I Benefited from Apartheid

Check out the T-shirt slogan gone viral: I benefited  from Apartheid! I want one!
I love the dialogue its provoking because like it or not I, as a white South African, benefited from Apartheid. By virtue of my skin colour I got to go to good schools, I got to have access to good health care, to clean water, I got to live in a nice, water proof house and so the list goes on. Did I choose to benefit from Apartheid? No! Does that mean I should feel guilty? Absolutely not! Does that mean I should support the abuse of BEE policies - certainly not! Does it make me a racist for speaking against some of the ANC policies and actions? Not at all!

However, what this does mean is that I know from whence I come. It means that I have a deep understanding of social inequalities and injustice and therefore have a moral and ethical  responsibility to fight for and stand up for equality - the equality of all persons. But more than that: by acknowledging that I benefited from the past in fact liberates me from the shackles of white guilt! It gives me the integrity and credibility to speak up equality and speak our for social justice. It allows me to say 'This is who I am' and that's OK and you black man are OK too.

So, why is this statement so provocative? I'll tell you why. It's provocative because it hits at the core of white identity. It penetrates through to that part of white identity that still believes that whites are the superior race and that the white way is the right way. That is not to say the white way is the wrong way  thereby making the black way the right way. No, the white way is simply A way and not THE way. But this is to digress.

It is provocative because it is to acknowledge that yes Apartheid was wrong and so on - but more importantly it is to acknowledge that somehow I was complicit in it. That is where it stings. But me? you might say. Surely not?! I'm a good oke and at the first chance I got I voted against it!

So, the difficult and painful thing about this is that by aligning yourself with Apartheid in this way you are left having to question the foundation and truths upon which the world you grew up in was constructed. When you do this you start to find that what you believed in all this time is fundamentally flawed. And you find that the ground you were firmly standing on wasn't so firm after all and you are left falling with no where to go.

If this white identity is built on false principles then who are you? In South Africa this is not an easy question answer. You are not black and you can't be white so where do you go? The society has insisted on keeping these categories giving you no place to go. So you start to think to yourself that yes I'm an African and you try to redefine yourself in these terms to find your place in society. But again you find that the society kicks you out. You're white! they tell you and therefore have no right to call yourself an African. But then you start to wonder who is an African?

In the end you find your entire inner world collapsing. As painful and disillusioning this might be you do have options. You can either stay clinging onto your former white identity and create a world for your self in which you feel secure. I would certainly advise against that but if you so choose I understand. Or if you like you can leave your white identity entirely and become someone else. I don't know - anyone but you will remain shackled. There is however another way. Go on a journey with your pain and find who you are. Find out who your Creator God made you to be. Let your pain show you your brokenness and humanity. Identify with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. When you do these things you will begin seeing the humanity in others. you will find that we need each other to be fully human. In doing so, that guilt, that shame, that fear, that anger and resentment that caged you in will be gone; that ground that fell away will become firm again; and you will be free to enjoy life in a way you never thought possible! Why? All because you decided to admit you benefited from Apartheid and find out who you really are.

They who point their finger will have 3 pointing back at them: South Africa 2010 vs London 2012

Adebiyi Openiyi and Cathy Bollaert

When the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued security warnings against potential terrorist attacks, ticket scams and ramped street crime – to name but a few - to British fans heading to South Africa for the World Cup Football competition in 2010, many in the country were aghast as those security concerns were for many South Africans grossly exaggerated. The nanny-state it seemed was over-stretching its bounds, the result of which led to a lower turnout of British fans compared to other countries. However, by the end of the competition, despite such afro-pessimistic sentiments, there were no terrorist attacks and nobody got stabbed as had been predicted. In fact, the World Cup Football went ahead with very little incident!

Now with the Olympics Games currently in progress in London, in the interests of equality, it is only just that one stop to reflect on the former judgements made by the pompous British media and see if the UK is able to do better. Based on a very brief scan of what happened in the run up to the Games – it would appear not!

Firstly, one should take note of the staffing issues that took place in the UK Border Agency (UKBA). A security warning would have been well served for the potential security breaches that could have gone undetected as a result.  To compound matters, thousands of Home Office staff, including UKBA agency workers called a strike in the run up to the Olympics. Moreover, the dispute over job cuts, salaries and privatisation also involved staff at the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau. For a nation that has already experienced one terrorist attack – this is disconcerting to say the least!

Secondly, there were serious problems over London’s ability to provide adequate security and security personnel for the duration of the Games. In the end, due to such inadequacies, the British government had to draft in more than 3000 troops to boost security conjuring up images of London turning into a mini Baghdad!

Such are the concerns of sport fans that many decided to steer clear of the British Isles this summer.  One Jamaican who wanted to see Hussein Bolt compete at the Olympics said, ‘I am not convinced really about the security in London, even though I already made my booking, the situation is not encouraging’. Many visitors to the UK have to factor in the memory of the7/11 bombings in London and are aware of the fact that many of the suspects apprehended in the War on Terror have come from the British Isles. Not to mention, trite as it may appear, Britain is home to the most notorious football hooligans in the world.

So, instead of pointing pompous fingers of judgment to other nations England would do well to first look at its own imperfections and short-comings! Whilst we can all breathe a sigh of relief that there have been no major security breaches during London 2012 – be reminded that despite the afro-pessimism surrounding South Africa’s ability to organise the World Cup securely and efficiently, at least they did not confuse the flags of one nation with another!