it is the spiritual stuff that has left such an impression.

the black freedom movement and what it has done to this place has to be one of the miracles of our time. so many amazing people like mandela. biko, subukwe, sisulu, mbeki, tutu all had the wisdom to fight for all south africans and not just black south africans although their task was undoubtedly to emancipate black south africa. 30 years in jail studying, teaching inmates, teaching their white prison guards,teaching to anyone who would listen, always believing that they were preparing themselves to govern the country for all south africans. robben island was a university inside a jail.

unlike in australia there are black people at every level of work although they still have a long way to go on this front. still it gives me hope for aboriginal australians who seem to have no such underlying spiritual paradigm that links their history to their future that can sustain them.

If one was looking for an African Che Guevara then Steve Biko is your man. the most insanely sensible, eloquent and courageous man i have heard for many a long time.

this trip has been a wonderful opportunity for me to stop a smell the daisies a bit but also to learn what a remarkable country this is. the people black and white are actually trying to do something i am not sure has ever been tried before. south africa must succeed. in a strange way it seems like all of our futures depend on it.

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