Still racially divided 10 years into democracy

Zubeida Jaffer

Healing the historical divisions in Cape Town requires careful thought

and sensitive intervention. Apartheid has divided this city into

separate racial pockets that remain intact 10 years after democracy.

Enclaves of non-racialism are emerging but essentially the Group Areas

Act which brought havoc to so many has successfully entrenched racially

divided communities.

The city mayor, Nomaindia Mfeketo, is about to launch an initiative

that will help bring communities together to grapple with weaving their

stories and history into this city's public spaces.

In partnership with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR),

the city will this year drive a memorialisation process with special

emphasis on healing both the injured memories of communities and

identifying ways in which Cape Town will physically express the soul of

its people.

A number of communities are already in the process of working with

their memories. In Langa, efforts are under way to memorialise the Pass

Law experience that shattered the lives of millions of people but had

particular resonance for this oldest township in Cape Town.

This was where the state situated its Pass Law Court, where men were

made into criminals for trying to bring their wives to live with them.

In Constantia, small groups of those forcibly removed are placing on

record how they lost their land.

In Simon's Town, the history of the first free slaves has become a

subject for discussion. But then there are common public spaces where

citizens have to be involved across communities and interest groups.

Take the Grand Parade for example. A group of concerned citizens last

year suggested that a statue of Madiba be erected on this space. The

unflattering statue of Madiba in Sandton, Johannesburg, should set off

alarm bells for Cape Town.

While it will be important to consider how to associate the City Hall

and the Grand Parade with that historic moment when Nelson Mandela

first addressed the nation and the world, lifeless statues that are

poor replicas will do little to evoke memory and instil pride.

Cape Town must consider remembering events and people that will leave

for the next generation a clear sense of who they are and where they

come from.

The doors must be thrown open for the creative juices to run so that

all of Cape Town and SA, if they so wish, can participate in forwarding

creative ideas that will ensure that the city's public spaces are

enjoyed with pride by all its citizens.

Much can be learnt from experiences in other cities across the world.

Fortunately, the District Six Museum will in May bring experts and

practitioners together in this field from different parts of Africa and

the world.

The "Hands On District Six Conference: Landscapes of Post-Colonial

Memorialisation" will take place in the district from May 25 to 28.

City councillors, representatives of all political parties and

interested community members will be invited to participate in the

process on the last day officially hosted by the mayor, where a draft

policy for the city will be crafted.

Smaller community meetings and discussions with artists, architects and

relevant planners will be held over the next few months before the

conference to introduce Capetonians to the many possibilities of

building a humane and democratic public culture.

According to the director of the District Six Museum, Valmont Layne,

the conference will bring together people interested in exploring

reconstruction and memory in the context of societies working through

the legacies of social violence, trauma and injustice.

These discussions will take place against an emerging African and

transnational framework of sites of civic conscience - places of memory

committed to using their histories to foster civic dialogue and promote

democratic and humanitarian values, he said.

While this discussion will take place largely within the South African

context, it will include the launch of an African sites of conscience

network.

As recently confirmed in the New Partnership for Africa's Development

documentation, museums, sites of civic conscience and a network of

places of living memory can play an important role in the development

of dialogues of African democracy.

Layne however warns that emerging urban development practices may have

the unfortunate effect of perpetuating the hidden heritage of colonial

conquest, enslavement and apartheid. "New urban real estate

developments, such as Mandela Rhodes House, are telling examples of

postcolonial 'heritage' practices.

"In the case of Mandela Rhodes, the legacy of Rhodes, combined with the

Mandela legacy, promises a new coalition of capital and the Mandela

legacy. Yet the promise of Parisian-style cafes and the toutage of art

in the avenue in the Company's Garden represent a discernible retreat

to colonial nostalgia."

There are also visitors who are confounded when they come to Cape Town

to find that its premier tourist destination, the Victoria and Alfred

Waterfront, is named after British royalty. At least, there is a claim

to royalty.

Take another South African city - Port Elizabeth. A visit to the local

museum there would show that, contrary to popular belief, that port was

not named after Queen Elizabeth but after the wife of the then British

governor of that area.

The story recorded on the walls of the museum goes as follows: the

governor's wife, Elizabeth, who had never visited SA was living in

India when she fell ill and died. The governor was inconsolable and in

his grief, he decide to rename the port after her and thus the name

Port Elizabeth.

Not only was she not South African but her feet had not even touched

these shores. And this is the legacy this generation has inherited.

There will be those, of course, who disagree with Layne's sentiments.

The question however will be to what extent Capetonians will be free to

give expression to their own stories and experiences and create public

spaces in which they feel comfortable and where they honour those who

have meaning in their lives.

This will be the challenge for the mayor and the IJR. These partners

must drive a process that should elicit a dialogue that will bring

citizens together in critical conversation to lay the basis for healing

this divided city.

<li> Jaffer is a journalist and political analyst who works with the

Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. This article is part of the

IJR monthly series in the Cape Times. Anybody interested in

participating in this healing process could send comments to

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