Apartheid

It's a rainy evening in Cape Town, following a sunny day. Because I'm in the southern hemisphere, it is technically winter in South Africa, but it hardly feels like it. Temperatures are in the 70s, it's slightly humid mostly because the town is situated on the ocean. Rain is common in the winter, as tonight was the perfect example. I walked home from Nando's, a famous chicken chain (they also have them in Great Britain) and was soaked by the time I arrived home. I'm looking forward to nice weather tomorrow...

Today was our first day of class and it was probably the most interesting lecture I've had at my time in college. Zwelethu Jolobe is a political science professor at the University of Cape Town and gave us a history of Apartheid which gave us a much better understanding of why Africa is the way it is. I've always wondered why HIV/AIDS is most prevalent in South Africa as opposed to other urban, poor areas such as India or Mexico City. Apartheid, in a lot of ways, seems to be the reason. 

Apartheid was created in 1913 by the Land Act which granted 13% to "colored" people and the remaining land to the whites. As you may have guessed, the vast majority of Africa's population then and now are non-white. At the time, the Land Act was a form of modernizing the country in the form of urbanization. Because whites were the minority population in South Africa, they needed to create greater minorities among the majority of the other population. They proceeded to further the divide the population into very specific racial categories such as "blacks," "coloured," and even more specific likewise. 

People living in South Africa were divided into two developments: urban and rural. Urban areas were designated for whites who were given a citizen status -- this would explain why the urban areas have a heavy European influence and do not show any signs of poverty. Rural areas were designated for any non-whites (although the specific racial classes had their own communities) and were given a "subject" status -- this would explain why the township areas are overwhelmingly black and do not have the luxuries that living in the urban areas does. Because non-whites were only given a "subject" status, they were given absolutely no rights or benefits from the government and they were not allowed to advance as a society. Their resources were contained and the government did everything within their power to keep them under control of the regime. The laws instilled were reminiscent of segregation in the US pre-Civil Rights Movement. Blacks and whites had strict separations, including separate bathrooms, restrooms etc. and mixed marriages and relations were strictly prohibited. 

For the greater portion of Apartheid's existence, there was little resistance to the oppressive ruling. Eventually, in the 1970s, the first trade union was formed among blacks in Durban. This event is largely considered the turning point of the Apartheid because for the first time the government had to recognize a union by a "subject." Opposition to Apartheid grew stronger and stronger, and blacks basically withdrew themselves from the economy, the elite-like government felt as though they were forced to change their policies. When blacks withdrew themselves from the economy, the economy itself collapsed -- whites could not run the economy themselves. The difference between Apartheid and many other revolutions throughout history is that this was not a take over of a government, it was a decision made by the minority government to change their government. While the pressure from the oppressed was apparent, ultimately, the whites made the decision to end Apartheid and move to a new type of government. 

While I could go on forever about the details of the negotiations of Apartheid, ultimately, the government came up with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Whether the constitution is effective is still up for debate. South Africa straddles the line of democracy and socialism, where every citizen is guaranteed healthcare, education, and adequate housing (the latter has definitely not been fulfilled), citizens enjoy a free market. I am unsure where the income tax level stands, our lecturer did mention that South Africa has the second highest Gini Coefficient in the world (meaning there is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots --even more so than the US). 

Following the dissolution of Apartheid, there was a huge migration to the urban areas, because blacks were finally granted access to the urban centers where the jobs existed. With this massive migration, further worsened the condition of the townships. Millions of people were living in shanty towns (people living in huts, some of their homes were created out of pallets and a piece of steel). With the extreme poverty, followed hunger and the need for survival, hence the high crime and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Just because the blacks were now viewed as citizens, didn't change the fact that they were unbelievably poor and uneducated. Johannesburg experienced the bulk of the migration and is notorious for being incredibly dangerous and impoverished. 

It's interesting because when I look at map of Cape Town, the map explicitly labels the suburbs (and wealthy) areas of the city but gives no mention to any of the townships, many of which house hundreds of thousands of residents. They are generally disregarded as parts of the community, yet they house the vast majority of the population. 

Having a lecture from Zwelethu really put into perspective how Africa got to be the way it is. Later this week a colleague of his will give us a better background of the current affairs of South Africa. Currently, there has been a huge influx of immigrants from Zimbabwe due to conflict in the country. The new immigrants are taking jobs from blacks in the townships which has created a great deal of animosity between South Africans and immigrants from Zimbabwe. Riots have been especially violent in the townships outside of Johannesburg, but recently violence has spurred in Cape Town. 

The rest of this week will be devoted to learning more about South Africa and its current state with Apartheid. We won't actually enter the townships until next week. I'm incredibly anxious to enter the townships because I feel as though I've heard so much about them, but haven't actually experienced them. The townships are often described as the hangover of Apartheid and I'm anxious to see the disparity firsthand and reflect on how HIV/AIDS further complicates the matters in townships. 

I hope you are all doing well. I thoroughly appreciate your e-mails, comments, and words of support. So far, I've largely felt like a tourist in this city, but I imagine as we become more involved in the townships, my perspective will change greatly. It still baffles my mind how I can shop at Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton at Victoria Wharf, and less than 5 miles away, I can be standing in the middle of an area with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. I hope all is well!