Proudly Afrikan

THIS SONG IS A WARNING: SIFISO SUDAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN LEADERSHIP

2013 - 05.02

Tags: African Dope, Andrew Miller, BBC, Big Apple, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Cosby, Danny Jordaan, Gareth Cliff, Gupta, JZ, New York, Nicholas Cage, Sifiso Sudan, Sky News, South Africa, South African, Sudan, TV, Unity Design, US, Wall Street, Zuma Category PROFILES | Comments Off

ANDREW MILLER

Creative youth like rapper Sifiso Sudan having been telling our leadership to stop buggering around for a while now. Wouldn’t it be great if our power players got their snouts out of the trough for long enough to clear their ears and listen? Indeed. It would be even better if they weren’t the only leaders we had.

London Youth Riot

It’s easy, when discussing our current leadership crisis, to head straight to the Guptas’ arrival at Waterkloof airforce base. Or to Danny Jordaan, explaining with a straight face how the purchase of 20-something luxury Mercedes vehicles for the Safa big guys somehow constitutes sports development.

The Gupta Family Wedding

But what about the rest?

What about the general media? How is it that we accept so easily the scorn poured onto our heads via our TV programming (or lack thereof)? Are Cosby re-runs across all national channels all we deserve as a nation? What does this tell us about what our media leaders think of us as a people? What about eTV’s snake movies? The station is cynical and brazen in its continual re-running of a core set of very old flicks featuring either Nicholas Cage, large snakes, Cedric the Entertainer or a Marvel Comics character. Is this any way to handle the responsibility that comes with broadcasting power?

Yes, the government fat men radiate opulence and cynicism with their blue lights and 4x4s, but do our other big-earning leaders and business owners and celebrities not drive very similar vehicles? Gareth Cliff, for example, is happy to take partially amusing (and completely justified, it must be said) satirical pot shots at JZ and Mac on his 5FM breakfast show, and then, without a shadow of irony, treats us to “music” from the depths of generic global entertainment hell, before trotting off to judge Idols, a talent format designed to pull all originality and spark out of our aspirant young creatives until they finally fit the global pop star mould. Where is the social leadership? Is he the example we are supposed to follow? Is reality TV land our true creative/social nirvana? South Africa produces a good deal of powerful creative content within the realm of pop culture, but it seldom receives mass market listenership. Why? Because the effort of showcasing socially relevant and original music is just too much for those in leadership positions. Our media leaders want to bank their salaries. They do not want to alter a global status quo which has evolved over decades explicitly to generate revenue through the ad infinitum repetition of generic global beats.

Take, for example, the hip hop track Smoke, by Sifiso Sudan. In a society in danger of completely losing its practical and philosophical bearings, Sudan, through Smoke, offers an illuminating take on where we are as a people. He shines a light on our social cancer – the resulting view isn’t pretty, but at least if feels true. Will we ever hear Smoke on the radio? Of course not. No one has risked championing this song.

Sifiso Sudan is one of the more enigmatic characters working on the South African music scene. I ask him about the trajectory of his music career and he slips past the question twice (with most artists, the query sparks a three-hour monologue on the state of the entertainment business blah blah blah). Sudan’s social attitude reflects a hidden yet important aspect of local youth culture. He is one of a cluster of artists who are more social activists than musical careerists. They work in their communities, and let the light fall where it may. Sudan is not fundamentally coy, however. I ask him what Smoke is all about, and there is no ducking.

“Smoke is about our leadership,” he says. “Because soon we will see people around the world rising up against leadership that has sold them down the river. The penalty for them will be severe. This song is a warning to them.”

Released as part of African Dope’s Cape of Good Dope II compilation early in 2009, Smoke is a tantalising piece of hip hop. The production is slick, the beat is captivating and Sudan delivers one of the most delightfully slippery sets of political lyrics of the post 1994 era. The song sits awkwardly on the Cape of Good Dope II compilation, however, which is ultimately a collection of broken and abused beats, collated for the specific enjoyment of those who live in and around club land. Indeed, the track is filled with duality. The repetition of the word smoke in the chorus can, at a casual listen, simply be assumed to refer to a desire for (more) marijuana. As with all good hip hop, lyrical and thematic deconstruction requires effort. Sudan lets us have enough, just enough, and no more.

The key to Smoke is the chorus, but it is given its power by a set of verses that encapsulate South Africa’s current social discord:

1^st verse qoute

Our politicians write their speeches /

then it’s back to the beaches /

summer bunnies, 4×4’s /

What does this teach us?

2^nd verse quote

They live a life of lazy living /

though I’ve gotta hand /

best conditions on the planet /

underwears are branded /

helicopters landed on the playground where I went to school /

rich kids don’t have to act cool /

they’re never stranded

I’ll tell you a secret /

rich people don’t bling /

Mandela washed away their sins /

tonight they sleep with a grin /

But Nyambo made a soundtrack for the have nots back /

guilt free money that we won’t get back.

All of which makes the chorus, even though half of the lyric is alluringly muffled, ring ominously true:

Chorus

We’re all broke/

but check the murder I wrote/

You’re a joke and you can quote/

Brother we’re all broke.

When all we needed was hope/

Hope in smoke.

You make it foggy for the good folks./

Sudan grew up in KwaZulu-Natal but lived in New York from age 13 until he was a young adult. It was in the Big Apple that he started rapping, and he brought his skills back to the local hip hop underground. With Smoke he hits on a fundamental truth – namely that it’s nigh impossible in South Africa at the moment to identify exactly who the metaphorical “murderer” is. He subverts the typical South African racial approach, replacing it with a more current and nuanced South African social offender: a 4 x 4-driving, beach-loving suburbanite who sleeps with a grin, untroubled by the forces of history that are klapping so many in the immediate vicinity. Is the murderer a businessman? A politician? An advertising exec? An Apartheid-era nationalist? A unionist? Well, all of the above actually. The job description doesn’t matter. But the fact of the ongoing social murder does.

When I asked him for his take on current politics in South Africa, Sudan’s answer encapsulated an ethos that is common across many of our creative youth, but that seldom finds voice beyond social media.

“I read up on politicians not to hear about their celebrity lifestyles but because I’m concerned about our future in their hands,” he says. “Every day I see people around me who are better role models. Better organisers. More patient teachers. Harder workers. And more visual and vivid thinkers. Yet these people are silent. They are absent. They are tweeting. And that is why we are in the condition we’re in. In our music today we are calling all Kings. We are calling all Queens. We are [calling] the rightful heirs to the throne.”

Sudan is by no means alone. The notion of profound social rot recurs, for example, in the work of young folk singer Bongeziwe Mabandla. He operates on the other side of the musical spectrum to Sudan, but he sends essentially the same message in his song “FREEDOM”:

I used to believe in justice /

and tales with joyful endings /

that no one could ever struggle /

until their life is over /

but I had to go and change my mind /

when I see the truth before me /

is it everyone for themselves? /

is that the way we’re conditioned?

There are significant numbers of creative youth in our communities who work hard at their art and their craft not to become famous in the Idols sense, but to make a difference in the lives of their parents, siblings, children and surrounding communities. While our politicians and unionists roar around in blue-lit 4x4s… while our businesspeople bemoan the state of the country from the safety of the golf estate… while our media celebrities douse our spirit with their so-called content, these socially conscious youth are carefully trying to stitch the rotten fabric of our country back together. In the process they write songs and poems which we really can’t be bothered to listen to. Because it takes too much effort. Because Rhianna and Jay Z and the rest are easier to instinctively swallow and digest.

Rappers and poets are not the only youth sending messages to leadership, and the message is by no means being sent within South Africa alone. In 2011 London’s youth tore the city to shreds in a raw rebellion that was treated with disdainful alarm by the likes of Sky News, the British parliament and the BBC. Egyptian youth kicked out their leader. In the US, young and not-so-young counter culture types delivered a conceptually vague – yet still notable – sit-in protest outside Wall Street, while our own youngsters have been burning down their shoddy communities for years in service delivery protests that our leaders glibly write off as irresponsible, before heading to their holiday homes and celebrity weddings. Globally, youth are warning their leaders in many different ways. Poetry and music are actually the easiest to perceive and accommodate, but still we pay them scant regard.

The evidence mounting up around us through each strike season is clear: South Africa urgently requires a philosophical and economic revolution. Our society is structurally fragile and has been so since worthless beads were swapped for valuable land all those centuries ago. It is naïve indeed to expect anything to change now, unless we actually decide to change it ourselves. Sudan and his peers are saying this challenge currently rests in the hands of leaders who, thus far, have shown us only the disturbing sight of their rapidly fattening asses. Sudan says we are outsourcing important ideas of social change to people we don’t trust, and who we increasingly struggle to respect, and in
doing so he makes a very good point. In calling for the young Kings and Queens, Sudan et al are saying South African society needs to seriously re-look its essential ideas of leadership. The logical end of Sudan’s idea is that it is us (you, me, your neighbour, the jock on the radio station) who are the true, required leadership in South Africa. If that’s the case, then we might all need to start thinking as seriously about our own behaviour as we do about that of the easy targets. DAILY MAVERICK

Andrew Miller is a poet and freelance writer. He is also a founder of Unity Design, a socially orientated arts space operating in Newtown, Johannesburg.

HEATHEN SONGS OF THE NATIVES

2013 - 04.09

Tags: Africa, Charles Nhamo Rupare, Cornell West, Credo Mutwa, Elder Enoch, Fela Kuti, Ghana, Johnny Dyani, King Shaka, Kippie Moeketsi, Kush Kollective, Lucky Dube, Pan Afrikan, Sankofa Republik, South Africa, South African, South Africans, South Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe Category PROFILES | Comments Off

CHARLES NHAMO RUPARE

Music is a cornerstone of humanity’s struggle for freedom and progress. Fela Kuti reminds us of this when he said ‘music is a weapon’. Song and change are intertwined and have steered humanity through trying times. Pipe smoking elders in Zimbabwe who spend lazy afternoons playing Mbira say a grunt in a chant spells trouble. The African struggle has been long and debilitating. At the heart of this struggle for independence in countries such as Zimbabwe, Ghana or South Sudan music played a crucial role in giving the spirit courage to overcome.

Traditional healers of Africa say music is the healer. Incitements under the Apartheid era in South Africa were led by courageous youth who used song to encourage others to join their quest for freedom. Once, I heard soldiers toyi-toyi in the dead of the night in Mutasa, Mutare during the second Chimurenga war and I knew that freedom music was the exit point of our frustrations. There are many stories told across Africa where music was a lubricant for change. Over the years, I have come to understand freedom music as the soundtrack of our lives. Freedom music comes from the heart. It articulates raw emotions – good or bad. To undersand change in Africa one has to listen to the sound of its story told through music.

Queen Madosini

In my grand mother’s kitchen two things occupied the walls – a Chipendane* and a bow. They represented harmony and protection for our family. This is the backdrop of Free-Dome music. I call it this because its potency lies in inciting the mind to question social realities. Afrika’s musical tradition has been developing bar lines of freedom music from antiquity and it’s safe to say that King Shaka’s battle cries were composed and choreographed to serve as tools of intimidation and self confidence. Vusa’mazulu Credo Mutwa in his book, Indaba My Children, wrote of the origin of all the first music instruments and the Goddess who created them, Queen Marimba. This gives us a sneak peek into music’s role in African tradition and its influence on African spirituality from antiquity.

Traditional compositions of melodies and lyrics is created with community performances in mind and as such, these compositions do not seek to combine sounds to suit a particular taste. Their purpose is to express life – culturally, spiritually and socially. Another aspect of traditional music is its ability to fuse natural sounds with spoken word to create music. This can be found in simple structures of Malombo music or the haunting melodies of the Jeliya of Mali.

Freedom music is rooted in self expression but most importantly it’s an expression that portrays community outlook. To the trained ear traditional music gives an impression that pentatonic scales, hexagonic scales or polyphony are used, but the secret lies with the untrained ear –it’s the translation of emotions into sounds. It is an outward presentation of our thoughts and feelings.

Afrikan compositions tell stories that bring colour to our everyday lives. There are songs for weddings, working, hunting, farming, death, and fishing. The era of colonisation brought with it a different perspective not only on Afrikan lifestyles but music development. It added another dimension to the purpose of composing a song – suffering. The systemising of education created a process of learning and worshipping and with it came Anglo Saxon schools and churches. These institutions became the training ground for music in what is known as Choirs. This new platform created a new found symbiotic relationship between religion and revolution. We cannot deny this fact. Musicians in early tribal wars produced many songs of revolution and proclamation. They not only became the repositories of community and family history but also the first voices to communicate the community’s feelings.

This early development of freedom music to some degree, assisted in fuelling the fire that enabled Afrikan nations to defeat imperialists. In South Africa, music was the weapon that gave comrades courage to keep up the fight. The same was experienced in Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia. In 1980, Bob Marley incited comrades in Zimbabwe to rise up and claim their land. The early settlers on our continent brought with them many things but none more life changing than schools and churches. Before this time people praised the creative creator. They tuned into this creative force and fashioned songs of joy and awe. The western approach to music and religion created a meeting place that gave birth to choral music. A lot of compositions took on this early developing route of which, gospel music played a critical role. It started flourishing in small communities across South Africa but it’s important to note here that this change did not remove our ability to express our true emotions. During these early days South Africa was overwhelmed by new cultures and continuous displacement of people.

The reality of living in one’s own land as a foreigner was beginning to frustrate Afrikans and in their efforts to appease the almighty, western religion took hold of our mothers and through them, singing was re-fashioned and directed at the creator asking for salvation, and relief from oppression.

The South African natives caused commotions with their songs of hope, freedom and salvation. The dawning of the 20^th century brought with it events that transformed South Africa and also led up to a free society we live in today. Up until 1949 lyrics did not court political confrontation mainly because black politicians in those days belonged to a select few elites.

Change came through a common man whose contribution to our history – “Nkosi Sikele i Afrika” changed the role of music in channeling emotions. Elder Enoch Sontonga composed a hymn that asked for blessings and salvation for people of the land. This song was a major turning point in the evolution of freedom music and it spread across Southern Africa. Its appeal lay in its deliberate invocation of God as the protector and deliverer of freedom. Dr. Cornell West says one cannot remove religion or Christianity from liberation struggles and he is right; Elder Enoch’s song transcended the dualistic idealism and evolved into a liberation song of unified hope. Countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia honoured elder Sontonga by using his composition as their national anthems.

Dr John Dube of the Ohlange institute amplified Elder Sontonga’s composition through various performances. This twist in the journey of South Africa’s freedom music changed the way music was composed. It brought with it emotive driven melodies. Songs began to express feelings of the day such as the Song of Oppressive Act. They married politics and music and gave birth to various genres that used songs to reach the young and old. Gone were the black elites who occupied high chairs. The wheels of liberation had started to turn. Music became a political weapon and a loud speaker of retaliation. Songs like “Umteto we land act” became the blue print on which the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) declared their intention to free South Africa.

The state of the nation became the subject matter of many compositions. Old songs like “Senzenina” took on a different meaning. The African American influence in Afrikan freedom music surfaced and was largely sparked in 1891 by Orpheus McDoo and his Jubilee singers. Black South Africans identified with their African American brothers and composers shifted their styles (i.e. Rueben Thokalele Caluza’s Ragtime compositions) to fit in with the flavour of the day.

Between 1920 and 1993 compositions became a blend of nationalism with moral / Christian viewpoints. They articulated deteriorating socio-political conditions and the evils of the god head. Songs like “I dipu eTekwini” articulated one of the most de-humanising aspects of apartheid. It called for a condemnation of white city administrators who introduced a new dispensation that required all black work seekers to undergo “deverminisation” in dipping tanks for public hygiene. A few South African musicians found their way to other continents and continued to spread the message. Whilst Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba were setting the scene in America, Johnny Dyani was grooving to Song for Biko in Denmark. Freedom music was now in the hands of global South Africans whose sole careers flourished because of their persistent call for freedom in South Africa.

In Kwazulu, Eastern Cape and other regions political groups were being organised and members were educated through song. They used extended melodies with words to tell of their situation. The American connection stayed strong in the form of Jazz compositions by the likes of Dudu Pukwana, Kippie Moeketsi and Abdullah Ibrahim. The melodies of freedom songs took on a different groove driven by the evolution of Jazz within the Afrikan society.

The creation of Townships such as South West Township (Soweto) created a new reality for Afrikans. Life in the ghetto began to grow as people from different parts of the country moved to big cities in search of work. Lucky Dube’s Prisoner and Leta Mbulu’s Not Yet Uhuru propagated the never ending struggle of native South Africans to gain independence. The behaviour of native South Africans began to shift to adapt to new environments and as such the direction of freedom music followed suit.

The era of Motown and bump jive showcased urban living to the masses and with it the heightened activities of political struggle. This change saw Sophia town emerging as a haven for gangsters, priests, musicians and political debaters. The Sharpeville massacre and the 1976 uprising took a lot out of people and the need to fight the oppressor heightened. Groups like The Beaters used their musical instruments to smuggle youngsters into exile to join the liberation struggle.

The death of Hastings Ndlovu in June 1976 in Soweto triggered wide spread violence in South Africa. Feet shuffling and toyi –toyi were amplified by freedom music. ‘We shall overcome!’ they sang, defying the false hope the sun brought. This attitude became the spirit of defiance that swept the nation from villages to townships. Old songs underwent changes to reflect the mood of the people and one such example was the song ‘Senzenina’ which asserted a sense of worth and belonging for the common man. It also critiqued the political climate calling for recognition of the Afrikan voice within.

The 80’s brought accelerated urbanisation and continued influences from American music. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were symbols of association and musicians began to take on a philosophical approach which was popularised by the emergence of black consciousness through the powerful sound of Reggae Music. South African greats used their exile status to push the idea of revolution through song. In fact, all exiled musicians took on this stance and artists such as, Kippie Moeketsi, Lefifi Tladi and Johnny Dyani debated freedom in South Africa through musical compositions and poetry. Mbaqanga and township pop created a cacaphony of songs that addressed personal experiences; political and social.

In the 1980’s Lucky Dube featured prominently and through his music the plight of Afrikan natives to the global community got amplified. Remnants of early forms of freedom music echoed in compositions by Gospel and Jazz musicians. This era highlighted the growing frustrations of oppressed Afrikans and the need for freedom. Thami Myeni’s Medu projects in Botswana use both art and music to chronicle the changing voice of the people. The singing tradition continued in many parts of the country and fuelled protest marches that eventually resulted in apartheid being abolished and the ushering of a new South Africa.

The message changed in 1994 and musicians in South Africa and abroad found a new voice. The effects of apartheid still endurd and the emergence of popular culture sparked a youth movement that used music to expres aspects of urban living, education and economic empowerment. Kwaito music was born in this new country called South Africa and presented hints of a rebelious disposition. This genre of freedom music was and still is the most potent urban music to come out of Johannesburg and it drew attention to living conditions in townships. Arthur Mafokate’s hit song ‘kaffir” reflected the new freedoms that emerged after the political changes of 1994. The song’s lyrics were fiery and addressed the classist society that placed the native at the bottom of the food chain. Music became a tool for young people to bring attention to their own communities and expressed an attitude of self- expression, self-reliance and determination. Many other artists such as Boom Shaka, Trompies and Brothers of Peace epitomized the changing times in South Africa.

A genre that revolutionized freedom music came in the form of Hip Hop music. This genre emerged as another powerful voice that had its history in praise poetry and slave songs from America. Prophets of the City, Black Noise and the iconic Open Mind Sessions in Johannesburg gave birth to a new Pan Afrikan voice that used music to ask questions and to project a positive outlook. Artists such as Public Enemy, KRS – One and Poor Righteous Teachers influenced the modern song of the heathen in Afrika. Today, hip-hop music has become the number one genre in the world all because it allowed the voiceless to express themselves in their language with their own style. It might not be what it used to be but its message still encourages the listener to seek knowledge of self. Freedom music is alive and well as seen though the works of Tumi, Sfiso Sudan, Zubz, Obitha and numerous other acts that use their artistry to effect change.

Zubz

This is but a snippet of a story that can be told in many ways. I guess the question to ask is; is freedom music still relevant today and in the future? We are in the throes of globalisation after all; and the protest principle has sailed the world wide web as witnessed in North Afrika. We have been entertained by the comedy of Afri Forum and Julius Malema “toyi toying” to the Dubula iBhunu song. Do these events project a world that is changing and in need of a different tune? I believe the role of freedom music is yet to be exhausted in our communities.

Today the pulse of freedom music has evolved from political to economic freedom. A month ago we witnessed the sad events that took place in Marikana, North West of South Africa where the police gunned down miners protesting over wages. These miners were led by song and courage to demand a piece of this rainbow nation pie. The nation is in a tailspin of political struggle for dominance where he with the most wealth wields political and commercial power. The nature of freedom music needs to evolve to speak out against the battles we face today such as greed and corruption. Our songwriters and composers are needed in earnest to raise these issues and inspire people to protect their freedom. Freedom music still has a role to play in defining our collective future. It will remain potent and its tales will contunue to be told by generations to come.

About Charles Nhamo Rupare:

Charles Nhamo Rupare is of Shona origin and lives life through the creative eye. He is an award-winning Afrikan-centred brand specialist, percussionist, writer and a Pan-Afrikan instigator of thought. He is co-founder of Kush Kollective, Sankofa Republik, African Compass International and a Partner at TEDxSoweto (www.tedxsoweto.co.za). He hosted TEDxSoweto 2012. He consults to various organisations on Afrikan creativity, art, music, brand building and social development. He can be reached at nhamo@kush.co.za or Twitter handle: @Rupare

FALSE PROPHETS: THE CRIPPLING OF RASTAFARI

2013 - 02.27

Tags: Bantu Education, Bermuda Triangle, Bob Marley, Bobo Kajamala, Caribbean, Jamaica, Marcus Garvey, Marcus Messiah Garvey, Mt Zion, Oh Afrika, Patrick Zwayze, Ras Tafari, Robert Marley, Southern Africa, True Black African, Tswana Christian, TV Category PROFILES | Comments Off

THEKISO LEFIFI

So in reality, how conscious is an intoxicated brother? How does a person who can’t communicate, educate a nation? In my humble trotting across the landscape of the motherland, I come across conscious people, and “conscious people” you know – The “keep it Real”, The “Mo Faya mon!”. The types that would stop at nothing to equate themselves with the Messiah. The types that think they doing us a favour by walking the same earth as us. The types that discovered the herb before they knew about the movement. The types that would convince that every morning they share a bathtub with the son of Mary.

Proudly Afrikan Snoop Lion

These are my Rastafarian brothers. Some prefer just to be called “conscious cats”. Funny it is that some of them can’t even spell the word “conscious”. Don’t get me wrong I love my brothers. I love the movement. But I hate how the self-proclaimed disciples or prophets cloud the rasta and conscious movements with Babylon infested their ills.

They are know-all and the loudest. You always find them in heated debates that lack content. They perfected the art of making the rest us look like nincompoops thus perpetuating the ideology that Rastafarians are intoxicated misguided souls spat out by the Bermuda Triangle. I’m not hating, I do love my upraising brothers – I believe we all upraising – we all human beings – human beings striving to be better, upraising.

Proudly Afrikan Rasta

These closet Danny K and Patrick Zwayze fans are degrading and crippling the movement and all that it stands for. They can’t even differentiate between Rastafarianism, reggae, ragga or between, Marcus Garvey and Marvin Gaye. They think reggae was started and ended with Robert Marley. All said and done, I have to hand it out to them for knowing the chronicles of the herb. They know all the benefits and uses marijuana.

Amazingly these false prophets want to go to their spiritual home, you’ve guised it -Jamaica. They long for it so much that they even perfected Caribbean accent to point it would make Mutabaruka’s eyes pop out like the gay Jack in the box. While it’s certainly common sense that the Afrikan man’s home is right here in Afrika. Afrika is the birth of man.

It baffles the day lights out of me; when my fellow brethren shrivel up his Zulu or Tswana language and accents and throw it out the window. They cloak themselves with fake accents believing it makes them more Rastafarian. I’m always unwillingly dragged into childish battles with some of my brethren because I refuse to put a foreign accent when I converse with them.

An accent that seems to have its origin in slavery. Our forefathers were removed from Afrika and due to the environment and mixing of different brothers and sisters from parts of Afrika in a foreign land, a new language was formed. I see them watching Jamaican movies then practicing their newly discovered words. It always make me wanna spit curse words that will disgrace and put Lucifer to shame.

Just imagine if Fanakalo (mixing of nguni, tswana, Afrikaans shangan languages during the gold rush in Southern Africa) had persisted and won over our mother tongues in Afrika, arrrgg sies man. Imagine if some idiot close to Verwoerd had suggested that it be in the Bantu Education curriculum. I bet they think hey will get a special badge or seat near Haile Selassie I once they reach Mt Zion. They despise the slave ships yet their eyes are filled with unmistakable glint and hope of boarding some or planes to Jamaica. Oh Afrika wadada!

Proudly Afrikan Rasta Duduza

Lack of knowledge has them bamboozled that our fellow brothers and sisters in Jamaica are all Rastafarians. That all they do is smoke the herb night and day. Oh Wadada Afrika!

These know-it-alls always preaching the pleasures of being a proud black African and in the same breath glorify the ills of being a victim bowls me over all the time. They glorify victims as if we have to be pitied by other nations all the time. Almost symbolising that to a “True Black African” you should suffer for eternity or Jah will look at you with scorn.

My fellow brothers stop at nothing when it comes to shoving their beliefs down the throats of others, forgetting that a man is not one-dimensional. Forgetting I and I travel different routes with one final destination in mind. Forgetting that for the positive to exists there must be the negative, for the light to shine there must have been darkness; for the conscious to exists there must be the unconscious. They are perpetuating the notion that a black man can be defined with one word or sentence. Some of the notions are, Rastafarians : are dirty, don’t eat meat, are always high, never talk sense and peaceful (ever head of the rude-boys? Your icon, Bob Marley was one of them).

Proudly Afrikan Cool Runnings

These are some of the propaganda statements fed to the world by the white supremacy when the rasta movement spoke out against slavery and injustice against the black man. What I am trying to say that we are one-dimensional.

How can an alliterate person educate a nation? That is as silly as poets that doesn’t read. For one to dispense knowledge one must seek knowledge first. Know your subject first before you scream, “let I and I will skul ya…” Silly bambaclot caught in the fashionable “mo faya!” slogans as advertised on TV.

I always get cold stares or eyebrows raised when I reply “no I am not Rastafarian” when I get the “are you Rastafarian?” question thrown at me. Most of the people see dreadlocks, rasta colours, clothing, cd collection and conclude that one must be a rasta, again, as advertised on the TellieVision. If it was that easy to be Rastafarian, wouldn’t it be all possible for the whole world to wake up one morning and say, from now on we are Rastafarian, a kere we all have the Rastafarian elements/ requirements.

I always have to give fifteen minutes lectures of why I do not consider myself a Rastafarian (yet). Over the years it came to be a monologue that I can recite even in my drunken state in wee hours of the morning.

My best friend knows so well that at times I let him sing it to people. It goes, I was raised by Tswana Christian family, so I am of Christian orthodox like most of you. I happen to be in the Rastafarian upraising. I’m still learning about the movement…blah, blah, blah, my clothes don’t make rasta just as much as your attire does not make you more European or a clown or whatevah you intended to be when your left your house in that (I remember, I once got a farting-smack from some xhosa chick when I replaced clown with whore in that statement) so I tend use it with caution.

Anyhow I would ramble on and on about how reggae and rasta are associated but not the same, I go into detail about the prophet, Marcus Messiah Garvey, Ras Tafari, how I do not long of going “home” to the motherland because I am already here, my adamant refusal to have 30 minutes discussion in a foreign accent with my fellow Tswana brother. I moes know him. We went to primary school together and his name is not Bobo Kajamala it’s Sipho Mokoena! And he has the nerve to tell me, “no mon, me no use slaive naimes, mon. I an I hav seen de light, seen?”

I’d respond “O s’tlaela sani”. You give us a bad name and at any rate both your names are of African decent. Jy is dom ore o batla kere bambaclot? (laugh) sataman, seen?” Of coz he chose not to listen to me but ask me what sataman means.

My point is people who do not read or seek knowledge cripple the movement. Its scary but true that an empty tin makes the loudest noise. I pray that soon will stop making being conscious a fad.

THE X-EFFECT: XHOSA WOMEN DEFINED

2013 - 02.08

Tags: Debra Patter, Hannibal Lecter, Helen Zillers, Patricia De Lille, Really Maybe, THINK, Xiper Xhosa Category PROFILES | Comments Off

MBALI NGOBESE

Xhosa women have always been accused of being “enterprising”, conniving, vicious and out to milk any suckers who are too busy counting their money but not watching their pockets. I have had many conversations with women, from my grand-mother’s age to my mother, my older sister, right down to my own friends and I have inevitably always been warned to watch out for the Xiper or Xhosa viper.

Proudly Afrikan Lauryn Hill and Kanyi Mavi

Lauryn Hill meets Kanyi Mavi

My mother has never been very pleased with my befriending Xhosa girls when I first moved to Jo’burg and at any sign of an impending fall out she has never spared her cautionary tales and disapproval at the my fellow Xampires. “They will take you to the cleaners, man or woman”, protest the clans of woman I know.

Proudly Afrikan Mthwakazi

uMthwakazi

So here I am, a young black woman, finding my way in the world and trying to root out the inherent angst of growing up and becoming a self-respecting adult, and I am surrounded by the constant warnings to watch out for Hannibal Lecter in the midst. We can have lunch, watch movies, talk about books, talk about man issues or talk about absolute nothing in the middle of the night and enjoy mindless giggles. We can do all this but I still need to keep my guard up and keep this predatory woman where I can watch her, ‘keep your enemies closer’, says the adage.

Proudly Afrikan Zipho and Friend

I am not the most unbiased of people, perhaps the stories have lingered in my psyche and I do find myself a tad weary of my fellow Xampires, but that being said I do think that Xhosa women should be commended.

In what way? You ask. Well, let’s count the ways. Most Xhosa women I know are ambitious, tenacious, outspoken and smart. They are the friends who haul you by the ear from an undeserving guy you stay with only because you think you don’t deserve better. They are the girls who remind you that you should toss fear out the window or stuff it in your boobs for a lift and walk tall and create what you want the world to be – in a healthy cleavage of course. They are the women who walk into the room and make men swoon. They are the women with presence, the girls who soak up the attention at the parties, not because they are timid but because they dare to speak. They are amongst the leading women in business. They sure can get a man’s attention with their wit and sass, and still wear the power-pants and pursue their own endevours.

Perhaps it is not their perceived intentions that we fear but the deafening screams of our own inadequacies and the second-grade lives we live pretending to be people we are not. Really! Maybe we fear them so much because they are everything we want to be, but everything we are scared of becoming. How many powerful women have been shot down because they were fearless and showed stealth where even the most respected men cowered? The Winnie Mandelas – alas the alleged scandals – the Helen Zillers, Patricia De Lille, Debra Patter, need I go on? Perhaps we too want the killer instinct but since we can’t have it, we’ll dog whoever has it and try to bring them down to mask our own mediocrity.
Woman eat woman.

Proudly Afrikan Lulama

So, in our endevours to becoming enlightened woman who can effect a positive change in the world, let us celebrate other women who are bearing the torch. Whether it be the girl next door whose hair always looks fly or the business woman who we aspire to be like. Let us black women stop hating! Let’s allow ourselves the humility to learn from other women and give props where they are due. We come from a history of segregation and demoralisation and should not perpetuate this in how we treat each other. Let me be Zulu and be proud of it and not be knocked down because I am supposedly agro. Let our Xhosa sisters be proud of being who they are without scorn. Let us Upgrade ourselves and through letting other women shine, we too will open up the possibilities of reaching greater heights.

So the next time you are faced with a challenge in your life or you are about to dog another woman out, Stop, Breathe and THINK… Xhosa. Make it a mantra… to…self-rea…li…sa…tion… Don’t forget to bring a tooth pick and some killer heels…

Proudly Afrikan Nombulelo

THE UNITED TEAMS OF AFRICA

2013 - 01.22

Tags: Angola, Asamoah Gyan, Bafana Bafana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Drogba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Manucho, Mario Semedo, Morocco, Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2013, South Africa, Zambia Category PROFILES | Comments Off

PROUDLY AFRIKAN

It is expected that the brand new legends of African football will emerge after this years Orange Africa Cup of Nations. What is already clear is that every team has a star. Many have already made an early prediction that it will be the Zambian underdogs that will emerge victorious. Truth be told, it is still too early to tell. For now all the teams are united in battle from 19 January to 10 February 2013, after which we will enter a new era in African football. These photographs capture the spirit and determination of each team to win.

South Africa’s Tokelo Rantie is challenged by Angola’s Dany Massunguna during the South Africa vs Angola match.

Albert Adomah of Ghana battles with Jean Kasusula of the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations match between Ghana and DR Congo.

Adane Girma of Ethiopia battles with Nathan Sinkala of Zambia during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations match between Zambia and Ethiopia on the 21 January 2013 at Mbombela Stadium_Aladin

Ghana flag during the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations match between Ghana and DR Congo on the 20 January 2013.

Chisamba Lungu of Zambia tackles Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast.

Action in the Niger goal during the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations football match between Mali and Niger at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Manucho Alberto Mateus Contreiras of Angola battle with EL Adoua Issam of Morocco during the Africa Cup of Nations between Angola and Morocco.

Mahamadou Samassa of Mali battles with Koffi Dan Kowa of Niger during the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations match between Mali and Niger on the 20 January 2013, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Bernard Parker of South South during the Africa Cup of Nations between South Africa and Cape Verde held at the National Stadium in Johannesburg on 19 January 2013.

Haggui of Tunisia instructs Bilel Ifa of Tunisia.

Jacob Mulenga of Zambia battles with Bongani Khumalo and Dean Furman of South Africa during the Nelson Mandela Challenge South Africa and Zambia on the 14 November at FNB.

FROM ZIMBABWE WITH LOVE

2013 - 01.13

Tags: Zimbabwe Category PROFILES | Comments Off

NHAMO RUPARE

I’m a traveller of sorts and over the years I have learnt to look at my environment through the actions of everyday people. This gives me a better perspective on what makes that particular place tick. Welcome to my Zimbabwe; a place I love and call home. These are some of my photographs. The images depict places I frequent the most either to visit family or to learn about my heritage.

This is me, Nhamo at Watsomba general dealer store.

This is a hitch hiker enroute to Juliusdale in Nyanga Hagrid.

They also depict Zimbabweans who embody resilience and hope unlike any place I know. Zimbabwe is a beautiful and colourful place beyond what the media tells you. Its people are hard working entrepreneurs and its landscapes green and picturesque. I’m a village boy and the appeal of simplicity and the beauty ofAfrikan people compel me to take pictures of places and people that remind me of who I am. I invite you to go on a journey into Zimbabwe. Ndatenda.

You have to love the Masvingo highway store.

Everybody respect the skills of the Braai Master of Sotshangane Flats, Mzilikazi, Bulawayo and Sophia.

These are the working mothers at KwaMereki, Warren park, Harare

The Southern View of Birchenough Bridge, Masvingo.

This is the road to Nyanga past my Village

You will often see the strollers of Honde Valley.

The spectacular view from Manica Bridge.

This is the infamous tree that signalled the start of Chimurenga war in Mawondo Village.

A rare view of the King’s lookout point at Great Zimbabwe.

Spot the Zimbabwe national bird.

The Great wall of Zimbabwe Home of the Queen Mother.

Passage way in the Queens fortress Great Zimbabwe.

The Silo without a known purpose in the Great Zimbabwe Queens courtyard.

Worlds View Nyanga.

Redrup Castle a place I once called home Bulawayo.

Mawondo Village coming home with firewood.

Birchenough Bridge.

Paradise that is Bvumba Botanical Garden.

Bvumba. Need I say more.

Charles Nhamo Rupare is of Shona origin and lives life through the creative eye. Charles Nhamo dreams of Afrika regaining her dignity and her sons and daughters developing the necessary mental freedom to love peace and communal co-existence. He is an award-winning Afrikan-centred brand specialist, percussionist, writer and a Pan-Afrikan thinker. He is chief editor of www.kush.co.za, a co-founder of Kush Kollective and a Partner of TEDx Soweto. He is a consultant to various organisations on Afrikan music, art, brand building and social development. He can be reached at nhamo@kush.co.za.

ISMAEL LO: A KING AMONG ZULUS

2012 - 12.30

Tags: Africa, Dorothy Masuka, Durban Jazz Festival, Hazelmere Dam Lake, Ismael Lo, Kawasaki Jet Ski, Porsche Carrera, South Africa, Umhlanga Rocks Hotel, Zulus Category PROFILES | Comments Off

PROUDLY AFRIKAN

A good king is compassionate, inventive and wise. We Proudly Afrikans were privileged to be invited to travel with one of the greatest African musician kings to a music festival that attracts thousands of music lovers every year from across the country. This year marked the Durban Jazz Festival’s 10^th Anniversary which culminated in a fitting celebration of Africa’s most heartfelt music. Ringo was there. Zahara was there. Naima. Caiphus Semenya and Dorothy Masuka were also there, and so were we, accompanying an African legendary great, Ismael Lo.

All Photos Courtesy of Proudly Afrikan

We met Ismael Lo in the lobby of the posh Umhlanga Rocks Hotel. He greeted his entourage with a warm smile and hugged the members of his band. A group of young musical prodigies who have been travelling the world, holding up the elite standard of African music with grace and humility. All follow, adore and remain in constant admiration of the man with a golden voice that carries in it our highest hopes and deepest sorrows as a continent.

Our combi followed Ismael’s Porsche Carrera to the police station that would provide our escourt to the festival. We followed the flashing lights of the speeding police cars over the rolling green valleys that have inspired many of our own artists from across the creative spectrum. The people, the animals, the vegetation and rondavel homes all presented to the band, a scenic introduction to the land of culture, beauty and magic. The land of the Zulus.

The line of cars that we passed en route to the festival stretched for about 10 kilometres. We were escourted through and around them and onto a private road that ended on a bridge where more police were positioned. We passed them and continued down the road and eventually parked on the banks of a giant dam where our boat was awaiting. Hazelmere Dam Lake sits between lushly green valleys dotted with designer mansions. We cruised to our destination passing an overweight brother and his gorgeous lady zig zagging through the waters on Kawasaki Jet Ski’s.

This dam is a known destination for water sports and other activities which include fishing, nature walks and bird watching. But today the only bird watching would be done by the young brothers who also came to appreciate the collection of Durban’s most beautiful women who attend the festival every year. The event that began by catering to a niche audience of jazz lovers, over the years extended an invitation to crowd puller artists. The reason why the festival is now for the young and old, the legends as well as the new comers.

As we cut through the waters we could already see the signs of celebration. The hills in the distance were covered with luxury cars and gazebos. Braai smoke filled the sky and merged with the ominous grey clouds that gave the dam a warm, deep and dark magical mood, creating a world of its own. 10 minutes later our boat rested behind the main stage as Naima introduced Dorothy Masuka on stage as her special guest on her set. We were elated to hear South Africa’s legendary icon greeted with thunderous applause.

This is the same Dorothy who’s compositions had been banned by Apartheid authorities. That was 1961 and when it happened, she was advised not to return from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe the place of her birth and residence at the time. Hence the beginning of her exile. Dorothy and Miriam Makeba, who were best friends, once toured Southern Africa together while competing on the charts with one hit song after another.

By the time Ismael’s band had transformed themselves into majestic Senagalese attire, Naima was back on stage. She blessed the crowd with a soulful voice that is ushering in yet another generation of extraordinarily gifted South African female vocal artists. “I’m in heaven” screamed a back stage chaperone.

“Are you nervous?”, I jokingly asked Ismael. With a smile he replied, “Never.” Earlier his stage manager spoke a little bit about the culture of music in his country. He described a community of young musicians that keep Senagalese clubs blazing with live music from Monday to Monday. He explained how the best of these emerging artists are supported by radio stations that dedicate about 90% of their offering to local music. Perhaps another reason why Senegals musical heritage is still the best known on the continent. Thousands of young people thrive to be the next icon of the percussive style that has been popularised by the likes of Ismael Lo, Youssou N’dour, Orchestra Boabab, Baaba Maal and many more.

Ismael stepped on stage to a sea of thousands of fans , all moving as if by remote control to the pulsating and incredibly sophisticated rhythms of the songs that made the man a king. They responded to his every call, clapped hands and showed their solidarity by flashing peace signs to the signature song “Africa”. The moving silhouette carpet of peace signs against the greying skyline kept the rain at bay. It is his perfectly pitched voice, accompanied by the acoustic guitar and harmonica that held the masses in a trance as he moved the musical masses with popular hits ” Tajabone” and “Dibi Dibi Rek” . As he thanked the audience and waved goodbye, the crowds responded with cries of “We Want More, We Want More!”.

And a good king does not disappoint, making this the reason his reputation around the world precedes him.

7 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR NATURAL HAIR

2012 - 12.09

Tags: Africa, Minna Salami Category PROFILES | Comments Off

MINNA SALAMI

When I posted an article somewhat up against hair weaves some weeks ago, one of my close friends was in a salon getting a weave. In fact she was reading the post as the hair was getting sewn. Later on that night when we met up, I was expecting to see a woman feeling fly off the hairdresser’s chair but instead I met one who was disgruntled with her new do.

You see what I mean, I said in my best know-it-all way, hair weaves are just too much hassle! She looked great though, I thought, but the next day she was back at the salon getting it all reworked on. Of course this was the perfect opportunity for me to impose my hair views on her!

I think the growing number of women opting for natural hair instead of relaxers and weaves is good in a political sense. But I never judge a woman by what’s on her head.

Anyway, here are some natural hair tricks that I’ve come to rely on since I stopped maltreating my hair. Do you have any you would add?

1. Moisturize more than seems sane.

What are the three words every woman with natural hair needs to hear? They aren’t ‘I love you’ (although that’s nice too), they are ‘leave-in conditioner’. It doesn’t necessarily matter which type you use, but how much you use. I suggest a very generous amount morning and night.

2. Make the investment

When it comes to the tools you use on your hair, invest in the best you can afford. Buy high quality straighteners, combs, rubber bands etc. or you might end up paying the price in restorative treatments.

3. Less is more.

In the unlikely case that your name is Rihanna, you really don’t need to surprise your co-workers with a new do every day. Find a hassle-free hairstyle that suits you and stick to it, at least for the most part. Your hair will thank you for it.

4. Wrap up.

Head wraps are not only a flattering accessory, they are also a great way to keep your hair protected from the big bad environment. Buy some gorgeous print scarves and wrap up your curls.

5. Treat your hair like silk.

You know that favourite dress of yours? The one you delicately wash by hand, iron at minimal heat and fold like it was a baby? Treat your hair like you treat that dress, it’s worth even more. Do not over pull or over heat your hair.

6. Salons are evil.

Don’t ever visit a salon that you don’t know, or that hasn’t been recommended to you by a trustworthy friend. A year’s worth of damage can happen in a few hours in the hands of an incompetent hairdresser.

7. Love your hair.

This is the most important tip. You must love your hair to keep it in good condition. If you think that your hair is unmanageable and/or unprofessional then you’re better off fixing a weave. If you’re ready to love that which is uniquely yours, it will love you back in return.

Minna Salami is a writer and commentator on Africa, African feminism, race, identity and founder of MsAfropolitan.com.

THE REALITY OF BEING FEMALE AND BLACK IN THE WORLD

2012 - 12.07

Tags: Black People, Black Women, Domestic Violence Act, Hiv Aids, Mphutlane Wa Bofelo, Neo Liberal Capitalist, Sexual History Category PROFILES | Comments Off

MPHUTLANE WA BOFELO

For centuries Black Women in Azania have suffered triple oppression as victims of racism, capitalism and patriarchy. In a neo-Apartheid, Neo-Liberal Capitalist dispensation, a lot for Black Women remain the same. Black women continue to constitute the majority of the chronically poor, landless, unemployed and under-employed. Most of them are either making a living in the informal sector or are perpetual casual laborers as a result of the pro-capital labor policies of the current government. The University of Free State video incident a few years ago was a typical example of the triple oppression suffered by Black women that still prevails.

The culprits in this incident where expressing a combination of male chauvinism, white bigotry and elite prejudice. They thought and believed that the gender, race and social position and class of these women rendered them inferior to them, in spite of the fact that they were old enough to be their mothers. At worst, they assumed that being black, female, and working-class and poor meant being a sub-human being. These boys were nurtured in a world in which various forms of violence; de-humanization and denigration are used by men, white people, and elites to put women, Black people and the under-classes in their ‘proper’ place.

Elina Makitla

This mindset is bound to be prevalent in a male-centric, stratified and unequal society. A look at the labour situation in this country will reveal many incidences were young and adult Black women who do general, unskilled, semi-skilled work or are in casual labor are subjected to oppressive, exploitative and de-humanizing conditions. Often these women are victims of verbal, physical and sexual abuse at the work place as a result of the skewed power- relations between them and their employers. This country may have the most progressive Domestic Violence Act as well as a labor act that has on paper included the rights of domestic workers. But unless and until racists, sexists, elitist attitudes of male police and other public servants towards women have changed these rights will remain only on paper. As long as structural conditions such as socio-economic circumstances and power relations have not changed, gender-mainstreaming shall remain just a nice concept. How often do you hear subtle suggestions that the dress-code and behaviour of the woman (walking alone at night, wearing a kanga, the look of her eyes, etc”) provides extenuating circumstances for the rape? Look at the regularity with which rape victims are put on trial, with the focus shifting from the behaviour of the rapist to the search for inconsistencies in the victim’s narration of the events or how she answers the questions….as if one can come out of the traumatic experience of being raped situation, face the culprit and the shrewd lawyers and be in a sharp frame of mind.

South African domestic workers in South African TV ads.

If the alleged rapist was just another boy next-door would the Khwezi’s “Sexual History” have counted and would the number of women who jeered her throughout the trial been so big? The point that one is making is that there can be no gender-equity as long as elite women (both White and Not White) perceive the rural, working class women to be inferior, and as long as structural racism, inequitable socio-economic and unequal power-relations exist. You cannot fight patriarchy, racism and capitalism at the exclusion of one another. The fact of the matter is that the commodification of water and electricity, and the hike of the price food, fuel and energy are bound to have more devastating effects on women. Crime and Hiv\Aids affects women the most because most women still do not have control over their lives; their bodies and their movement.

The practical reality is that socio-economic issues concerns rural, working-class women more than civil liberty issues concerns the elite women, though it is also a sad reality that the former’s civil liberties are throttled the most. To change the conditions of Black Women it is important to note that patriarchal practices are entrenched by: Gender-biased laws or failure to implement gender sensitive laws effectively, Male-centric articulations of cultural and religious traditions, The continued marginalization of women by corporate capital and the stereotypical depiction of women in the media, the arts and other agencies of socialization.

This implies that advocacy for formulation and implementation of laws advancing gender equity should be accompanied by intensive re-socialization programmes, which include awareness, educational and training initiatives on the politics of gender and the relations between the politics of race and class and the politics of gender. We need to make our men and women to have a deeper grasp of how capitalism, racism and patriarchy work and how they complement each other. We need an understanding of gender politics grounded on the peculiarities and particularities of the historical and material conditions of Azania (South Africa). At the same time we need to learn from other people’s histories and struggles and be able to take lessons from how they dealt with and continue to deal with the structures of patriarchy, racism and capitalism. By “we” I mean both men and women, Black and White. In the same way that Black People need to pump themselves with a sense of pride and self-dignity so that they can starve ‘White superiority” of black inferiority complex, Women need to be self-assertive, self-reliant and challenge men’s false sense of superiority over women. The role of conscious men is to practice what they preach and to teach their sons, brothers, colleagues and neighbors respect and love for women.

Mphutlane Wa Bofelo is a writer, activist, life-skills facilitator and performance poet who has been published in several journals, websites and anthologies and has performed at various events.

APARTHEID NEVER DIED IN SOUTH AFRICA

2012 - 11.30

Tags: Africa, ANC, Anglo American, Cecil John Rhodes, china, Consolidated Goldfields, De Beers, General Wesley Clark, George Soros, Iran, Mells Park House, Once Mandela, Oxford University, President Barack Obama, South Africa, South African, Successful Rhodes, Tabo Mbeki, Trevor Manuel, US Category PROFILES | Comments Off

JOHN PILGER

The murder of 34 miners by the South African police, most of them shot in the back, puts paid to the illusion of post-apartheid democracy and illuminates the new worldwide apartheid of which South Africa is both an historic and contemporary model.

In 1894, long before the infamous Afrikaans word foretold “separate development” for the majority people of South Africa, an Englishman, Cecil John Rhodes, oversaw the Glen Grey Act in what was then the Cape Colony. This was designed to force blacks from agriculture into an army of cheap labour, principally for the mining of newly discovered gold and other precious minerals. As a result of this social Darwinism, Rhodes’ own De Beers company quickly developed into a world monopoly, making him fabulously rich. In keeping with liberalism in Britain and the United States, he was celebrated as a philanthropist supporting high-minded causes.

Today, the Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University is prized among liberal elites. Successful Rhodes scholars must demonstrate “moral force of character” and “sympathy for and protection of the weak, and unselfishness, kindliness and fellowship”. The former president Bill Clinton is one, General Wesley Clark, who led the Nato attack on Yugoslavia, is another. The wall known as apartheid was built for the benefit of the few, not least the most ambitious of the bourgeoisie.

This was something of a taboo during the years of racial apartheid. South Africans of British descent could indulge an apparent opposition to the Boers’ obsession with race, and their contempt for the Boers themselves, while providing the facades behind which an inhumane system guaranteed privileges based on race and, more importantly, on class.

The new black elite in South Africa, whose numbers and influence had been growing steadily during the latter racial apartheid years, understood the part they would play following “liberation”. Their “historic mission”, wrote Frantz Fanon in his prescient classic The Wretched of the Earth, “has nothing to do with transforming the nation: it consists, prosaically, of being the transmission line between the nation and a capitalism rampant though camouflaged”.

Tokyo Sexwale owns 5 Lear Jets

This applied to leading figures in the African National Congress, such as Cyril Ramaphosa, head of the National Union of Mineworkers, now a corporate multi-millionaire, who negotiated a power-sharing “deal” with the regime of de F.W. Klerk, and Nelson Mandela himself, whose devotion to an “historic compromise” meant that freedom for the majority from poverty and inequity was a freedom too far. This became clear as early as 1985 when a group of South African industrialists led by Gavin Reilly, chairman of the Anglo-American mining company, met prominent ANC officials in Zambia and both sides agreed, in effect, that racial apartheid would be replaced by economic apartheid, known as the “free market”.

Cyril Ramaphosa and his R80 million buffalo

Secret meetings subsequently took place in a stately home in England, Mells Park House, at which a future president of liberated South Africa, Tabo Mbeki, supped malt whisky with the heads of corporations that had shored up racial apartheid. The British giant Consolidated Goldfields supplied the venue and the whisky. The aim was to divide the “moderates” – the likes of Mbeki and Mandela – from an increasingly revolutionary multitude in the townships who evoked memories of uprisings following the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 and at Soweto in 1976 – without ANC help.

Once Mandela was released from prison in 1990, the ANC’s “unbreakable promise” to take over monopoly capital was seldom heard again. On his triumphant tour of the US, Mandela said in New York: “The ANC will re-introduce the market to South Africa.” When I interviewed Mandela in 1997 – he was then president – and reminded him of the unbreakable promise, I was told in no uncertain terms that “the policy of the ANC is privatisation”.

President Jacob Zuma’s tax sponsored R250 million private home.

Enveloped in the hot air of corporate-speak, the Mandela and Mbeki governments took their cues from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. While the gap between the majority living beneath tin roofs without running water and the newly wealthy black elite in their gated estates became a chasm, finance minister Trevor Manuel was lauded in Washington for his “macro-economic achievements”. South Africa, noted George Soros in 2001, had been delivered into “the hands of international capital”.

Shortly before the massacre of miners employed for a pittance in a dangerous, British-registered platinum mine, the erosion of South Africa’s economic independence was demonstrated when the ANC government of Jacob Zuma stopped importing 42 per cent of its oil from Iran under intense pressure from Washington. The price of petrol has already risen sharply, further impoverishing people.

This economic apartheid is now replicated across the world as poor countries comply with the demands of western “interests” as opposed to their own. The arrival of China as a contender for the resources of Africa, though without the economic and military threats of America, has provided further excuse for American military expansion, and the possibility of world war, as demonstrated by President Barack Obama’s recent arms and military budget of $737.5 billion, the biggest ever. The first African-American president of the land of slavery presides over a perpetual war economy, mass unemployment and abandoned civil liberties: a system that has no objection to black or brown people as long as they serve the right class. Those who do not comply are likely to be incarcerated.

This is the South African and American way, of which Obama, son of Africa, is the embodiment. Liberal hysteria that the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is more extreme than Obama is no more than a familiar promotion of “lesser evilism” and changes nothing. Ironically, the election of Romney to the White House is likely to reawaken mass dissent in the US, whose demise is Obama’s singular achievement.

Although Mandela and Obama cannot be compared – one is a figure of personal strength and courage, the other a pseudo political creation — the illusion that both beckoned a new world of social justice is similar. It belongs to a grand illusion that relegates all human endeavour to a material value, and confuses media with information and military conquest with humanitarian purpose. Only when we surrender these fantasies shall we begin to end apartheid across the world.