SOUTH AFRICANS
© Farouk
Asvat
South Africans are completely devoid of
love. Besides being completely
materialistic, there is absolutely nothing spiritual or philosophical about
them. The only things they are
interested in are shebeens, sports, soap operas and sex - in that order.
They are also completely ungrateful, as
evidenced by their lack of appreciation for the Cuban doctors and health
workers sent by Fidel Castro to help with the inequalities left by the
apartheid regime. They were also completely
critical of a series of international soccer coaches that came to prepare them
for the world cup - dismissing all of them within a short period, complaining
that these renowned coaches did not understand them, that South Africans knew
better. In both cases displaying a
complete unwillingness and inability to learn.
This was most evident when the white
regime was exchanged for a black regime, and people who had spent years in
prison (and one would suppose would have had infinite time to reflect); and
people who had spent years in exile in the west and in communist countries (and
one would suppose would have learned from the wide world out there) - returned
to the country, and were soon sucked into the parochial mentality of the natives
- instead of the exiles influencing the locals about what they should have
learned from being abroad for decades.
Furthermore, all the communist, socialist
and left wing politicians became capitalists and billionaires overnight -
co-opted onto the board of directors of the multinationals, in cahoots with the
western governments.
Oppression and tyranny, by creating an
inferiority complex in people by a self-proclaimed master race, leaves deep
psychological scars in the people, which might take generations, if ever to be healed
or eradicated. This has obviously not
only been the case in South Africa, but also in eastern European countries, (Rumania
for instance) - so that the worse the oppression, the worse the psychological
trauma.
South Africa must be the only country in
the world that did not celebrate one of its writers receiving the Nobel prize
for literature. Instead, the banner
headlines all over the city were about some rugby player and his woes. To add insult to injury, Nadine Gordimer, who
had never helped or promoted Black writers throughout her life, suddenly made
sure that she should be on all the
state-run tv news channels that evening, announcing that she had set up an organisation
to help young black writers. Not a word
about J M Coetzee.
In spite of the fact, that just about
every South African has the attitude that he knows everything about everything
- slamming their fists on the table to emphasise their point - the most
arrogant people in the world must be the South African Transvaal Indian Muslim
businessman: they are perhaps a little less ignorant, but are even more arrogant
than the average American. Being
extremely petty, making it a point of knowing everything about everyone in the
community, they are always judgemental, always knowing what is best for
you. And even if something is revealed
to them about an incident that actually happened to a person, for instance
saying, "I was attacked by a lion," they would immediately answer with
a "Are you sure it wasn't just a cat," soon converting the whole
episode into a joke at the expense of the victim. Moreover, they have never opposed the
oppression in the country - (then or now) - and are quite happy, as long as
they can make money.
A reflection of this mentality is most
evident in the richest Indian township under apartheid, Laudium, which once
boasted the highest number of Mercedes Benzes per square kilometre in the
world. It is the dirtiest place I have
ever come across - while there are all these mansions owned by rich
businessmen, the streets and pavements outside their homes and businesses are
littered with garbage - the owners not even bothering to order their many
servants to clean up the mess.
South Africa - the only country without a name
- is a country abandoned by God. Instead
of the wise people at the southern tip of Africa described by Marquez at the
beginning of One Hundred Years Of
Solitude, it is a godforsaken country without the faculty for reflecting
and pondering.
Already in the 1980's South Africans began
striving for mediocrity, by the 1990's they were striving for stupidity, and by
the beginning of the 21st century, they were thriving on a combination of
mediocrity and stupidity. Unfortunately,
with the ubiquity of the internet and stupid phones among all those who can
afford it (or not), the whole world is now wallowing in this ignorance,
mediocrity and stupidity.
It has always taken outsiders
who have been in the country for a short period only, to see who South Africans
really are. Basil Davidson's Report On Southern Africa (1952), which
gave an amazing insight into the people of South Africa, with a profundity that
South Africans themselves refuse to acknowledge and are always reluctant to
appreciate. The
book was obviously banned in South Africa throughout the apartheid era, and
Basil himself was considered persona non
grata after his visit, and was unfortunately never able to return to the
country to give the people of South Africa another valuable insight into
themselves during its many years of turmoil.
Another extremely incisive and perceptive view in capturing the essence
of South Africa and its people in the 1985-1987 period, was the letter/poem, Where Blue Skies Cry In The
Afternoon, by Jill Townsend. I included it in my anthology, The
Wind Still Sings Sad Songs, - (though it should rather have been part of A Celebration Of Flames, which captured
the events and emotions of the mid 1980's in South Africa) - since I felt that
Jill's poem was an essential part of the portrayal of the country, its people,
and its turmoil.
WHERE BLUE SKIES CRY IN THE AFTERNOON
© Jill Townsend
The sun scorches
Where blue skies cry
In the afternoon
The land breathes
In cross-currents of emotions
Collisions of oceans and winds
Reflect the minds and spirit
Of the people
Complexities and contrasts
Flourish and divide
Into pockets of resistance
Spiritually uplifting
Emotionally draining
Ebbing away into vast flatlands
Tall towers mirror
Dark secret places
There is corruption in power
As there is corruption in suffering
Breeding greed, betrayal and guilt.
Today is negated
By tomorrow.
Today is always more important
Than yesterday.
Uniforms and rhetoric
Disguise the soul
Masks fit every face
But never the eyes
- The eyes
always
tell
another
story -
So that every truth
Is also a lie
© Jill Townsend
# composed:
10.03.1986
[Carlton
Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid].
Where Blue Skies Cry In The
Afternoon was previously
published in:
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant
publications, p106, 2006);
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p103, 2014).
© farouk asvat
SILENCE AGAINST OPPRESSION IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
work in
progress
posted: 27.11.2015
original composed: november 2010.
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© farouk asvat. All rights reserved.
Farouk
Asvat asserts his moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
No part of this publication may
be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or transmitted in any form or any means
whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, including recording, printing,
photocopying, or via any computerised means or media, including the
internet. This publication shall also
not be stored in a retrieval system. And
the writing shall not be sold, lent, hired, resold or circulated in any form or
binding or cover other than that in which it is published,
without the prior permission of the author in writing.
Permission
to publish or reproduce the writings in any format can be obtained from the
author.
Reproduction
of this work without permission, except for scholarly & nonprofit purposes,
is
liable to a payment of 10, 000 ren men bi or US$ 1,500.
farouk asvat can be contacted at: farouk.asvat@gmail.com
[] please check out my blogs @:
farouk asvat - poems: www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com
weapons of words: www.faroukasvat-viewpoint.blogspot.com
piquante: www.faroukasvat-piquant.blogspot.com
books by farouk asvat: www.faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com
[] also link up on:
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/farouk-asvat/
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/FaroukAsvat
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#love #literature #fiction #novel #poetry
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#nobelprize #gordimer #jmcoetzee
#transvaal #indian #muslim #businessman
#laudium #mercedesbenz
#shebeens #sports
#soapoperas #sex
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