REPORTAGE: South Africa II

VIRUS OF OPTIMISM 

The study journey to South Africa was a part of the programme Pages for mutual understanding, which is most visible in the page “Megjutoa” , which is published every Thursday in “Dnevnik”, “Utrinski vesnik”, “Vecer”, and “Fakti”, as well as in the weekly magazine “Lobi”. Representatives of MCMS, The association of the journalists of Macedonia and of the newspapers, had a chance to see the way of reporting in South Africa, functioning of the press, as well as the electronic media, to learn about the course of the reconciliation process and the way in which the media contribute to that process and, of course, to get to know a part of Africa and its citizens.

“Bambucha”, the new word from the commercials has been in trend these days! The cute face from the screen, explaining the metaphor, tells you that “bambucha means to sip the life with a big spoon”!!! That is how I experienced people living in South Africa. Not because of the size of the spoon nor because of its content, but because of their attitude towards life. After the anxious faces you meet at every step in our country and the unpleasant swears often addressed to you, a real surprise are the calm and smiling faces you meet in the streets of Cape Town and the drivers that stop before you put your foot on the ground. Attentiveness, kindness, openness, the characteristics we used to be proud of as well, simply “disarm” you. This kind of mentality is a salutary formula of the South Americans. There is no other way to explain that state of spirit. After all the sufferings they have had, after all humiliations and being treated worse than animals, after all those killings, after all that, deep inside themselves they have found strength and energy to start with the reconciliation. This is a process that eventually, in 10 or 20 years, it does not matter when, will result in forgiveness.

Commission for the truth and reconciliation

With a separate act, the Parliament in 1994 established the Commission for the truth and reconciliation. The chairperson of the Commission was the bishop, Nobel Prize winner, Desmond Tutu. The main task of the Commission was to reveal the whole truth about the apartheid, regardless of the fact how cruel it was, regardless of the fact that it revealed the tiniest details of the most monstrous murders, regardless…  Truth is the imperative of the South Africans. The reconciliation cannot happen without it.

The Commission left the possibility for the criminals to be amnestied. But only if they tell the truth up to the smallest detail.

The Commission received 7 000 requests for amnesty, says Dr. Fanny du Toit, chief of programmes within the Institute for justice and reconciliation. “Victims have stood before the Commission. There were 22 000 of them, but only 2000 of them spoke about their experience in public”, explains Du Toit.

When you read the stories of the journalists that have written down the victims’ testimonies, you wonder if such things were possible. Is it possible a girl to be killed and then burned for six hours because of her political beliefs? How is it possible the confession of the killer not to cause a desire for revenge? However, it did not. “People learned the truth about their beloved”, tells me our host Tapelo Mokushane, journalists himself and one of those who transmitted this shocking stories through the national television. “A mother who has lost her son does not want to revenge”, says he, “to her, her son is a hero who has died fighting for freedom. She knows that and it is enough. She does not want to live in the past any more, she wants to move on”, finishes Tapelo.

De Clerk 

De Clerk, the man who transformed the country, was in the Council of security of South Africa, where decisions for killing were made. When asked why he did not do anything to stop those decisions, he stated that in the Council they had talked about so many things that he had not paid attention on those decisions.

The process of revealing the truth that was happening in front of the public was a kind of social catharsis. The nation experienced the apartheid again, but now more intensive and concentrated so they can move forward.

People are the happiest in South Africa
 

Where do the happiest people in the African continent live? A member of our group used to ask all of the people we talked to. “Here, in South Africa, answered all of them without thinking.

South Africans believe in the fight for human rights. They believe in laws, in institutions. The Constitution of the country is not only the highest legal act; it is a story that is always consumed. Some of the people we met carried the Constitution with them all the time - like a Bible. While the text of the Constitution of South Africa was being prepared, there were 2 million suggestions from the citizens. It is not a wonder that the citizens obey the Constitution, they believe in it; it is an Act they have created, and they feel that this document is a guarantee for their better future.

“Curriculum have been changed dramatically in order to make a contribution to the reconciliation and destroying of the stereotypes”, told us Clive Emond, independent media-trainer. “Black and white children study together. Differences are barely noticed if the children are in equal number”, he adds.

The new passion of South Africans is the economic development of their country. The Government is trying to make a balance between its rich and poor citizens, especially for the fact that the latter are the black citizens. Favourable loans for starting one’s own business are on the lists of offers of all the banks, and some other measures are taken as well. Investments are made in the infrastructure in the areas where black people live, and which have been neglected for decades. Next to the tin houses, without water and sewage, without electricity, new houses are built; small houses of the same type, with which the Government wants to provide life that is more dignified for its citizens.

South Africans believe in the future; they believe the future is smiling to them. The generation that grew with Nelson Mandela is loyal to him. He is their saint. Back in the times of the apartheid, they knew they were fighting for his release and they knew that when he comes out of prison he would be a president of South Africa. When Mandela asked the people to control their rage, they did that. They decided to give peace a chance and they do that every day. To give peace a chance does not only mean to give up the arms, the revenge to those who have done you wrong. To give peace a chance means to actively participate in building of the new system, in building of the democracy, in building of the mutual trust.

They know that the present situation is not ideal, that there is a lot of work until they reach the desired goal. However, they are full of hope, full of optimism. When you talk to them, you have a feeling that there are no insurmountable obstacles, no insolvable problems. They surrender to the thinking about the future with a passion; they make their plans with enthusiasm. Do these people have everyday problems, small ones that sometimes leave us in despair? Even if they have some, you cannot notice them. The smile on the face of the taxi driver sitting behind the wheel all day long cannot be erased. He knows that he works too much, that he has very little time to rest, but he believes it will be better. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a few months or a year, but he believes in that and he knows it will be so. If not for him, than for his children. The optimism of South Africans is contagious. Like a virus. Virus of optimism. Can we import it?

 

National broadcast of South Africa
 

“Our editorial policy is based on objectivity, punctuality, and balanced and checked stories. We do not encourage the journalists to express their political views, we believe in facts”, says Dr. Snooky Zikalala, a news director in the national television.

The South African national television and radio have about 3 000 employees. Their programme reaches 20-22 million people. One of the channels is satellite and broadcasts news all over the African continent. 85 % of the budget is provided from the private sector, through advertisements, 2 % are from the Government and 13 % from the radio diffusion tax.

 

Macedonia in the Bible
 

The openness of the citizens of South Africa makes the communication with them easier. It usually starts with the question: “Where are you from?” We answer and we are prepared to start explaining what is our country and where it is located. However, after answering: “From Macedonia”, we can see a smile and expression of recognizing on their faces: “Oh, yes, I know your country, I have met it in the Bible”, they would say.

 

Observing the media
 

South African society is one of the most alert with regard to the question of racism. “Even now racism is present in every institution. It is still one of the greatest enemies of the process of democratisation and reconciliation”, said in the organization that performs observing of the media. The organization observes the reporting on the races, but also on children, sexes, women etc.

“All the newspapers in South Africa are dedicated to respect of the lawfulness, democracy and process of reconciliation, or at least they declare themselves as such. The gap occurs in the extreme situations. Racism continues in a subtle way. When black people commit a crime, the journalists indirectly insinuate to the race of the criminal. Although the colour of the skin is not mentioned in the text, the name of the criminal is mentioned (the name of the tanuship identifies the race) or photographs are published in which the race is more than obvious”.

Gonce Jakovleska