Archive for 'People'
The Power of Imagery: The Death of Hector Pieterson
Hector Pieterson in the arms of Mbuyisa Nkita Makhubu, his sister, Antoinette Musi, running alongside. Photo by Sam Nzima, 1976.
My good friend Sameer at WITNESS is leading an online conversation in commemoration of today’s 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here’s the question: What image opened your eyes to human rights?
Last week, as part of the We Blog the World tour in South Africa, we visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West, Soweto. If you have never cried at a museum before, here’s your spot.
Street behind Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum.
Hector Pieterson was 12-years-old on June 16, 1976 when he joined his fellow students to protest Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in the South African townships. As they were singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, refusing to stop their approach, police open fired. Today it is known that Hastings Ndlovu was, in fact, the first student gunned down by police, but it was Hector who became the martyr and icon of South Africa’s liberation struggle because he was captured in the above image by photographer Sam Nzima.
Nzima wasn’t the only person to take photographs that day, but he was the only one to get them out without being confiscated by the police. (He stuffed the rolls of film in his socks.) His photographs were immediately published in The World, which led to widespread riots and protests all over South Africa. Hector Pieterson was, largely, South Africa’s Rosa Parks. Just like the Civil Rights Movement in the US didn’t begin with Parks, neither did South Africa’s liberation struggle begin with Pieterson. But both icons mark the tipping point when built-up pressure exploded into movements that would never step back.
I highly highly recommend that one day you make the trip to South Africa and spend at least an entire day in Soweto. There is nothing like being there, surrounded by all its history, for yourself. When we were outside the museum our guide pointed to a woman walking down the pathway. It was Hector’s sister, Antoinette Sithole, the very same person screaming in Sam Nzima’s famous photograph.
Antoinette Sithole walking through Orlando West, Soweto.
It’s amazing to see such history walking around in real life. But … in the meantime, Babak and Ismail have put together a truly incredible map mashup of the events that took place on June 16, 1976. Before you start clicking around on the map, however, I’d recommend that you read through their blog as well as the online book, “I Saw a Nightmare …” Doing Violence to Memory: The Soweto Uprising, June 16, 1976 by Helena Pohlandt-McCormick.
Bonus: Check out this video by Ray Lewis of Graeme Addison, a South African journalist who was on the scene at the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976.
A Witness to the 1976 Soweto Uprising
Graeme Addison, a South African journalist who was on the scene at the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976, tells us what he saw that day. Graeme speaks from the site of the Hector Pieterson memorial, commemorating one of the students who was killed by South African police that day.
The Soweto uprising is important in South African history because it marked a sharp turn in racial politics. It provided a spark for the black majority within South Africa to resist white rule and was the beginning of an 18-year struggle with the regime. It also applied pressure on the apartheid government from the international community, which condemned the government’s actions and eventually led to crippling economic sanctions.
We also visited the adjoining museum, which depicts in text and video and many dramatic, large black-and-white photographs the events of that day as well as the history and consequences. The museum does not allow photographs or video to be taken, so below is a sample of images taken from that tragic day.
Saffas marching in London – Let them vote
Homecomingrevolution blogged photos from News 24 today about the protest/march held in the UK that I could support and do support.
Here’s one of the photos:
Head over to the HCR Blog for more.
Similar Posts:This march in London I support – the right to vote
Protest against crime in SA to be held in LONDON??
Today is […]
The Watermark High – a musician that gets it
Yesterday I actually used social media to discover a new South African band that is putting themselves out there and sticking with the changing times.
The Watermark High started following me on twitter yesterday.
Luckily I was intrigued by the name of the follower and didn’t disregard them as one of the many twammers out there.
Why […]
First Film
Lesego Mlambo comes from the Braam Fischer section of Soweto and has spent the past year with the Joshua Youth Development Programme run by Metro Evangelical Services, working with the poor in the Johannesburg inner city. As part of his preparation for the Joshua programme, he was sent on an Outward Bound course, which is how we came to meet him in Mountain Sanctuary Park in the Magaliesberg. We went for a hike with him and other young Joshua’s who had been on Outward Bound. Inspired by David Sasaki, we put a camera in his hands. Here’s the result:
Nama Land Sovereignty in the Northern Cape Province
For thousands and thousands of years the Nama people of Southern Africa maintained a nomadic pastoral way of life, tending their flocks of goats and sheep, gathering firewood, and collecting wild honey. Driving along the dirt roads surrounding Richtersveld National park you can still see the same lifestyle, supplemented by some modern conveniences like butane lanterns and plastic tarps.
Nama Iharu oms (huts) in the Richtersveld.
Land sovereignty has been a historic struggle for the Nama people. When Namibia – where the majority of Nama people then lived – was colonized by Germany, the Nama joined forces with the Herero and took up arms against their invaders from 1904 to 1907. This resulted in what today is called the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.
Herero people chained in 1904 by German troops.
According to the 1985 Whitaker Report on Genocide, an estimated 50 – 70% of all Herero people and 50% of all Nama people were killed. On the South African side of the border the Nama people were mostly left to their own as British and Afrikaner explorers searched for diamonds in the Northern Cape province. They continued their nomadic pastoral life with a policy of communal land ownership. Says Wikipedia: “Nama women still dress in Victorian traditional fashion. This style of dress was introduced by missionaries in the 1800s and their influence is still a part of the Nama culture today.”
You can see the influence in a video shot by Ray of a group of Nama youth performing an initiation dance, which marks young girls’ transition to adulthood.
Simon recorded a brilliant piece of audio of Cecilia, the mother of two of the young female dancers, singing a hymn in Nama.
Cecilia
Those British and Afrikaner explorers did in fact find their diamonds. Lots of them. In the 1920’s the South African state-owned mining company Alexkor evicted Nama residents from their diamond-rich land and began operations that would yield hundreds of millions of dollars to help support the country’s Apartheid regime. Since the end of Apartheid in 1994, however, new legislation allows communities to seek compensation for lost land and mineral wealth. The 3,700-strong Nama community launched their claim in 1998. Alexkor spent over a million dollars on legal costs, but in October 2003 the constitutional court ruled that the community was entitled to restitution, as well as to mineral rights. The court rejected their demand for a 90 percent equity stake in Alexkor, however, instead offering a 49% stake and a trust to benefit the Namaqualand community.
The Namaqua community now has more than $40 million coming its way. That is a big chunk of change for a group of 3,700 individuals. We had an opportunity to talk to local community leaders. I asked Leon Ambrosini, mayor of the Richtersveld municipality, how the money would be used, but he only answered in general terms.
My fear is that even with $40 million coming its way and a 49% stake in Alexkor, the quality of life and opportunities for those 3,700 Nama people will not improve much over the next ten years.
“We don’t want to get rich quick. We are solely thinking about the long term future for us and the children who will come after us,” said Floors Strauss, secretary of the Richtersveld Community Property Association, which will manage the $40 million. But I saw little evidence that the right investments are being made for sustainable development.
Nama girl from Port Nolloth.
I asked if there were any plans to build a college or university in the area, but there are none. (The entire province is without tertiary education.) The only specific expense we heard about was a $300 handout to each of the 3,700 represented in the court case. Which brings up some interesting questions: what if the money gets squandered? What if Alexkor becomes less profitable, jobs are lost, and the Nama people are actually worse off ten years from now than they are today? Land restitution in Zimbabwe, for example, is largely responsible for today’s shortage of food there as fleeing White farmers took off without transferring their agricultural skills.
My hope, obviously, is that in Richtersveld the right skills will be transferred to the Nama community so that they can manage their own development as they see fit. But to do so, I believe, will require an investment in education that community leaders don’t seem too concerned about. I’ll be keeping my eye on how things develop.
Extra bonus: Check out Lova’s summary of a fascinating conversation about land sovereignty and economic development in the Malagasy blogosphere. (The deal was later rejected.)
Peace in Africa – mining diamonds in the ocean
I blogged photos and a more detailed blog post about the Debeers mining ship previously on SA Rocks.
I know have a video from the day up on Zoopy! Here it is, watch and let me know what you think of Peace in Africa, the offshore mining ship. It really was a wonder of technology […]
A Chat with the 2010 World Cup Team: First on African Continent
We met with the South African World Cup team to learn about their goals for hosting the World Cup. We talked to them in their offices just outside the main stadium which is currently under construction as you can see below.
From the CEO and director to the communications manager, we learned about their goals from a cultural, economic and political perspective. Of the four we met with, World Club 2010 Local Organizing Committee CEO Danny Jordaan takes the lead on the de-brief with our blogging team.
Says Jordaan, “we want infrastructure improvement across the board, from broadcast, transportation, roads, accommodation and human resource capacity. We also want to promote growth in tourism as well as job creation which we’re struggling with right now.”
He continues, “our past comes from a past of a long struggle between black and white. What is important in that process is to create projects that are shared by the majority of the population.”
Below is Jordaan with his Chief of Communications Rich Mkhondo
He references the German World Cup created a new nation….remember up to 1990, there were two Germanies. It was two separate countries. In 1990, it brought down the wall but didn’t bring together a single nation. The World Cup did that. The Germans were embracing themseJordalves as one country. It is important for this country to develop that sense of a common South African nation.”
Lastly, they hope to develop a brand for South Africa. Because of the scale of the World Cup event, it can help develop a brand essence for South Africa, one which embraces democratic rights. They want to attract businesses and tourists to come to this country.
They hope to allocate at least 30% to help create economic opportunities for smaller businesses in South Africa, to that smaller micro-businesses can begin to grow and thrive.
While South Africa has hosted global sporting events including the 2003 Cricket World Club and the All African Games, South Africa has struggled to get the World Cup. In July 2000, they also tried to get the rights to host it, but lost to Germany. Finally, in 2004, they won the right to host in 2010.
Some of the sponsors and partners for this event includes Sony, Visa, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Emriates, Adidas. They go to great lengths to talk about economic gain from this World Club vis a vis others. The revenue generated from Germany was $2.8 billion. They tout that this event is moving towards $3.4 billion as a result of the commercial activities around this event to-date, more than any event in the last one hundred years.
He says, “it has been said that the two mega events that should not be hosted on the African continent are the World Cup and the Olympics. Now that we are hosting the World Cup, we hope this continent will next host the Olympics.”
There are various stadiums being built around the country. In Johannesburg, Soccer City is now 95% complete and will host 94,000 people, the largest stadium since Brazil in 1950.
In Durban, the Moses Mabhida Stadium will have 5,500 steps you’ll be able to walk up for a magnificent view of Durban’s coastline.
They’re also building the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit (46,000 capacity), which is near the Kruger National Park. The capacity is currently at 46,000. In less than an hour from the stadium, people will be able to go into the game drive and witness elephants, impala, kudu, exotic birds, giraffe and other game popular to the region.
They’ll be able to sit 48,000 in the Port Elizabeth stadium. All of the seats are already in, and they’re currently working on the roof, all of which is due to be completed by May 2009. Rustenberg will be able to host 42,000 for the Confederation Cup. There are others being built including Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, which will sit 45,000 and be completed in October 2009. Green Point photo below.
Jordaan expects 450,000 people visitors during the World Cup, which gives you a sense of growth of tourism in the country. He shows us year to year growth which is steady. “We want to move beyond 10 million tourists by by 2010,” he says.
Then he talks about IT infrastructure and our ears perk up. It will be the first World Cup where you can watch the entire game on mobile devices. IT partners include MTN, Sony, and local telecommunications company Telekom.
They plan to implement approximately 40,000 voice and data network ports, build in support for 10,000 communication and network devices, 4,500 notebook PCs, and 4,000 mobile telephony devices across 41 primary locations, which includes ten stadiums and ten FIFA venue hotels. They also expect to have 99.99% network availability up-time.
Then there are fan parks around the world. They want to create fan parks in all the host and non-host cities. Germany had 15 million requests for 3 million. In South Africa, we have 47 million population but here too we only have 3 million tickets that need to be distributed across the world, hence the importance of the fan parks.
They want people in Johannesburg to talk to people in fan parks in Cairo, Berlin, New York, Lagos and everywhere else in the world, so this becomes an “African celebration” around the world. The initial idea was to promote communication through satellite link-up….they haven’t thought about how they’ll use blogs and social networks yet, but they plan to explore the possibilities here, locally and internationally.
Teams coming to the Confederations Cup, which starts on June 14, 2009. The Champion of Champions who will be attending include the United States, Egypt, New Zealand, Iraq, South Africa, Spain, Brazil and Italy.
A chief challenge for them is obviously cost. They need at least 3.2 billion rand, and to-date they have raised roughly 1.4 billion rand. The good news is that they are about 80% complete.
Nic from SA Rocks, wants to hear more about their marketing efforts since he doesn’t feel that it has been hyped enough locally or worldwide. And that there have been some issues about local transportation and accommodation.
Yet, when asked about publicity roughly 18 months before the event, Jordaan referenced local television campaigns, but this is a far cry from what needs to be done to get worldwide buzz going, particularly online which is where younger demographics live. What about using social media? Blogosphere viral programs? Contests on Twitter? YouTube interviews?
What we learn more about is infrastructure and security efforts. They’re bringing in an additional 1,400 buses for the event as well as three international airline entry points to accommodate various parts of the world. Durban will cater to everyone flying in from Asia, Cape Town will handle people coming in from the Americas, and Johannesburg will handle visitors from Europe.
They are looking at additional 200 airplanes to take care of additional demands as well as charter flights. He also talks about South Africa’s infamous Blue Train, which is a 5 star hotel on rails, a bit like the Orient Express.
There are 55,000 rooms for the ‘event’ requirement. In other words, their obligation is to provide accommodation to FICA family, the teams, the media and the organizers. Based on current availability, they will still have to contract 20,000 rooms.
Jordaan tries to reassure us that there will be plenty of capacity. While they expect 450,000 people, he reminds us that the event starts off with 32 teams. After the first round, it gets reduced from 32 to 16 which means that not everyone will be here at the same time. They get about nine million tourists in December so he feels confident that they can host 250,000-300,000 at any one time.
On the media side, they’re expecting 20,000 international media of which 360 are broadcasters. I ask them of the 20,000, how many will be bloggers and they haven’t figured that out yet. With a smile, we all get an invitation to return in 2010 to cover the Confederation Cup in 2009 and the World Cup in 2010.
What we don’t learn is whether they have seriously thought about integrating bloggers into their media campaign and no one seems to have put together a budget to accommodate them since we all know that bloggers or blog networks are unlikely to have the budget to fly someone across the world to cover the event in real-time. Hopefully they will start thinking about their online, social media and blogging strategy soon – the event is only a year and a half away.
Soweto: Hector Pieterson, Holiday Inn, Nambisa and Kliptown
Over the past ten days I cannot express to you effectively the magnitude of incredible things that I have done. But the trend that I seem to have been following on my excursions is to be dumbstruck and in awe of the smaller things, the details that make me African and not the grand gestures […]
