From Afrikaner nationalism to African nationalism

AROUND this time in 1947, South Africa’s attention was focused on the British royal family who were on a three-month visit to our country.

King George VI was accompanied by his wife, Queen Elizabeth and their daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.

Back then our country was called the Union of South Africa – union because the two British areas of control (then called the Cape and Natal) came together under one government, with the two Afrikaner areas of control (Transvaal and Orange River).

The Union of South Africa was referred to as a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. Basically, King George VI was in charge.

Even under the British, blacks were denied the vote. Despite this, the royal family were warmly welcomed by most South Africans.

Jan Smuts, the prime minister at the time, met the royals aboard the battleship, HMS Vanguard, which had brought them to our shores. As they descended the gangplank, a 21-gun salute rang out from Signal Hill in Cape Town.

The royals hopped aboard a 14-car White Train dubbed the Palace on Wheels and, for the weeks that followed, were cheered by millions of people of all races as they travelled the country.

According to the records, in Durban about 65 000 Indians, or roughly half the Indian population at the time, welcomed the royal family at Curries Fountain. They did so despite the Natal Indian Congress calling on people to boycott the event.

Later the royals visited the Durban City Hall where they were welcomed by the then mayor, Leo Boyd.

Exactly why Smuts, an Afrikaner, had invited the royal family is unknown. Perhaps he hoped it would cement his reputation as an international statesman ahead of a whites-only election in 1948.

If this was the plan, it failed. Smuts was defeated by DF Malan and his closeness to the British establishment was cited as one of the reasons for the electoral loss.

The result saw the National Party come into power and the apartheid state being created. With it came the subjugation of blacks and rise of Afrikaner nationalism.

There were many who benefited from apartheid, some directly, others indirectly. Around the same time Funworld, the amusement park on Durban’s beachfront, started operations. In all likelihood, the owners were allowed to open and then expand their business because they were white. At the time blacks were not even allowed on certain beaches. In fact, it was just over 30 years ago, in 1989, that then president FW de Klerk opened South Africa’s beaches to everyone, irrespective of their race.

This is not to say that opportunity alone was behind Funworld’s success. The owners clearly worked hard to design and build the rides. They also opened their business to people of all races which is why so many people have such fond memories of the place.

Today, the era of Afrikaner nationalism is over. It is now the time of African nationalism which has taken on the form of elite accumulation.

At some point, it must have become clear to the city and the owners of Funworld that the time had come for a black person to take over.

Ideally the two parties should have found a solution that benefited both of them but, for whatever the reason, that did not happen.

And so, the place known as Funworld to some and Newtons to others, has closed. A 75-year ride for the family that owned the business is over.

This weekend, the coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla as king and queen of the United Kingdom will take place.

Charles became king when his mother, Elizabeth II, died. Back in 1947, she was still a princess when she visited South Africa.

So much has changed since then. But equally, so much has stayed the same.