30 / 10 / 8
Today, both David & I are staying around the backpackers. He is catching up on the transcription of our first interview. I am compiling my notes, writing emails, catching up on phone calls, this blog and planning for the next couple of weeks.
I spoke with Theo Cholo & Dr. Saths Cooper who have agreed to meet next week in Johannesburg to be interviewed. I am hunting for Michael Dingake’s phone number along with a couple of others.
Our plan will be to return as it stands today is to return to Cape Town around the 7th of November and spend the next several days compiling our notes, returning to Robben Island, engaging with some Cape Town actors and begin to develop the work in progress for the Market Theatre.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
'A Simple Freedom'
30 / 10 / 8
We met up with Masie and his wife Percy and her brother Eric last night to go to the book signing of Ahmed Kathrada’s new book called, 'A Simple Freedom'.
We all piled into his car and set off from Soweto to the swanky Hyde Park Shopping Centre. What a world of difference between these two places.
Masie navigated us brilliantly and we arrived hot and ruffled, but made our way to the Exclusive Book store for the launch.
We arrived slightly late and halfway through Mr. Kathrada’s speech. His book is full of quotes that he chose whilst in prison as meaning something to him (interestingly similar to our quest, but nary a Shakespearian quote in A Simple Freedom (as he explained to us in his house last week, he could fill another book with JUST quotes from Shakespeare, ‘There is just too much!’ he said)).
Masie was as excited as a schoolgirl winning the ‘X-Factor’ as he was surrounded by politicos and bigwigs from the South African ANC. He got a copy of the book and nervously stood in line to get it signed by Mr. Kathrada. I introduced his as the ‘young man who persisted in calling you for an interview’ and he warmly replied that it was ‘good to finally meet you.’ Which, needless to say, made Masie squeal once again in delight.
He was also thrilled to meet (and I must say I too let out a tiny squeal) Ms. Barbara Hogan, the new Minister of Health under the new president, Kgalema Motlanthe. In her short time on the job, she has quickly reversed course from the previous minister’s path and regained the support doctors and other experts in the fight against HIV / Aids. She also happens to be Mr. Kathrada partner.
We celebrated our excellent evening at Wandie’s Restaurant, famous and copied thorughout Soweto as an outstanding place for dinner (especially for the hungry vegetarians in the crowd). It is an ‘all you can eat’ buffet of African dinner. Which meant that I ate my weight in Chacalaka, my favourite South African dish. Along with pap, other salads, potatoes, and dessert. Ah, satisfying…….
We met up with Masie and his wife Percy and her brother Eric last night to go to the book signing of Ahmed Kathrada’s new book called, 'A Simple Freedom'.
We all piled into his car and set off from Soweto to the swanky Hyde Park Shopping Centre. What a world of difference between these two places.
Masie navigated us brilliantly and we arrived hot and ruffled, but made our way to the Exclusive Book store for the launch.
We arrived slightly late and halfway through Mr. Kathrada’s speech. His book is full of quotes that he chose whilst in prison as meaning something to him (interestingly similar to our quest, but nary a Shakespearian quote in A Simple Freedom (as he explained to us in his house last week, he could fill another book with JUST quotes from Shakespeare, ‘There is just too much!’ he said)).
Masie was as excited as a schoolgirl winning the ‘X-Factor’ as he was surrounded by politicos and bigwigs from the South African ANC. He got a copy of the book and nervously stood in line to get it signed by Mr. Kathrada. I introduced his as the ‘young man who persisted in calling you for an interview’ and he warmly replied that it was ‘good to finally meet you.’ Which, needless to say, made Masie squeal once again in delight.
He was also thrilled to meet (and I must say I too let out a tiny squeal) Ms. Barbara Hogan, the new Minister of Health under the new president, Kgalema Motlanthe. In her short time on the job, she has quickly reversed course from the previous minister’s path and regained the support doctors and other experts in the fight against HIV / Aids. She also happens to be Mr. Kathrada partner.
We celebrated our excellent evening at Wandie’s Restaurant, famous and copied thorughout Soweto as an outstanding place for dinner (especially for the hungry vegetarians in the crowd). It is an ‘all you can eat’ buffet of African dinner. Which meant that I ate my weight in Chacalaka, my favourite South African dish. Along with pap, other salads, potatoes, and dessert. Ah, satisfying…….
Market Laboratory Theatre
30 / 10 / 8
Yesterday morning, we met with the Market Laboratory Theatre in Johannesburg and they agreed to host a presentation / performance on the 23rd of November. This is good news, especially I think for me, as I look forward to developing a piece of rough theatre for this presentation. It will certainly be a work in progress, but it will be nice to begin to compose some work for the stage.
I think that it will be two fold: a presentation on our findings and how they will shape the play and then a performance of selected verbatim interviews and chosen texts. Nothing fancy and quite rough, but it is my hope that the Shakespearian text and the stories of the men will be powerful enough to ‘mask’ any roughness.
After meeting with them, we had a whirlwind tour of central Jo’burg thanks to a very friendly Sowetian. We were searching for an Mobile phone shop as we had lost our first SIM card in the post and were needing to replace it or ‘swap’ it in South African lingo. So, we asked at the first shop in Newtown, but had no luck. Except of the fact that Emanuel was exceeding kind and offered to take us to the nearest Vodacom shop. Nearest….. like ‘nearest’ in ‘merica terms, no London terms. In other words, a good half hour walk from where we were. So, off we set, quickly cutting through the teeming streets of Jo’burg on our hunt for the shop. We had several false sightings which raised hopes, a couple of dead-ends but finally arrived at our destination at Carton Centre’s Vodacom shop. Went in, asked for a ‘SIM Swap,’ they said ‘yes’ they can do that but, ‘unfortunately’ their computers were down. FOILED!!
So back we went towards Park Train Station as that is where I knew there was another shop. Through the heaving markets, glancing back at David to make sure he was still there, jumping and jiving and getting thoroughly turned around. Or, at least David & I were, Emanuel knew these streets like he knew ‘the back of his hands.’
Past the Johannesburg Supreme Court – I asked him who the imposing statue was in front of it which served a shade for pedestrians & a landing spot for pigeons. He laughed and had no idea who this old bearded white man was.
We passed what I thought was another Vodacom shop so I asked David & Emanuel to stop just to see if they could do a ‘SIM Swap.’ Nope, THEY couldn’t, but if you just bought a new SIM card, you could do it over the phone. No worries. Though it would cost me ten rand. A bargin, as the other place, if their system had been running would have charged me sixty rand. So, I purchased my third SIM card of our short trip, but having little faith that I really COULD do it on my own and wanting to try my luck one last time. So,
To the train station & third Vodacom shop of the day only to find out that we ‘should have been there in the early morning as they had run out of swaps (whatever that meant….).’
After quickly cursing the gods for our rotten fate, we settled down, licked our wounds and had a Coke at the ‘Chicken Shack’ fast food joint. I dutifully followed the instructions on my new SIM card package, dialled ‘173’ and spoke to an operator who said, ‘yes’ it is possible, just give me your other phone number that you want to use. So, I said, ‘07661507986.’
She asked me to repeat it so I said, ‘07661507986.’
‘Erm,’ she said, ‘that has 11 numbers.’
‘Yes, it does’ I replied.
‘How can it have 11 numbers?’ she asked.
After scrunching up my brow, wondering what in the world she meant, I found out that phone numbers here only have 10 digits and I must have written the lost number down wrong (and spent £30 on printing fancy ‘Robben Island Bible’ business cards with said number on it).
So, once again, we cursed the gods at our cruel cruel fate and finished our Coke.
Yesterday morning, we met with the Market Laboratory Theatre in Johannesburg and they agreed to host a presentation / performance on the 23rd of November. This is good news, especially I think for me, as I look forward to developing a piece of rough theatre for this presentation. It will certainly be a work in progress, but it will be nice to begin to compose some work for the stage.
I think that it will be two fold: a presentation on our findings and how they will shape the play and then a performance of selected verbatim interviews and chosen texts. Nothing fancy and quite rough, but it is my hope that the Shakespearian text and the stories of the men will be powerful enough to ‘mask’ any roughness.
After meeting with them, we had a whirlwind tour of central Jo’burg thanks to a very friendly Sowetian. We were searching for an Mobile phone shop as we had lost our first SIM card in the post and were needing to replace it or ‘swap’ it in South African lingo. So, we asked at the first shop in Newtown, but had no luck. Except of the fact that Emanuel was exceeding kind and offered to take us to the nearest Vodacom shop. Nearest….. like ‘nearest’ in ‘merica terms, no London terms. In other words, a good half hour walk from where we were. So, off we set, quickly cutting through the teeming streets of Jo’burg on our hunt for the shop. We had several false sightings which raised hopes, a couple of dead-ends but finally arrived at our destination at Carton Centre’s Vodacom shop. Went in, asked for a ‘SIM Swap,’ they said ‘yes’ they can do that but, ‘unfortunately’ their computers were down. FOILED!!
So back we went towards Park Train Station as that is where I knew there was another shop. Through the heaving markets, glancing back at David to make sure he was still there, jumping and jiving and getting thoroughly turned around. Or, at least David & I were, Emanuel knew these streets like he knew ‘the back of his hands.’
Past the Johannesburg Supreme Court – I asked him who the imposing statue was in front of it which served a shade for pedestrians & a landing spot for pigeons. He laughed and had no idea who this old bearded white man was.
We passed what I thought was another Vodacom shop so I asked David & Emanuel to stop just to see if they could do a ‘SIM Swap.’ Nope, THEY couldn’t, but if you just bought a new SIM card, you could do it over the phone. No worries. Though it would cost me ten rand. A bargin, as the other place, if their system had been running would have charged me sixty rand. So, I purchased my third SIM card of our short trip, but having little faith that I really COULD do it on my own and wanting to try my luck one last time. So,
To the train station & third Vodacom shop of the day only to find out that we ‘should have been there in the early morning as they had run out of swaps (whatever that meant….).’
After quickly cursing the gods for our rotten fate, we settled down, licked our wounds and had a Coke at the ‘Chicken Shack’ fast food joint. I dutifully followed the instructions on my new SIM card package, dialled ‘173’ and spoke to an operator who said, ‘yes’ it is possible, just give me your other phone number that you want to use. So, I said, ‘07661507986.’
She asked me to repeat it so I said, ‘07661507986.’
‘Erm,’ she said, ‘that has 11 numbers.’
‘Yes, it does’ I replied.
‘How can it have 11 numbers?’ she asked.
After scrunching up my brow, wondering what in the world she meant, I found out that phone numbers here only have 10 digits and I must have written the lost number down wrong (and spent £30 on printing fancy ‘Robben Island Bible’ business cards with said number on it).
So, once again, we cursed the gods at our cruel cruel fate and finished our Coke.
So close……..so close……
28 / 10 / 8
So close……..so close……
A day I will never forget.
So close……. So close…….
Just down the hallway and to the right. Just down the hallway and to the right.
Just down the hallway and to the right. Just down the hallway and to the right.
And here I was sitting next to the new South African president and I didn’t have anything to say.
But let me begin from the begin… I had arranged to meet the director of the Mandela Centre for Memory within the Mandela foundation. Having spoken on the phone with him last week, he had generously offered the centre’s resources to see if they had any archive material that might support our work.
We made our way up to the Centre today via two mini busses. Really quite easy. No need for a car in this town with its mini bus system second to none. We were picked up just outside our backpackers in Soweto and one hour later, deposited just outside of the Foundation’s door. Not bad for just under two quid for two people.
We were early, so we waited in the waiting room. There was a bit of a buzz around the office, the phone was ringing off the hook. Many many many people, it seems, have business to do with the foundation.
A few minutes after the minibus dropped us off and we entered the foundation, the waiting room is filling up with people with little earphones in their ears and armed men and gifts earmarked for ‘Madiba & Grace’ – what, oh what, does this mean?
Then a solitary man in sun glasses walks through the door mobile phone in one hand and sits on the couch next to David & myself. Silence. Silence.
I hear from one of the foundation employees, ‘Madiba will be with you in just a moment.’
Oh, my…… Madiba is just down the hallway & to the right of David, the President of South Africa and me. How nice……
He went to visit Madiba and we stayed on the couch. So close…… So close……..
After that initial thrill (and realisation that we were in places we never thought that we would be), we met with Verne Harris and Sahm Venter, both from the Centre for Memory. We briefed them on the project, David told them about his mother’s love of food & cooking and they offered to do a search of Mandela’s archival material to see if he mentions anything about Shakespeare or literature in his writing & speeches.
Twenty minutes later, both come back with a half of dozen samples where Mandela mentions Shakespeare – some from letters, one from ‘Long Walk To Freedom’ and several from his speeches. Most references are to Julius Caesar, it seems.
After thanking them for their time and with these precious papers firmly under our arms, we leave the building slowly with just one more glance down the hallway and to the right…. But sadly, nothing but an empty space. Ah well…….. so close……
Later that afternoon, we met up with Masie at the Train Station and tell him our fantastic story. He smiles widely (and I think jealously). We have lunch and return on the Metro to our backpackers where we begin to plan out our next 10 days or so. We learned from Verne that Billy Nair’s funeral will be on Thursday and that Kathy’s book release is on Wednesday. We make plans to meet in Hyde Park at the Exclusive Bookstore for the signing. I am a bit disappointed as I had plans to take Masie and his new wife to my favourite restaurant in Soweto, Wandies, but that will just have to wait.
We are in a bit of a holding pattern until we see which men will be attending the funeral and make our schedule around that. But we still hope to be back in Cape Town with the majority of our interviews finished in about 10 days.
So close……..so close……
A day I will never forget.
So close……. So close…….
Just down the hallway and to the right. Just down the hallway and to the right.
Just down the hallway and to the right. Just down the hallway and to the right.
And here I was sitting next to the new South African president and I didn’t have anything to say.
But let me begin from the begin… I had arranged to meet the director of the Mandela Centre for Memory within the Mandela foundation. Having spoken on the phone with him last week, he had generously offered the centre’s resources to see if they had any archive material that might support our work.
We made our way up to the Centre today via two mini busses. Really quite easy. No need for a car in this town with its mini bus system second to none. We were picked up just outside our backpackers in Soweto and one hour later, deposited just outside of the Foundation’s door. Not bad for just under two quid for two people.
We were early, so we waited in the waiting room. There was a bit of a buzz around the office, the phone was ringing off the hook. Many many many people, it seems, have business to do with the foundation.
A few minutes after the minibus dropped us off and we entered the foundation, the waiting room is filling up with people with little earphones in their ears and armed men and gifts earmarked for ‘Madiba & Grace’ – what, oh what, does this mean?
Then a solitary man in sun glasses walks through the door mobile phone in one hand and sits on the couch next to David & myself. Silence. Silence.
I hear from one of the foundation employees, ‘Madiba will be with you in just a moment.’
Oh, my…… Madiba is just down the hallway & to the right of David, the President of South Africa and me. How nice……
He went to visit Madiba and we stayed on the couch. So close…… So close……..
After that initial thrill (and realisation that we were in places we never thought that we would be), we met with Verne Harris and Sahm Venter, both from the Centre for Memory. We briefed them on the project, David told them about his mother’s love of food & cooking and they offered to do a search of Mandela’s archival material to see if he mentions anything about Shakespeare or literature in his writing & speeches.
Twenty minutes later, both come back with a half of dozen samples where Mandela mentions Shakespeare – some from letters, one from ‘Long Walk To Freedom’ and several from his speeches. Most references are to Julius Caesar, it seems.
After thanking them for their time and with these precious papers firmly under our arms, we leave the building slowly with just one more glance down the hallway and to the right…. But sadly, nothing but an empty space. Ah well…….. so close……
Later that afternoon, we met up with Masie at the Train Station and tell him our fantastic story. He smiles widely (and I think jealously). We have lunch and return on the Metro to our backpackers where we begin to plan out our next 10 days or so. We learned from Verne that Billy Nair’s funeral will be on Thursday and that Kathy’s book release is on Wednesday. We make plans to meet in Hyde Park at the Exclusive Bookstore for the signing. I am a bit disappointed as I had plans to take Masie and his new wife to my favourite restaurant in Soweto, Wandies, but that will just have to wait.
We are in a bit of a holding pattern until we see which men will be attending the funeral and make our schedule around that. But we still hope to be back in Cape Town with the majority of our interviews finished in about 10 days.
Johannesburg!!!
27 / 10 / 8
On to Johannesburg…..
David & I took the overnight 26 hour train from Cape Town to Jo’burg on Friday and arrived on Saturday afternoon where we were belatedly picked up by a driver to take us to Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers in Orlando West. It is so good to finally stay at a backpackers in Soweto. It was needed. Other places that I have stayed in Jo burg mean that you are locked up behind cement blocks & barbed wire and you are stuck unless you want to go to different areas around the town..
Now, there are the blocks & wire here as well, I guess, but at least we can get out & walk around and explore the place. It doesn’t feel as isolated as the other places, maybe that is a better way of putting it. Plus it is much closer to my friend Masie’s home where yesterday we celebrated his wedding. It was the second day of the celebrations, the first day taking place in his wife’s village and Sunday at his home. It was good to see it again and to meet his family and hers as well.
We arrived and ate, had a beer, then ate, had another beer, chatting with family, friends & neighbours who were invited or otherwise – many were attracted by the excellent food and ‘Castle-Lite’ (I cant believe that I am drinking Castle Lite……) beer and were none of the above. But all were made to feel welcome and to celebrate the wedding.
It was good to see Masie again. I hadn’t seen his since my last trip to South Africa in 2005. He looks a bit older, but still has a magnetic smile and a tireless work ethic.
We will meet up later today to catch up on the project. This will be the first time that we have spoken face to face in almost 3 years of working on it. He has done so much leg work for it and knows so much about the men and their latest developments, that it is absolutely necessary to talk today. It will be fun to compare notes about it and start to work as a team. It is my hope to steal him away for a few hours or days to help with the interviews as I know that he would be excellent. Plus, he holds the greatest respect for the men with whom we want to speak.
At the most basic level, we need to compare notes on who we need to interview. There is one gentleman, Theo Cholo, who lives in Pretoria who is next on my list. There is also Michael Dingake, who lives in Botswana, who is also someone with whom we need to speak. Then it is down to Durban & Port Elizabeth before heading back to CT. Masie seems to have a good grasp on where in the world these men are, so today’s meeting with him is essential.
On a sad note, we found out late last week that Comrade Billy Nair passed away. He was an Indian trade unionist who was imprisoned on Robben Island for his role in Umkhonto We Sizwe. Nair was born in 1930 and studied bookkeeping. He became politically active during the 1952 Defiance Campaign and afterwards was elected to the provincial executive committee of the Natal Indian Congress. He became a trade union organiser, serving as secretary of several Natal unions. He was a member of the national executive committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions and SACTU's regional secretary for Natal. He was one of the 156 accused in the Treason Trial and remained a defendant until late 1958. He was also imprisoned during the 1960 emergency. Detained in 1963 under the 90-day detention law, he was accused of sabotage and of being a Natal leader of Umkhonto. He was convicted in 1964 and sentenced to twenty years in prison. After his release he once again became active in community issues, particularly in the United Democratic Front.
After the 1994 elections Nair became a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly.
From the ‘bible,’ he had chosen The Tempest:
Act 1, Scene 2 Lines 331-336:
Caliban: ‘I must eat my dinner. This Island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which though tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
Watwr with berries in’t, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night; and then I lov’d thee,’
I feel a sense of urgency along with a sense of helplessness when I think about these men and wanting to speak with them about their experiences in the liberation movement. This sense of urgency is also felt by the many with whom we have spoken about this project. Although a lot has been written about these men, there is so much more to discover and for us to emulate. ‘It is in our hands,’ but I am not sure if I am ready for that responsibility that has been so ably handled in their hands.
Tomorrow, we are meeting with Verne Harris of the Mandela Centre for Memory. He has agreed to look through their archives of his writing to see if that could contribute in any way to our project. I spoke to him on our second day in Cape Town and arranged to meet him whilst we were in Johannesburg.
We also should be able to solidify the time & date of the presentation / performance at the Market Laboratory Theatre in late November, either through a phone call or to meet up in person. But the priority is on meeting with Mr. Harris.
Having attempted to work on the internet today at a Café, I know see that we were quite spoiled in Cape Town with our wireless connection. I disappointedly showed my Achilles heel there, as my wife will know, about my frustration with computers. Needless to say, I will not be making any non-work related emails / internet forays in the near future.
On to Johannesburg…..
David & I took the overnight 26 hour train from Cape Town to Jo’burg on Friday and arrived on Saturday afternoon where we were belatedly picked up by a driver to take us to Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers in Orlando West. It is so good to finally stay at a backpackers in Soweto. It was needed. Other places that I have stayed in Jo burg mean that you are locked up behind cement blocks & barbed wire and you are stuck unless you want to go to different areas around the town..
Now, there are the blocks & wire here as well, I guess, but at least we can get out & walk around and explore the place. It doesn’t feel as isolated as the other places, maybe that is a better way of putting it. Plus it is much closer to my friend Masie’s home where yesterday we celebrated his wedding. It was the second day of the celebrations, the first day taking place in his wife’s village and Sunday at his home. It was good to see it again and to meet his family and hers as well.
We arrived and ate, had a beer, then ate, had another beer, chatting with family, friends & neighbours who were invited or otherwise – many were attracted by the excellent food and ‘Castle-Lite’ (I cant believe that I am drinking Castle Lite……) beer and were none of the above. But all were made to feel welcome and to celebrate the wedding.
It was good to see Masie again. I hadn’t seen his since my last trip to South Africa in 2005. He looks a bit older, but still has a magnetic smile and a tireless work ethic.
We will meet up later today to catch up on the project. This will be the first time that we have spoken face to face in almost 3 years of working on it. He has done so much leg work for it and knows so much about the men and their latest developments, that it is absolutely necessary to talk today. It will be fun to compare notes about it and start to work as a team. It is my hope to steal him away for a few hours or days to help with the interviews as I know that he would be excellent. Plus, he holds the greatest respect for the men with whom we want to speak.
At the most basic level, we need to compare notes on who we need to interview. There is one gentleman, Theo Cholo, who lives in Pretoria who is next on my list. There is also Michael Dingake, who lives in Botswana, who is also someone with whom we need to speak. Then it is down to Durban & Port Elizabeth before heading back to CT. Masie seems to have a good grasp on where in the world these men are, so today’s meeting with him is essential.
On a sad note, we found out late last week that Comrade Billy Nair passed away. He was an Indian trade unionist who was imprisoned on Robben Island for his role in Umkhonto We Sizwe. Nair was born in 1930 and studied bookkeeping. He became politically active during the 1952 Defiance Campaign and afterwards was elected to the provincial executive committee of the Natal Indian Congress. He became a trade union organiser, serving as secretary of several Natal unions. He was a member of the national executive committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions and SACTU's regional secretary for Natal. He was one of the 156 accused in the Treason Trial and remained a defendant until late 1958. He was also imprisoned during the 1960 emergency. Detained in 1963 under the 90-day detention law, he was accused of sabotage and of being a Natal leader of Umkhonto. He was convicted in 1964 and sentenced to twenty years in prison. After his release he once again became active in community issues, particularly in the United Democratic Front.
After the 1994 elections Nair became a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly.
From the ‘bible,’ he had chosen The Tempest:
Act 1, Scene 2 Lines 331-336:
Caliban: ‘I must eat my dinner. This Island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which though tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
Watwr with berries in’t, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night; and then I lov’d thee,’
I feel a sense of urgency along with a sense of helplessness when I think about these men and wanting to speak with them about their experiences in the liberation movement. This sense of urgency is also felt by the many with whom we have spoken about this project. Although a lot has been written about these men, there is so much more to discover and for us to emulate. ‘It is in our hands,’ but I am not sure if I am ready for that responsibility that has been so ably handled in their hands.
Tomorrow, we are meeting with Verne Harris of the Mandela Centre for Memory. He has agreed to look through their archives of his writing to see if that could contribute in any way to our project. I spoke to him on our second day in Cape Town and arranged to meet him whilst we were in Johannesburg.
We also should be able to solidify the time & date of the presentation / performance at the Market Laboratory Theatre in late November, either through a phone call or to meet up in person. But the priority is on meeting with Mr. Harris.
Having attempted to work on the internet today at a Café, I know see that we were quite spoiled in Cape Town with our wireless connection. I disappointedly showed my Achilles heel there, as my wife will know, about my frustration with computers. Needless to say, I will not be making any non-work related emails / internet forays in the near future.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Johannesburg!!!
27 / 10 / 8
On to Johannesburg…..
David & I took the overnight 26 hour train from Cape Town to Jo’burg on Friday and arrived on Saturday afternoon where we were belatedly picked up by a driver to take us to Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers in Orlando West. It is so good to finally stay at a backpackers in Soweto. It was needed. Other places that I have stayed in Jo burg mean that you are locked up behind cement blocks & barbed wire and you are stuck unless you want to go to different areas around the town..
Now, there are the blocks & wire here as well, I guess, but at least we can get out & walk around and explore the place. It doesn’t feel as isolated as the other places, maybe that is a better way of putting it. Plus it is much closer to my friend Masie’s home where yesterday we celebrated his wedding. It was the second day of the celebrations, the first day taking place in his wife’s village and Sunday at his home. It was good to see it again and to meet his family and hers as well.
We arrived and ate, had a beer, then ate, had another beer, chatting with family, friends & neighbours who were invited or otherwise – many were attracted by the excellent food and ‘Castle-Lite’ (I cant believe that I am drinking Castle Lite……) beer and were none of the above. But all were made to feel welcome and to celebrate the wedding.
It was good to see Masie again. I hadn’t seen his since my last trip to South Africa in 2005. He looks a bit older, but still has a magnetic smile and a tireless work ethic.
We will meet up later today to catch up on the project. This will be the first time that we have spoken face to face in almost 3 years of working on it. He has done so much leg work for it and knows so much about the men and their latest developments, that it is absolutely necessary to talk today. It will be fun to compare notes about it and start to work as a team. It is my hope to steal him away for a few hours or days to help with the interviews as I know that he would be excellent. Plus, he holds the greatest respect for the men with whom we want to speak.
At the most basic level, we need to compare notes on who we need to interview. There is one gentleman, Theo Cholo, who lives in Pretoria who is next on my list. There is also Michael Dingake, who lives in Botswana, who is also someone with whom we need to speak. Then it is down to Durban & Port Elizabeth before heading back to CT. Masie seems to have a good grasp on where in the world these men are, so today’s meeting with him is essential.
On a sad note, we found out late last week that Comrade Billy Nair passed away. He was an Indian trade unionist who was imprisoned on Robben Island for his role in Umkhonto We Sizwe. Nair was born in 1930 and studied bookkeeping. He became politically active during the 1952 Defiance Campaign and afterwards was elected to the provincial executive committee of the Natal Indian Congress. He became a trade union organiser, serving as secretary of several Natal unions. He was a member of the national executive committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions and SACTU's regional secretary for Natal. He was one of the 156 accused in the Treason Trial and remained a defendant until late 1958. He was also imprisoned during the 1960 emergency. Detained in 1963 under the 90-day detention law, he was accused of sabotage and of being a Natal leader of Umkhonto. He was convicted in 1964 and sentenced to twenty years in prison. After his release he once again became active in community issues, particularly in the United Democratic Front.
After the 1994 elections Nair became a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly.
From the ‘bible,’ he had chosen The Tempest:
Act 1, Scene 2 Lines 331-336:
Caliban: ‘I must eat my dinner. This Island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which though tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
Watwr with berries in’t, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night; and then I lov’d thee,’
I feel a sense of urgency along with a sense of helplessness when I think about these men and wanting to speak with them about their experiences in the liberation movement. This sense of urgency is also felt by the many with whom we have spoken about this project. Although a lot has been written about these men, there is so much more to discover and for us to emulate. ‘It is in our hands,’ but I am not sure if I am ready for that responsibility that has been so ably handled in their hands.
Tomorrow, we are meeting with Verne Harris of the Mandela Centre for Memory. He has agreed to look through their archives of his writing to see if that could contribute in any way to our project. I spoke to him on our second day in Cape Town and arranged to meet him whilst we were in Johannesburg.
We also should be able to solidify the time & date of the presentation / performance at the Market Laboratory Theatre in late November, either through a phone call or to meet up in person. But the priority is on meeting with Mr. Harris.
Having attempted to work on the internet today at a Café, I know see that we were quite spoiled in Cape Town with our wireless connection. I disappointedly showed my Achilles heel there, as my wife will know, about my frustration with computers. Needless to say, I will not be making any non-work related emails / internet forays in the near future.
On to Johannesburg…..
David & I took the overnight 26 hour train from Cape Town to Jo’burg on Friday and arrived on Saturday afternoon where we were belatedly picked up by a driver to take us to Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers in Orlando West. It is so good to finally stay at a backpackers in Soweto. It was needed. Other places that I have stayed in Jo burg mean that you are locked up behind cement blocks & barbed wire and you are stuck unless you want to go to different areas around the town..
Now, there are the blocks & wire here as well, I guess, but at least we can get out & walk around and explore the place. It doesn’t feel as isolated as the other places, maybe that is a better way of putting it. Plus it is much closer to my friend Masie’s home where yesterday we celebrated his wedding. It was the second day of the celebrations, the first day taking place in his wife’s village and Sunday at his home. It was good to see it again and to meet his family and hers as well.
We arrived and ate, had a beer, then ate, had another beer, chatting with family, friends & neighbours who were invited or otherwise – many were attracted by the excellent food and ‘Castle-Lite’ (I cant believe that I am drinking Castle Lite……) beer and were none of the above. But all were made to feel welcome and to celebrate the wedding.
It was good to see Masie again. I hadn’t seen his since my last trip to South Africa in 2005. He looks a bit older, but still has a magnetic smile and a tireless work ethic.
We will meet up later today to catch up on the project. This will be the first time that we have spoken face to face in almost 3 years of working on it. He has done so much leg work for it and knows so much about the men and their latest developments, that it is absolutely necessary to talk today. It will be fun to compare notes about it and start to work as a team. It is my hope to steal him away for a few hours or days to help with the interviews as I know that he would be excellent. Plus, he holds the greatest respect for the men with whom we want to speak.
At the most basic level, we need to compare notes on who we need to interview. There is one gentleman, Theo Cholo, who lives in Pretoria who is next on my list. There is also Michael Dingake, who lives in Botswana, who is also someone with whom we need to speak. Then it is down to Durban & Port Elizabeth before heading back to CT. Masie seems to have a good grasp on where in the world these men are, so today’s meeting with him is essential.
On a sad note, we found out late last week that Comrade Billy Nair passed away. He was an Indian trade unionist who was imprisoned on Robben Island for his role in Umkhonto We Sizwe. Nair was born in 1930 and studied bookkeeping. He became politically active during the 1952 Defiance Campaign and afterwards was elected to the provincial executive committee of the Natal Indian Congress. He became a trade union organiser, serving as secretary of several Natal unions. He was a member of the national executive committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions and SACTU's regional secretary for Natal. He was one of the 156 accused in the Treason Trial and remained a defendant until late 1958. He was also imprisoned during the 1960 emergency. Detained in 1963 under the 90-day detention law, he was accused of sabotage and of being a Natal leader of Umkhonto. He was convicted in 1964 and sentenced to twenty years in prison. After his release he once again became active in community issues, particularly in the United Democratic Front.
After the 1994 elections Nair became a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly.
From the ‘bible,’ he had chosen The Tempest:
Act 1, Scene 2 Lines 331-336:
Caliban: ‘I must eat my dinner. This Island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which though tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me, wouldst give me
Watwr with berries in’t, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night; and then I lov’d thee,’
I feel a sense of urgency along with a sense of helplessness when I think about these men and wanting to speak with them about their experiences in the liberation movement. This sense of urgency is also felt by the many with whom we have spoken about this project. Although a lot has been written about these men, there is so much more to discover and for us to emulate. ‘It is in our hands,’ but I am not sure if I am ready for that responsibility that has been so ably handled in their hands.
Tomorrow, we are meeting with Verne Harris of the Mandela Centre for Memory. He has agreed to look through their archives of his writing to see if that could contribute in any way to our project. I spoke to him on our second day in Cape Town and arranged to meet him whilst we were in Johannesburg.
We also should be able to solidify the time & date of the presentation / performance at the Market Laboratory Theatre in late November, either through a phone call or to meet up in person. But the priority is on meeting with Mr. Harris.
Having attempted to work on the internet today at a Café, I know see that we were quite spoiled in Cape Town with our wireless connection. I disappointedly showed my Achilles heel there, as my wife will know, about my frustration with computers. Needless to say, I will not be making any non-work related emails / internet forays in the near future.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
400 Year Old Glue
22 / 10 / 8
This project is getting wider than I had anticipated. It has become wider for good & ‘bad’ reasons:
First the ‘bad’ (in inverted commas because it really isn’t bad at all), due to the fact that it seems as though the men don’t remember marking the book and when shown the text that the supposedly marked, they don’t agree that they would have chosen that passage as their ‘favourite’ or one with resonance with them.
This to me the begs the question of the premise of our project. It potentially shakes the foundation of what we set out to do. And this is exciting and thrilling and blinding. Where will this lead next? As my theatrical ‘hero’ Anne Bogart says, ‘Out of crisis, comes creativity.’ She goes on to say that she purposely heads towards crisis as that will make something happen. I believe that we have created a crisis merely by coming down here and pursuing this project. There was no need to step off the cliff this time. But we have and we need to enjoy this crisis. We also need to push as many contacts as we can get and interview them just to see what happens. Who knows what stories we will get.
We don’t need to worry about not getting material as all of the veterans so far are highly steeped in Shakespeare, literature & education and how that shaped their lives whilst in Robben Island. And this material will be wonderful sourcework for a play.
The good reasons (and there are many):
There are just too many wonderful stories to be told and tell. At each meeting, we get told other people to speak to about this project. All could contribute to a brilliant performance that goes above & beyond our original simple remit of the Robben Island Bible project.
But, this means that we might lose our focus and be spread too thin - too many shiny pennies to look at but not one to grab a hold of, which can't happen. But to gather as much information through primary interviews and then sort it out later is how I think both David & I seem to think about it.
Our latest thoughts were spurred on by something that the gentlemen & Jean September spoke about: the ability of literature and the education system set up at Robben Island to keep men of a variety of political backgrounds and beliefs together and focused on the common enemy, the Apartheid regime. Robben Island has often been called the University of Robben Island due to the many men who earned diplomas & degrees whilst imprisoned and who were taught by their fellow prisoners.
A common cause that is the glue to keep these men together, educated and hopeful – Literature, Education & Shakespeare.
----
We met this morning with Jean September of the British Council (Steff O’Driscoll, if you are reading, she passes on her best to you). She seemed very pleased with the nature of the project and the progress so far. She recommended that we speak with Paul Boateng, the British High Commissioner in South Africa. She thought that he would be keen due to his strong interest in Shakespeare, literature and cross cultural exchanges. She also encouraged us to spend the night at Robben Island (yes, apparently you CAN!!! David got quite an excited shiver down his spine when offered this as did I).
This project is getting wider than I had anticipated. It has become wider for good & ‘bad’ reasons:
First the ‘bad’ (in inverted commas because it really isn’t bad at all), due to the fact that it seems as though the men don’t remember marking the book and when shown the text that the supposedly marked, they don’t agree that they would have chosen that passage as their ‘favourite’ or one with resonance with them.
This to me the begs the question of the premise of our project. It potentially shakes the foundation of what we set out to do. And this is exciting and thrilling and blinding. Where will this lead next? As my theatrical ‘hero’ Anne Bogart says, ‘Out of crisis, comes creativity.’ She goes on to say that she purposely heads towards crisis as that will make something happen. I believe that we have created a crisis merely by coming down here and pursuing this project. There was no need to step off the cliff this time. But we have and we need to enjoy this crisis. We also need to push as many contacts as we can get and interview them just to see what happens. Who knows what stories we will get.
We don’t need to worry about not getting material as all of the veterans so far are highly steeped in Shakespeare, literature & education and how that shaped their lives whilst in Robben Island. And this material will be wonderful sourcework for a play.
The good reasons (and there are many):
There are just too many wonderful stories to be told and tell. At each meeting, we get told other people to speak to about this project. All could contribute to a brilliant performance that goes above & beyond our original simple remit of the Robben Island Bible project.
But, this means that we might lose our focus and be spread too thin - too many shiny pennies to look at but not one to grab a hold of, which can't happen. But to gather as much information through primary interviews and then sort it out later is how I think both David & I seem to think about it.
Our latest thoughts were spurred on by something that the gentlemen & Jean September spoke about: the ability of literature and the education system set up at Robben Island to keep men of a variety of political backgrounds and beliefs together and focused on the common enemy, the Apartheid regime. Robben Island has often been called the University of Robben Island due to the many men who earned diplomas & degrees whilst imprisoned and who were taught by their fellow prisoners.
A common cause that is the glue to keep these men together, educated and hopeful – Literature, Education & Shakespeare.
----
We met this morning with Jean September of the British Council (Steff O’Driscoll, if you are reading, she passes on her best to you). She seemed very pleased with the nature of the project and the progress so far. She recommended that we speak with Paul Boateng, the British High Commissioner in South Africa. She thought that he would be keen due to his strong interest in Shakespeare, literature and cross cultural exchanges. She also encouraged us to spend the night at Robben Island (yes, apparently you CAN!!! David got quite an excited shiver down his spine when offered this as did I).
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