‘The ANC has ruined this country’
Pensioner Ashley Bowers, born in District Six, lived through turbulent times during apartheid and the democratic era in Cape Town.
“Democracy to me is where you have freedom to do as you please, and to have what everybody else has. You can buy your own house, your own car, and you’ll have the money,” said the 74-year-old. “When I was born in 1950 ... those things were not available to us, because we were born at a time when white people in the country had all the privileges, and we got virtually the scraps.”
While still at school, he started his career as a labourer, but worked his way up to a managerial position later in life.
He recalls the “whites only” signs. “We could not sit where we wanted because of those signs, but as we grew up under those circumstances it did not bother us much. We went on with our lives. We could walk in the late hours of the evening, go to dances in the middle of the night, and come home at 2am — and no-one would bother us.
“We slept with our windows open, and we were not afraid. Our parents did not have to worry about our safety, and there was no TV, so as children we would create games and play in the streets to keep busy,” he said.
Despite his father being unemployed because of ill-health, his mother and sister worked and managed to earn enough money for the family. “I remember when prices were ridiculously low compared with today — it’s actually quite laughable,” he said. “I fondly remember when Nelson Mandela was released. I lived in Green Point, [and I] remember the long queues when we went to vote in 1994.”
Fast-forward to 2024: “Today we sit with an ANC [that has] ruined this country ... I think we are lower than a third-world country,” said Bowers. “People cannot afford to live today. I feel sorry that the money we pensioners get from the government is what they [think] of us. We’ve worked [all] our lives and [worked our] fingers to the bone in those years. I’m not very happy with that.”