Logie, we are still waiting
IT was a bitterly cold and unpleasant afternoon two Fridays ago.
As storm clouds threatened and pedestrians hurried to catch their buses, taxis and trains, veteran activist Swaminathan Gounden and a couple of close friends gathered outside what is now Nicol Square parking lot in Durban’s CBD.
Few people, if any, took any notice.They were on a personal mission – to pay homage to AKM Docrat or “Doc”, as he was popularly known, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on September 18.
Doc, who spent almost 30 years under detention and banning orders in the fight against apartheid, was one of the leading political activists in the Natal Indian Congress and Communist Party.
The reason Swaminathan and his friends chose Nicol Square was because it has deep political significance and is very much part of South Africa’s rich history.
Many years ago it was a dusty plot of ground in the city centre, between then Pine Street and Commercial Road, which became a makeshift venue for public meetings addressed by people like Monty Naicker, Ahmed Kathrada, Kesaval Goonam, Yusuf Dadoo and Debbie Singh.
There were no large halls or stadiums available to the disenfranchised in those days, so a public address system was mounted on a flat-bed truck parked on the open ground.
The crowd would cheer and punch their fists in the air as their leaders rallied people to oppose oppressive laws that sought to subjugate people and divide them on the basis of race.
This was the time of the historic Defiance and Passive Resistance campaigns – the forerunners to the Mass Democratic Movement and the United Democratic Front in the 1970s and 80s, which led to the eventual downfall of apartheid and the beginning of a new democracy in South Africa.
I recall writing about that era more than a year ago and how three former activists – Swaminathan Gounden, Kay Moonsamy and Thumba Pillay – had launched a campaign for the municipality to officially recognise “Red Square’s” pivotal place in our history.
eThekwini speaker, Logie Naidoo, lustily supported the idea and undertook to set up a meeting with the three activists and the city’s mayor, James Nxumalo, to talk about a suitable monument.
More than a year later, we are still waiting.
Dear Mr Mayor and Speaker, please accept this as a reminder.
Red Square is, after all, part of our South African heritage. South Africans are, generally speaking, an insular lot.
Twenty one years into d e m o c r a cy, and most of us walk around in blinkers, our attitudes and outlook on life still defined by apartheid mindsets. We kid ourselves we’re all buddy-buddies in the new Rainbow Nation, yet we hardly move a muscle to reach out to our fellow citizens; share our innermost thoughts, aspirations and hopes over a cup of tea or a meal. We know and understand very little about each other and do very little to learn from each other.
This is true not only in terms of race. Our blinkers are firmly on even when it comes to culture and religion.
If only we could take a leaf from the book of the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, who died two months ago. Well known as the “Missile Man of India” for his work in space projects and military missile development, Kalam was also a great unifier.
A proud and practising Muslim, he fondly remembered his young days as he watched his father (an imam), the head priest of the local Hindu temple and a church vicar in the village meet over cups of hot tea every evening to discuss the issues of the day.
No subject was off bounds in those evening discourses. They talked about local issues, national politics, religion, morals, the generation gap, whatever was the pressing issue of the day.
Believing that respect for other faiths was one of the cornerstones of Islam, Kalam was fond of saying: “For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool”.
In addition to his abiding faith in the Qur’an and Islamic practice, he was well versed in Hindu traditions, had learnt Sanskrit, read the Bhagavad Gita, was a vegetarian, enjoyed writing Tamil poetry, played the veena and listened to Carnatic devotional music every day,
Here was a man who not only preached, but also practised the virtues of unity in diversity.
What an example for people of our beloved country!
Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
That’s often said in reference to the conspicuous dearth of footballing talent among Indian players in the PSL and national Bafana team in recent years.
Which is all quite surprising, considering the rich vein of soccer talent that came through the ranks of the South African Soccer League only a few decades ago.
Had they been given the opportunity, players like Dharam Mohan, Sewnarain Lal, Strini Moodley, Dan Naidoo, VC Moodley and Jagoo Govender, to name but a handful, would have waltzed into any non-racial national team in those days.
Which brings me to the subject of Chatsworth-born goalkeeper Sherwyn Naicker, who’s making a name for himself between the sticks at Jomo Cosmos.
The 24 year-old pony-tailed keeper started his football career at the age of eight in Alberton in Gauteng and has gone on to represent the country at the U17 and U20 national levels.
Singing his praises recently was his manager, former footballing legend, Jomo Sono, who remembers his first meeting with Naicker like it was just yesterday.
“You know how I got the boy? We met when I was going to training. He stopped me and said: ‘Bra J, I want to come and train with your team’.
“I looked at him and said, ‘Yerr, an Indian goalkeeper… the last Indian goalkeeper was Deshi Baktawer’.
“He said, ‘Give me a chance’ and I said he must come. When we got to training… he saved everything.”
“He has done well because people were saying he is short. We are happy for him. The boy is professional and trains hard.”
Short in stature, certainly not in confidence.
Good luck, Sherwyn!
Contact Dennis at dennis.pather@telkomsa.net