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Challenges of Independence

Challenges of Independence. She weaves mats from the river grasses, Cutting them down as history passes. She weaves them slowly with fingers worn; History is the thread of a nation born. I look at the mats, their beauty, their grace, History is now and this is its face.

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Challenges of Independence

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  1. Challenges of Independence • She weaves mats from the river grasses, • Cutting them down as history passes. • She weaves them slowly with fingers worn; • History is the thread of a nation born. • I look at the mats, their beauty, their grace, • History is now and this is its face. • She cannot read and she cannot write, • But her grass mats capture a people’s plight. • Her cloths are worn, her eyes are wise; • Biko, Goniwe, Hani arise! • Her life is a history, a hardship a song, • Mandela brings freedom, the struggle was long. [Saturday in Africa, 1996 p.49]

  2. Challenges of Independence • “One of the syndromes that have ruined parts of Africa has been civil war. Indeed, since around half of the economic costs of civil war are borne by neighbours, the damage has been even more pervasive than might appear. Civil war breaks out • where rebellion is feasible, with the motivation typically being some cocktail of grievance and greed. Many African states are too small and poor to provide effective security and so rebellion is easy. Indeed, government armies are themselves part of the security problem due to the high risk of coups..”[Paul Collier, “Rethinking Assistance for Africa. Economic Affairs, Volume 26, Issue 4, Page 2-4, Dec 2006]

  3. South Africa & Mozambique Enemies in theCold War,‘Married’ inIndependence Mozambique (above)and South Africa(left) – shared borders, shared histories

  4. Enemies in the Cold War • - South Africa: Western Capitalist, ‘Democratic’ • - FRELIMO: Socialist, ally Soviet Block- 1970s backing opposite sides Rhodesian war Mozambique independent following fall Western-Backed Portuguese regime 1975:- supported Africans overthrowing Smith regime (Rhodesia)- stimulated Black Consciousness resistance SA • supported ANC in exile

  5. Enemies in the Cold War • RENAMO (Resistëncia Nacional Moçambicana)formed by white Rhodesian officers: • - backed by Ian Smith, South African Gov’t- purpose to destabilize Mozambique, retain control southern Africa for ‘White’ regimes- Nkomati Accord 1984: failed • RENAMO fought against FRELIMO government until 1992

  6. Enemies in the Cold War Graca Machel, Samora Machel, PW BothaPik Botha

  7. Enemies in the Cold War • 1980s: • Full scale civil war Mozambique, RENAMO against Government (FRELIMO) • By mid 1980s, full scale ‘State of Emergency’ in South Africa: resistance from townships, UDF and COSATU generating radical opposition • growth international economic sanctions, disinvestment

  8. Enemies in the Cold War • 1986: - South Africa ungovernable- President of Mozambique (Samora Machel) killed in mysterious plane crash on South African side Mozambique border • South Africa accused of sabotage

  9. Enemies in the Cold War • 1990-1994: • 1990 ANC and SAPC unbanned • Nelson Mandela released from Prison (see below)- State of Emergency lifted • 1992 White South Africa voted to dismantle Apartheid • 1992 Peace Accord signed between FRELIMO and RENAMO

  10. Enemies in the Cold War • 1994: • democratic elections in both countries • ANC victorious SA [62.6%] (NP 20.4%, IFP 10.5) • FRELIMO in Mozamique [53%] (RENAMO [33%]) • ‘victories’ decisive but each faced ‘opposition’ of over 30% from former ‘enemies’ with whom relations had been violent

  11. Domestic Healing • Post-1994: • governments faced with ‘working with the enemy’ • population faced with ‘living with the enemy’ • issues of reparations, restitution • forgive? • forget? • how?

  12. ANC Unbanned February 1990 • On 5 February Time Magazine asked, "Mandela: Free At Last?" An illustration was used because, by law, no photos of Mandela were allowed during his time in jail - the world no longer knew what he looked like.Image: Time. http://www.southafrica.info/pls/cms/show_gallery_sa_info?p_gid=4783&p_site_id=38

  13. Mandela’s Release, Feb. 11, 1990 • Mandela was released from Victor Verster prison on 11 February 1990 after 27 years in jail. Image: Cape Times. • Source: http://www.southafrica.info/pls/cms/show_gallery_sa_info?p_gid=4783&p_site_id=38

  14. Celebrating Mandela’s Freedom Hillbrough, Johannesburg [Nelson Mandela and the rise of the ANC. (London: Bloomsbury) 187] Orlando Stadium, Soweto [Nelson Mandela and the rise of the ANC. (London: Bloomsbury) 184].

  15. Youth and the Future • ANC supporters outside Victor Verster prison waiting to greet Nelson Mandela[ Nelson Mandela and the rise of the ANC. (London: Bloomsbury) 189.]

  16. Mandela’s Promises • “The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have no option but to continue.” • Called for:- freeing all, not only some, political prisoners • end to white monopoly political power • fundamental restructuring political, economic systems • addressing inequalities of apartheid, • full democracy

  17. 1990--1994: • Negotiations continued with the government, leading towards democratic elections: • Key pillars of Apartheid removed: - Land Acts of 1913 and 1936 - Group Areas Act of 1950 • Population Registration Act of 1950

  18. What was once unthinkable… Below: Nelson Mandela & Walter Sisulu, together again. Jurgen Schadeberg.Nelson Mandela and the rise of the ANC. (London: Bloomsbury) 187. Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, Robben Island, taken secretly by a fellow prisoner and smuggled off the island. http://www.go2africa.com/newsletter/2006/09/robben-island.asp

  19. 1990--1994: • Transition Period:- Violent conflict increased between ANC , Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) • - IFP, led by Mangosuthu Butilezi, Zulu group, established 1950s as a ‘cultural’ organization • - party received generous military, logistical, financial support from former apartheid regime.

  20. Inkatha Freedom Party • Revolution of Goodwill • “The IFP has committed • itself to becoming the champion of • a revolution of goodwill, which • spreads throughout the building • blocks of our society promoting • individual and collective dedication • to our families, work places and • communities. • The revolution is about • building and reconstructing a new • country. It is about creating a • constant liaison between the • government and its communities. • And calls for sacrifices, social • discipline and hard work." Dr. Mangosuthu Butilezi, President of the IFP[see http://www.ifp.org.za]

  21. 1990--1994: political violence • Inter-group conflict daily in townships, on commuter trains • more than 15,000 people died • - death toll was more than twice the entire death toll recorded since 1950

  22. 1990--1994: political violence • 1993 Chris Hani assassinated [Read Govan Mbeki’s tribute: http://www.peoplesvideo.org/hani1.htm] • Conflict not ended with elections: - 26 June 1996: Municipal elections in KwaZulu-Natal Inkatha won 35% (mainly regional councils) - ANC's took 32% (mainly towns) - turnout was only 44% --testifying both to fear and disillusionment

  23. Chris Hani • Former Secretary-General of the South African Communist Party and Umkonto we Sizwe, assassinated April 10, 1993 • http://www.flickr.com/photos/97892906@N00/188717747/

  24. 1994-1995 • May 10, 1994: - elections- Nelson Mandela ‘terrorist’, now President- Government of National Unity (GNU)- ministers ANC, IFP, NP • 1 Nov 1995: Local Government Elections ANC victory [67%] - 40% local seats filled by proportional representation- 30% by whites-only towns- 30% by black townships.

  25. First Democratic Election, 1994 • Queue of Voters (Argus, Cape Town) 1994 • Patricia Schonstein Pinnock. • Saturday in Africa: living history through poetry. • (Cape Town: Africa Sun Press, 1996) 24.

  26. 1995-96 • 1995:- established Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) • based on the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34

  27. 1995 Establishment of TRC • Led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began its proceedings : • "... a commission is a necessary exercise to enable South Africans to come to terms with their past on a morally accepted basis and to advance the cause of reconciliation.”[Mr Dullah Omar, former Minister of Justice]

  28. Truth and Reconciliation • “Because of this nation's unbelievable history, it is absolutely vital for us to try to come to grips with what happened --to try to deal with the past rather than be trapped by it. • As individuals and as a nation, we need accountability, transformation, healing. • We need full disclosure, and truth against the lies of the past. • The evils of apartheid affected us all. • Most White South Africans participated in it, at least indirectly, simply by benefiting from its inequities. • So all of us, White and Black, need to express our sorrow, regret, and forgiveness. ” • [Alex Boraine, vice-chair under Bishop Desmond Tutu

  29. Truth and Reconciliation • TRC conducted intensive investigations (1995-8) of murders, massacres committed under apartheid - 80% of applicants for disclosure, amnesty were Black citizens- Few white state security personnel applied

  30. TRC Report, Nov.1998 • JOHANNESBURG, Nov 6 (IPS) -It is still unclear whether prosecutions will follow the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which was handed to President Nelson Mandela last week. • By Gumisai Mutume • “High on the list of those found guilty of gross human rights violations are former apartheid-era president P.W. Botha, ruling African National Congress's Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the controversial right wing leader Eugene Terreblanche. …

  31. TRC Report, Nov.1998 • … They all did not apply for amnesty and under the provisions of the TRC. Those who did not seek amnesty and are guilty of gross human rights violations will face legal action. It is, however, politically inconceivable for the mavericks of South African politics to face the law.” (Report released 21 March 2003)

  32. 1999-2000 • In second democratic elections, ANC took 66.35% national vote: • Thabo Mbeki became the new President • In acceptance speech acknowledged - “millions of our people expect that we will move faster in pursuit of the goal of a better life for all. …

  33. 1999-2000 - Many of the problems we face require the greatest possible unity among ourselves as South Africans so that we use our massed strength for the benefit of the country as a whole. - And yet all of us are aware that our country continues to be divided along racial and other lines. - The new Presidency will have to focus on all these matters, in the interests of the country as a whole. ”

  34. Thabo Mbeki • "I was born into the struggle," he says. He was born in Idutywa, Transkei, in June 1942. From 1989, headed ANC dept. of International Affairs; Elected new president ANC 1997.[see hisbiography: http://www.anc.org.za/ancindex.html]

  35. Challenges of the 21st Century • Equity?: http://www.healthlink.org.za/generic/27

  36. Challenges of the 21st Century • Poverty: http://www.healthlink.org.za/generic/28

  37. Challenges of the 21st Century • Hope? Edzimkulu, the Edmonton Ndawana partnership for aids orphans and aids sufferers. (A local group’s efforts: http://www.edzimkulu.org/)

  38. Mozambique

  39. Mozambique: past is present • Mozambique—the Past is Present:- questions of how to reintegrate soldiers, including children, into society after the wars? • Truth and Reconciliation? • or something else? (audio clip)

  40. Mozambique & Civil War • “For sixteen years the African country of Mozambique was turned inside out by bloody civil war. Sixteen years of government forces versus rebel forces, sixteen years of neighbours killing neighbours, brothers killing brothers. Peace was reached but at an awful price--more than one million people dead.” • Despite the wounds inflicted on its citizens by decades of war, the country has not adopted any formal mechanism to bring about reconciliation—no truth commission or attempt to prosecute those involved in atrocities. …

  41. Mozambique & Civil War • Instead, they are using traditional healing practices and grass roots measures to try to reintegrate those who participated in the war on both sides, especially child soldiers. • So far these methods seem to be working. • [Important to consider in comparison with South Africa. ] • [see additional Readings: CBC report “After the wars: Mozambique, 2004; • NPR report on ‘Child Soldiers’, 2005]

  42. The Price of War • “Snapshots” • The Mail & Guardian • Johannesburg, South Africa

  43. Mozambique—the Past is Present • Traditional religion banned by FRELIMO Government: • - Led many to oppose government, join RENAMO • - Many looked to traditional practices to deal with the upheaval of the war (audio clip) • - In aftermath of war, traditional religion again has role

  44. Mozambique: Traditional Healers • “At sunrise, Chief Nchiri invokes the ancestors. Sitting with the chief around a sacred pakassa tree are seven men, barefoot and bare-chested. Nchiri has a white cloth draped around his waist. • Nchiri explains to the ancestors that builders from Beira want to demolish the ruined houses of Maringuè. Many people died there during the [civil] war. Permission must be sought from the spirits.” • The workers from Beira, urban but Sena, have no doubts about Nchiri's ceremony. They have heard footsteps at night among the ruins. Equipment didn't work. In a previous job at Mafambisse, the mixer and generator stalled until a ceremony was performed.” (June 1998)

  45. Mozambique: Traditional Healers • “Nchiri's powers are legendary here. It is said that last year, when the minister of agriculture was about to leave, Nchiri asked him for a packet of cigarettes. "You people are always asking for money," said the minister haughtily, and walked away. His plane had problems. The delegation had to sleep in Casa Banana, where ants bit them. Whether this is true or not is not important; people's belief is. • Nchiri complains that locals do not see any benefits out of the frenzied building. There are no jobs, except for a few servants to clean and fetch water; no local materials are used. Yet he is not against it. • "War ended through an agreement. With the same spirit, we can welcome changes," he says. The government can build expensive houses. Cultural memory that survived a brutal war and grinding poverty builds bridges of understanding.”

  46. Child Soldiers • “The former child soldiers of Renamo confront their own families …. • The boys, adolescents now, were the child soldiers of the former rebel movement Renamo. They had been kidnapped, brutalized, and forced to kill in a campaign by the apartheid South Africa-backed Renamo to control Ilha Josina Machel, a strategic island in the Nkomati river, around 100km from the capital Maputo. The children were Renamo's shock troops. Lost to their families and culture, they were responsible for some of the worst atrocities of a bitter war.” • (April, 1999)

  47. Reconciliation w/o Truth • Another man, who was used by Renamo as a porter and twice escaped, also works with RE in the community. He still sees some of the children who held him captive and on one occasion urged that he be killed. Reconstruindo a Esperanca [Portuguese, ‘rebuilding hope’] has two other programs in Nampula and Gaza provinces helping not just Renamo ex-soldiers but children who were in government militias, and the anti-Renamo and traditionally-based Naparema forces - as well as abused girls. …thousands more children in Mozambique … continue to live with the trauma and memories of the war unaddressed. • (April 1999)

  48. Post War: Reconciliation w/o Truth • “One of the key aspects of RE's work is that it cooperates closely with traditional healers and religious leaders. All the children that returned to Ilha Josina Machel went through cleansing rituals "to clean their mind's of what they saw," the local 'Bishop' of the African church on the island said. "We clean so that they can forget," which in turn allows the community to forgive, he added.” …

  49. Post War: Reconciliation w/o Truth • The 'Bishop', who himself was shot by Renamo, had his son kidnapped and did not know he was alive until he returned in 1994. "When I see a child and know he was a soldier I'm not meant to hate him because I know he was forced to do all that," he told IRIN. "I don't want to talk about the war but our recovery," which with flooding this year, and little money in the area, is perilous enough.”

  50. Kalashnikovs and Hoes… • “The Mozambican people believed that if people hold hoes instead of weapons, peace could be maintained, agricultural development could be promoted. • Symbolically, the flag of Mozambique illustrates this possibility with the image of hoes and guns. “

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