Cold Case: Revisiting our History

The stage is set to tell the story of  Dulcie September 

One of the motivations for me going back to university was to equip myself with the skills to tell the stories of growing up in District Six and on the Cape Flats. Not only my stories, but the stories of many who cannot tell their own. We’re a deeply divided society, a country still trying to recover from an oppressive past. We cannot sweep it all under the carpet and expect to move on. There will always be a bump there to trip us up, to nag at us to pull it straight.

People need to be acknowledged. Maybe nothing will undo the hurt but at least it’s not being ignored, we’re not being told to get over it and move on. We need to listen to each other with respect, be slow to judge. We need to know that someone saw our pain and understands; only then can we move forward.

I am encouraged by the two shows I saw recently at the Baxter Theatre – Cold Case: Revisiting Dulcie September, which premiered at the National Arts Festival in 2014 and My Word! Redesigning Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace: District Six is, of course, the name of the novel by teacher and author Richard Rive, published in 1986. The tragedy of forced removals in District Six has been well-recorded. Less well-known is the story of anti-apartheid activist and ANC representative, Dulcie September who was assassinated in Paris in 1988.

The Baxter Theatre’s intimate Golden Arrow Studio provided the perfect backdrop to the personal stories of a childhood with an abusive father, a budding activist and a committed freedom fighter. Denise Newman is an accomplished story-teller who moved many members of the audience to tears, made us laugh at reminiscences of growing up in places like Athlone (where September was from). She held our attention for more than an hour, all eyes riveted on her one-person show … surrounded by the cardboard boxes which represent the cold case of what remains of the woman. 27 years later her killer has not been found. Theories abound, the mystery remains unsolved…

The biased history which we were forced to learn during apartheid needs to be balanced by stories such as these, giving value to our own experiences. The tens of thousands of people who attended her funeral, the street, square and boulevard named after her in Paris, make us proud of our struggle.

When I met Newman afterwards I couldn’t help enveloping her in a hug, I felt that I knew her, or at least the woman she had brought to life on the small stage. The run at the Baxter ended last night but look out for a couple of shows in August at the Artscape Theatre, to celebrate Woman’s Day.

Cold Case has won the Standard Bank Ovation Award and the Adelaide Tambo Award for Celebrating Human Rights through the Arts.

http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/richard-rive

http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dulcie-evonne-september

The Slave Route Challenge

The Slave Lodge built in 1679 to house slaves owned by
the Dutch East India Company

With all the walking I did in the last year, I could have been in Johannesburg. However, I do think that beating the pavements around the neighborhood is what kept me sane and doing longer distances did come with a small sense of achievement. When Penny, my walking mate, posted the advert below on our WhatsApp group, it was the words 'Slave Route' which were most appealing though. And there was a 10km route.

"But it's Mothers' Day," was one response from the group. What better way to spend the morning, doing something we enjoyed and the proceeds were going to Red Cross Hospital? So we signed up, not put off by comments like, "That's a tough one!" I did wonder what we were letting ourselves in for when I heard about "Koeksister Hill". And no snide comments from those of you who have run the WHOLE Two Oceans nine times! The race was fun, the weather perfect, the marshalls the friendliest I have encountered and the koeksisters on top of  the hill the best I have ever eaten (perhaps all the more so for the steepness of the hill!). 

       

            Waiting for the start in
          Darling Street

The hill 

 

Spectators along the way

The route took in familiar landmarks like The Company Gardens, District Six and The Castle of Good Hope to finish on the Grand Parade. Perhaps less well-known was the Slave Monument on Church Square, outside Die Groote Kerk and across the road from the Slave Lodge. 

Granite blocks on Church Square
bear names of slaves 

The Slave Tree once stood here

The race is an innovative way to introduce participants to the legacy of slavery in our city. Participants also received free entry to the District Six Museum and the Castle. Millions of South Africans are descended from slaves brought here by the Dutch from the east coast of Africa, India, Indonesia and other Indian Ocean islands in the 17th Century. These slaves and their descendants built our city and played a major role in shaping the identity of Cape Town. Because of apartheid, we were  taught to view this history through a lens of shame. It's time to reclaim our heritage with pride. 

Some further reading: 

Eyes of the Sky and The Slave Book both by Rayda Jacobs

Khalil's Journey by Ashraf Kagee

Echoes of Slavery by Jackie Loos

You may also enjoy: Walking through History: Celebrating our Heritage 

Same-same, but different

So you may have noticed that I've been absent from the blog-o-sphere for a while. I've been on scholarly pursuits at the university on the hill, as mentioned in previous blogs before academia swallowed me up. 

I managed to churn out almost 80 000 words of a thesis, with a little help from family and friends and a dollop of motivation from Idris Elba, who made me feel guilty every time I opened the fridge, where my daughter had stuck the following picture: 

image courtesy of Pinterest

Normally, yoga would have kept me sane, but I developed a "tennis elbow" as a result of sitting at a computer for hours on end – first world problems, my daughter called it. So, instead of downward-facing dog and sun salutes, I put on my walking shoes and walked.

Now that my life is taking on a semblance of normality again, I've decided to revive the blog. I have held on to the lavender, travel stamps and potjie but it’s been given a fresh look (perhaps more grown-up?) by my friend and fellow-student, Stephen Symons … same-same, but different, as we heard everywhere we went in Thailand when we visited years ago.  I'm sure I even saw T-shirts with that saying.

When I emerged from behind my desk, the real world had been carrying on without me: 
My nephew, born at 34 weeks, had turned into a robust toddler after his shaky start to life. (See blog)

The little preemie soon
after birth 

A year later presumably
on a diet of gravel

The Delft Big Band has played at Starlight Classics, released a CD and made a turn at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. 

international delegates at WEF 2015

I gave the World Economic Forum a miss this year to complete and hand in the thesis but did manage to balance the last year with a trip to Paris with my daughter.

 

Attending the 2014 WCPRC awards ceremony provided the perfect excuse to take some time out to wrap up the thesis. 

Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred

And I was in False Bay Harbour to see my son and his team mates get rescued by the National Sea Rescue Institute during the Lipton Challenge Cup.

Hard to believe the storm 3 days later

In between, my daughter graduated and is on a gap year while my son is writing matric ... more news and snippets of writing in upcoming blogs!