Cry our beloved country
THOSE opening lines of the classic 1948 novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Pietermaritzburg-born writer and anti-apartheid activist Alan Stewart Paton have been indelibly etched in my mind and consciousness since the time I devoured the book in primary school.
I returned to it several more times just to get lost within the magical spell that Paton weaves with this seminal piece of South African literature.
I also enjoyed the Darrel Roodt-directed film adaptation that was released in 1995 starring the brilliant actors James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. Out of profound interest, I also found and enjoyed the original 1951 film version with Sidney Poitier.
What made this book so important? It explored the genesis and history of apartheid in South Africa. It centred on a black priest and a white farmer and how a trip to Johannesburg searching for their sons connected them in the most unlikely manner.
An interesting aspect to know is that the book was written and published before the new law that institutionalised the political system of apartheid in South Africa was passed. However, it became law that very same year.
The book was a literary success throughout the world, except, ironically, in South Africa, where it was banned due to what was termed “its politically dangerous material”.
Why the word “cry” in the title? The novel was presented as a cry for South Africa: A cry for its people and the land, which is said to be beloved in spite of everything.
It was purported to be a cry for hope for the country’s freedom from hatred, poverty and fear.
Oops, let’s read that last part again. Seventy-six years since the book’s publication, much has occurred in the country. We have had positives, euphoria and milestones. But taking a hard look at the country today, sadly, it appears that it is time to cry again for our beloved country.
Wanton lawlessness prevails. Corruption reigns. Justice seems to be evasive.
A friend of mine in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) sent me an article from a local newspaper that stated that there were 94 murders in three days in the Western Cape. It was referred to as a “war zone” whose killings “exceeded a typical European country’s annual fatal shootings”.
That is but just one corner of the country.
People have been relocating to that province in droves of late as they sought relative safety from crime. Premier Alan Winde of the DA has been lauded for sterling work in keeping the province reasonably safe and welcoming.
Sadly, a look at the province, especially the Mother City, Cape Town, shows a different picture.
Investigative journalist Caryn Dolley refers to it as “Gangstas’ Paradise” reminiscent of the 1995 hit song of the same name by US rapper Coolio.
In a frank, indictment she refers to the “bullet rule of gangsters that is strangling the life out of SA’s Mother City”.
Discussing the far-reaching effects on children is enough material for an entire column, but Dolley is doing enough work in that regard.
Here is one fact that needs replicating: Speaking at the funeral of assassinated policeman Charl Kinnear, who investigated gangsterism there, Police Minister Bheki Cele recalled how, with a team of officers, he visited the popular Long Street precinct in Cape Town to address the problem.
Afterwards he was told that while the inspection in loco was being carried out, “some gangster chiefs followed them around”. That speaks volumes.
Crime seems to be rampant throughout our beloved country and we appear to be living in a crucible of terror.
Not a healthy environment in which to rear the next generation.
Have we been failed by our leaders?
What and why so? Well, to answer that let me quote the famous words from the book we are dissecting: “The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that things are not mended again.”
Have we taken lessons from our past? Then why are we still crying? Why are the poor being downtrodden even deeper into the ground?
Why are we literally prisoners in our own domiciles? Let me complete the above quotation: “But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love”.
Is it just a pipe dream that the power of love can make a difference? I sure hope not.
April 1994 was a watershed moment for our country as, for the first time, South Africans of all ethnicities were able to cast their vote in a national election.
Things changed much. However, to quote another novelist, Alphonse Karr, who wrote in 1849: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Here is another major problem afflicting our nation.
On May 1, which is celebrated as Workers’ Day, DA leader John Steenhuisen, at a function in the Western Cape, drew attention to the fact that under the current ruling party 11.7 million citizens are unemployed.
In true Steenhuisen fashion, he quipped that the day is actually Workless Day in South Africa.
I am not qualified to offer a solution to the many problems beleaguering our beloved country. I will leave that to political commentators and the authorities.
But here’s a thought to ponder: How many times have you heard your friends and family who have travelled widely say that “whichever country we have visited, South Africa is still the best”? Sounds familiar?
So, there is still hope.
We are on the cusp of another national election. Make the power of your tick count. I am looking forward to May 29. Simply because my wedding anniversary is on the 28th.
God save South Africa and all who inhabit her. Indeed, weep for our beloved country.
POST away using a teaspoon or similar object. In the worst of cases, amputations without anaesthetic would be made using makeshift surgical tools.
He said every Tamil family in Malaysia today could recount the loss of a relative in the Death Railway.
“While the ordeal of the prisoners of the war is immortalised in the movie The Bridge On The River Kwai, the role of the Tamil labourers finds little or no mention in the historical accounts.
“Hence, Tamil leaders in Thailand and Malaysia and donors in both countries collaborated to immortalise the heroic actions of those who gave their lives to ensure the railway was built,” Kunjumboo said.
The Tamil Nadu government donated 10 lakh rupees (about R250 000) towards the monument in Thailand and sent Transport Minister SS Sivasankar and Rajya Sabha member MM Abdulla to participate in the hero stone installation ceremony.
Lawyer Mathimugam Karuppannan said it was her first visit to Kanchanaburi and, until now, she had not given much thought to the Death Railway or about the souls who perished during construction.
“But after seeing images in the museum of the skeletal remains and the bony figures of the labourers, it brought tears to my eyes.”
Tamil activist Santira Ramasamy, who also attended the event, said the cruelty inflicted on the Death Railway was a “black mark in the history of mankind”.
She said that while it was noteworthy that the monument to the Tamils was unveiled, it was erected on a Buddhist monument.
“This is a good start. However, our children must be taught about the Death Railway so that they will erect a monument dedicated exclusively to honour the Tamil victims,” she said.
Perhaps those who have been campaigning for a monument to the 1860 Settlers would decide to stop entertaining the pussyfooting of officials and rather get on with a citizens’ commemoration of our Girmitiya forefathers.