Signs and Wonders in South Africa
Passover has arrived, and with it the commandment to retell the story of our inspired and painful passage from oppression to freedom, and the “signs and wonders” (Exodus 7:3) that produced it. I find my mind keeps bringing me back to my and Jamie’s 10 days in South Africa, a land of signs and wonders; South Africa is blessed and cursed with beauty and pain interwoven into the fabric of every day life.
South Africa’s natural beauty is stunning. Jamie and I drove from Cape Town to Wine Country and then along the Garden Route to Knysna, and then back to Cape Town to hop on a train to Pretoria. South Africa is a continent unto itself, with scenery that switches seamlessly between, lush green hills, brown-orange dessert, majestic mountains, dense jungles, rivers that winding through canyons, and vast farmlands. From the clouds dramatically spill over Table Mountain to the intersection of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Antarctic at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa is a biological, ecological and meteorological laboratory, bubbling and oozing new possibilities.
The line between man’s realm and the animal kingdom is blurry. At the beach you can walk alongside penguins and watch whales splash around. Driving inland, we hit a traffic jam because an ostrich was standing in the middle of the road, inspecting every car that went by. Whether it was ostriches, baboons, tortoises or other animals, our guide, Noel, would say, “Yeah, they walk around like they own the roads.”
Ostrich Road Block at the Cape of Good Hope.
South Africa also looks different than everywhere else; most of the plant-life i is exclusive to South Africa’s biosphere. This botanical distinctiveness gives South Africa myriad agricultural and horticultural idiosyncrasies, from its flowers to its wines and meats, much of which Jamie and I indulged on non-stop (especially biltong, which is like jerky, but way, way better). South Africa’s natural gifts impart the country with incredible hiking, sightseeing, food, wine and general marveling.
These wonders are the backdrop of man’s struggle, and our guide, Noel, offered a glimpse into its signs. Noel is colored, a racial designation of mixed lineage; if Barack Obama were South African he’d also be colored. The colored community has a unique perspective on the transition from Apartheid, which protected White economic interests at the expense of blacks and coloreds, and the current regime, which often uses reverse discrimination to compensate blacks for Apartheid. Unfortunately, the colored community is small and while they are not suffering as they did under Apartheid, their interests are not guarded with the anything near the vigilance as for blacks.
He showed us how morally murky and economically perilous the government’s choices are. Noel is an excellent, highly competent tour guide, yet struggles to secure work consistently since most jobs are designated for blacks, not colored or white people; this type of affirmative action is widespread and has high political expedience, but ultimately it prevents South Africa’s best and brightest from uplifting themselves and South Africa. While he explained this to us, he drove us to a Township outside of Cape Town. While the Township looked like a shantytown for hundreds of thousands of poor souls, Noel warned us to look upon the township with skepticism, not pity. He told is that on the outside they look like tin cans, but pointed out that almost every home had a satellite dish. He told us if we ever walked into one of those tin shacks, we would see they generally are far more luxurious than their exterior would indicate. I regret that I never got to see the inside of a home and confirm or dispute Noel.
Noel, our excellent tour guide, with us at a winery outside of Cape Town.
He also overturned our assumption that those who lived in townships were stuck there, forced by their poverty to live in these impromptu ghettos. He explained, “The government’s policy is that any black person who shows up to a piece of vacant land and builds a tin-house becomes entitled to that house and land. If the government knocks it down, it has to build a permanent structure for them. So people build these tin shacks and then eventually the government obliges them 5 years later by knocking it down and building them a nice home for free. I wouldn’t mind, but they steal the electricity from nearby lines (why we have power outages all the time) and these people aren’t from Cape Town. So many come from the East Coast and while they live here for free are renting their homes in Durban or Soweto. They are really turning a nice profit for themselves at everyone’s expense.”
Jobs and housing are foundations of society, and while the evils of Apartheid are gone, the incompetence of dysfunctional democracy poses incredible dangers to South Africa. Over the past year the value of the Rand fell by 60% against the dollar, and while everyone knows the President, Jacob Zuma, is corrupt, no one expects to see him leave his post. That type of resignation to government failure is dangerous to a country and I only hope that South Africans reclaim their national aspirations. While we were in Pretoria, protests raged against Jacob Zuma in anticipation of his “State of the Nation,” address, demanding he resign; God’s Speed to the protester.
But hope endures in a country that produced Nelson Mandela. South Africans of all races speak of Mandela like Americans speak of Lincoln, and Jews speak of Moses. His wisdom and incorruptibility stands as a voice of conscious for the country. He brought his people out of oppression and led them towards the Promised Land. And while many South Africans are discouraged by the country’s politics, they should take heart in the Exodus story. After overturning Pharaoh, the Hebrews needed forty years of wandering in the dessert before they could enter the Land of Israel. Apartheid was a 20th century Mitzrayim. South Africans will decide whether to remain in the dessert or continue their long walk to freedom, transforming their country into a 21st century land of milk and honey.
Click the photo of “Nobel Square” in Cape Town to see our Paris and South Africa Google Photo Album!
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