More newspaper headlines

In browsing the archives of Cape Argus front pages, I've come across some startling images and stories (like the whale leaping onto the yacht, which I've discovered has been quite widely covered and circulated). Many have been entertaining in an "only in South Africa" kind of way, such as the latest episodes of scandal ("Zuma nephew in R71 000 booze row") and a story (also picked up by some North American media) on how some communities across the country, such as of Constantia in the Cape Town area, are "being held hostage" by a marauding troop of rowdy baboons (not to down play the very real danger posed by these primates...).

On a more serious note is coverage of the spike in xenophobic attacks, "Foreigners under attack" and of the on-going high rates of crime. On the crime front, I found particularly disturbing a story on hikers being accosted on Table Mountain's network of trails, "Mountain mugging alert." The article reports on a spate of attacks in some of the most wonderful hiking territory I've ever been in - territory where friends and I hiked while I was in Cape Town (at the same time as some of these attacks happened) and where South Africans I know are certainly still hiking, or perhaps not since a whole list of trails have been declared "'no-go zones' after muggers, brandishing broken bottles and knives, attacked hikers and residents in at least 10 incidents since May."

I had a chance to discuss life in South Africa at a recent dinner party when I was seated across from an American married to a man from Durban. Since the late 90's, they have gone back every other year for an extended visit. She acknowledged the risks and challenges of life there, but also said that, like anywhere, one just needs to pay attention and have some "street smarts." While I agree that I certainly felt "awake" during my stay (an exhilarating but exhausting way to live!), I consider myself lucky to have avoided being a victim of crime. She also mirrored the contradictory feelings that I've been having when she commented that she'd love to live in South Africa, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others as a travel destination. I'm eager to talk to people who went to the World Cup about their experiences.

A busy week for South Africa's icons

Last Sunday, July 18th, was Nelson Mandela's 92nd birthday. Celebrations, well covered on the Independent Online (IOL) website, included an appeal from President Zuma for national unity in the spirit of Mandela, a Madiba (Mandela's familiar nickname) "Fan Walk" in Cape Town to oppose xenophobic violence, and prayers that he reach his 100th year.

In an unfortunate twist that recalls an earlier post (see May 30th), armed gunmen attempted to rob Mandela's daughter Zindzi and her four children in their driveway as they returned to their home in Johannesburg. Here's the article in the British Mail Online (note the vigorous debate raging in the comments posted in response to the article).

A front page headline in yesterday's Cape Argus announced the news that South African icon number two, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has decided to scale back his involvement in - and ultimately retire from - public life. According to a brief article that accompanies a video of Tutu's press conference on IOL, "The 78-year-old cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner announced at a press conference today that after his birthday on October 7, he would start limiting his time in the office to one day per week until the end of February 2011. After that, he said, he would withdraw entirely from public life."

These moments hint at an uncomfortable reality for both figures: their remaining time is limited. It is hard to imagine South Africa, or the world for that matter, without the voices of these two great men who have been so instrumental and influential as South Africa has sought to emerge from and move beyond its dark apartheid past. Their voices have been exercised so eloquently, so effectively, and with such great moral authority that they have inspired millions and changed our world. Who, I wonder, will step into the void? A momentous question, especially in South Africa.

Terrific radio documentary: Soyinka on South Africa

I heard part of a great radio program the other night. It was a part of the documentary series "The Changing World," a joint project between BBC World Service and PRI (the partnership that produces the daily program "The World"). The description from their website offers this description:

"Nobel Lauriat Wole Soyinka fought apartheid from his native Nigeria. Now, with apartheid long abolished, he visits South Africa and meets with those who are still fighting to improve conditions there."

Soyinka, who narrates this thoughtful travel log, must have been in South Africa earlier this year. He includes discussions with numerous South African writers and also reports on two events I experienced and posted about while in Cape Town: the Equal Education library student protest (March 23rd) and the opening of the Fugard Theatre in District Six (April 9th). MP3 downloads and podcast of the two installments are available on "the Changing World" website.

World Cup post-mortem

Interested in how the hosting of the World Cup was being discussed in South Africa, I took a look at recent articles in my favorite South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian. There are many articles that take on the question from a range of angles, from "Post-World Cup blues hit SA" to "Banks score from World Cup." I found this to be a particularly good one, "South Africans ponder life after the World Cup." It captures well the tension between optimism and anxiety which characterizes, in my experience, South Africa today. Here are some excerpts:

"That is something this World Cup has brought: nation building and social cohesion."

"The optimism of the early nineties was so unrealistically high that the only way was down. Many South Africans have since become disillusioned about political corruption and cronyism, a chronically slow response to the HIV/Aids epidemic and the failure to lift millions out of poverty.

There is now anxiety among South Africans about a similar fall from the euphoria of the World Cup. Can the momentum be sustained?"

"Not everyone shared in the World Cup honeymoon. Some missed the games because they had neither TVs nor electricity. People still died from Aids, or in poverty, or at the hands of criminals far from the world's cameras. Informal traders were driven out of stadium exclusion zones and protesters claimed they were evicted from their homes.

The voices of dissent, marginalised during the month-long jamboree, are returning to the fore: if we can spend billions on football grounds, why can we not build houses for the homeless or hospitals for the sick? They wonder why it took Fifa, an immovable deadline and a worldwide audience to concentrate minds.

Patrick Bond, director of the Centre for Civil Society, which ran a World Cup Watch project, says: 'The elite have pulled off bread and circuses for the masses. We live in one of the most unequal societies in the world, and we've just seen an amplification of that inequality. The costs will become increasingly clear.'

There are fears that an ugly side of patriotism is about to reveal itself with rumours of a fresh wave of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals. Mindful of the violence that left 62 people dead two years ago, some are already fleeing back to their home countries or South Africa's rural areas. The army is on the streets and last week Reason Wandi, a Zimbabwean, told how he was thrown from a moving train

South Africans are accustomed to riding incredible highs and apocalyptic lows. They will go to work tomorrow knowing their moment in the sun has passed, and wondering with some anxiety what happens in the shade. But there will also be some lingering epiphanies and quiet satisfaction at what they achieved."

And, of course, South Africa's renowned editorial cartoonists Zapiro is offering his distinctive take on the nation post-World Cup, including the cartoon at the top of this post and this chilling reference to the xenophobic attacks that the article warns about: