It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
February 2nd twenty years ago today we were witness to the official end of apartheid. FW de Klerk changed the official policy of South Africa. Black skins and white skins could now share a restaurant or public toilet. In fact what we witnessed then was a totally new attitude of power-sharing, politics, economics and democracy.
In one big sense this move by de-Klerk and his ministers displayed a new attitude to a global future where the past fears of communism were thrown away. The new democratic spirit, which was called the end of apartheid, was really much more than a racial thing. This, as the release of Nelson Mandela showed, was a new way to do business. Indeed FW de Klerk ”could do business with this man” Mandela.
Almost at a stroke this official statement by de Klerk lifted the lid off closed politics and opened the way to more alternatives in the political parties. Yet this was also an expansion of South Africa as a nation state. The real and active territory that could be worked grew as the seperate internal states began to merge as one solid economic unit.
I think we can see a direct comparison here with feminism movements. It was always a feminism that was as much to do with the political economy as it was to do with the nature of women. For women here read race in South Africa. To say this is not to deny the many benefits had from such movements but it is to deny that race or gender are the main keys to unlock the doors of societal discriminations.
As an afterthought I look forward to the latest film, directed by Clint Eastwood, which centres upon Mandela in this new South Africa. The film is called Invictus and by all early accounts should be a worthwhile film to watch and enjoy. It is directed by the newly and re-invented Eastwood and we can expect some deep and welcome messages within.
Invictus ( parts of the poem written by William Ernest Henley)
" Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods maybe
For my unconquerable soul.
... ...
I am the master of my fate :
I am the captain of my soul. "
Anyway I am looking forward to seeing that film. Seems a good time for such a film too. It was only twenty years ago today but in so many ways Mandela has helped things along in so many good ways after that historic de Klerk move.
Steve Bowles
