Face to face with the history of apartheid’s ‘original sin’
As you approach stone monoliths that mark the passing of the 1913 Natives Land Act, your passage to this unforgettable exhibition is under an umbrella of barbed wire. Your way is blocked by white guards (actors) — drunk on the power they have over the dispossessed — who take their time in holding up the queue, overly scrutinising a document that tells them nothing.
Your dompas— your entry into the 1913 Natives Land Act Centenary Exhibition: Reversing the Legacy exhibition — is stamped and you enter a world on fire in which forced removals are common, strikers toyi-toyi and scant belongings are piled high on old Bedford trucks. On the walls, black-and-white images freezeframe a painful history.
This year, the issue of land hangs like the Sword of Damocles over politics; it is the ace up the sleeve of the newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters and has sent the Freedom Front Plus into a skitter, looking for ways to block them at the pass.
It is the centenary of what Sol Plaatjie called “the most cruel and abominable law ever conceived since the introduction of white rule in South Africa” and President Jacob Zuma termed the “original sin” of apartheid.
It is in this context that you step into the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform exhibition. Curated by Brad Baard, creative director of the Cape Town Carnival, it takes you on a thought-provoking journey.
From the earliest days of the Khoi San to South Africa’s democratic freedom, you are brought face to face with the history of the act through professional actors, large-scale props and multimedia.
The actors give the exhibition life and energy. They pull you closer to the material, making it much more powerful. In the heart of the exhibition I felt shame as a white South African, walking through a history that was perpetrated in my name.
There was a lump in my throat as I passed under a tunnel constructed from weapon casings to be greeted with images of Nelson Mandela.
There is a poignant artwork featuring wooden rows of white ears of corn, each representing one of the successfully settled land claims since 1994. Although celebratory in nature, it left me thinking about what land means and the nature of the process and debate.
The visit ends triumphantly at the Tree of Peace, where you are invited to sign an individual pledge stating that you will never be party to legislation that leads to misery for fellow citizens. It is the same pledge that Zuma signed when opening the exhibition in Cape Town.
Ending today at the Mmabatho Convention Centre in North West, this evocative exhibition is on a national tour until March.
The children I saw passing through the exhibition were eager to sign the pledge so that they could see their names on the two giant screens.
They may never truly understand the painful history to which the exhibition bears witness, but the land issue is not going to go away.
This is a history that needs to be acknowledged and claimed — awareness and education are critical to a healthy debate.