Week 9- “There can be no equality without social justice.” (written at Constitution Hill)

"It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails."

March 3^rd- City Tour- Agata and I found discount tickets for the hop on hop off bus in Jo’burg. We started at Constitution Hill, an old Fort Prison and the current Constitutional Court of South Africa. Constitution Hill is located next to the Hillbrow neighborhood.

Hillbrow Tower (with the pink ball) and Neighborhood
as seen from Constitution Hill

 In the book, No Turning Back, by Beverley Naidoo, she described Hillbrow from a 12-year old boy, Sipho, perspective, “What’s that ma?’ he had asked, pointing to a cluster of lights glittering high up above all the rest. They lit up what seemed to be a giant drum with enormous round saucer eyes looking out at the black sky. ‘That one is the Hillbrow Tower.” The tower is a telecommunication tower, the tallest structure in South Africa at 883 feet, and was finished in 1971 after working 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. Hillbrow is on the list of neighborhoods to avoid at all costs due to danger, poverty, unemployment, and crime.  Interestingly enough, during apartheid, it was an all white neighborhood, now the ethnic breakdown is 95.6% Black African, 2.5% Colored, 1.5% White and 0.4% Indian or Asian. When people talk about the neighborhood, issues of crime, xenophobia, and poverty are usually included.

Constitution Hill had a long line of important prisoners. In the 1900s there were mostly Boers and Boer-supporters who were imprisoned by the English. In 1908, Mahatma Gandhi was in there for refusing to carry the pass (passes were required for all Indian, Blacks, and Colored in order to move from one area to another). 

In the special exhibition, they described Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagratha from the words “satya” meaning truth and “agraha” meaning seizing or firmness.”

In 1913 and 1922, miners were imprisoned for going on strike. 1942 brought a group of Afrikaners and pro-Nazis. By 1955, the jail was being filled with ANC freedom fighters. Then in 1956, Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli, Joe Slovo, ZK Mathews, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Helen Joseph, Moses Kotane, Lillian Ngoyi and Ruth First, were brought there as well for fighting against apartheid. Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Mandela, and Robert Sobukwe were all imprisoned for fighting against the pass laws as well as communists and gangsters until the 1980s. 

Mandela was held there as well as Robben Island. In the cell that held Mandela and the other black prisoners they have highlighted his communication with his outside followers. They also gave a description of the organization of the prison for each of the groups (Blacks, Colored, Indian, White, and Women’s) based on their prison cells and program (see daily diets below, please note this was for group A prisoners, not necessarily those who were in solitary confinement). 

Next, we boarded the Hop On Hop Off Bus and headed downtown. We were able to see Gandhi Square, where a statue of Gandhi to commemorate his fight against racially biased laws. In South Africa, he was thrown off a train for being in a white section (he bought a first class ticket), he couldn’t find a room in a hotel because they wouldn’t rent to Asians and he wasn’t allowed to eat in the hotel dining room (1893), he was ordered to walk in the streets rather than the sidewalk, he wasn’t allowed to use the elevator (even as a lawyer working in the building), he wasn’t allowed to use the trams, and South Africa did not recognize Hindu and Muslim marriages, therefore, his children were considered illegitimate in the eyes of the law.

All over Jo'burg you will find these hills of dirt...the mining companies
are supposedly going through them again sifting for more gold. 

Other tidbits of information on the bus included the naming of Johannesburg…they are not sure who it is named after, however, there were two Johanns who were critical in the founding of the city- Johann Rissik (first clerk in the surveyor’s office) and Christian Johannes Joubert (government surveyor). Basically, the city was only established because of the gold found below in 1886 (Gautang, name of the province- means gold). They also claim the city is the largest man-made forest in the world because there were no tree. Below you will see a light brown hill made of dirt that was mined and sifted for gold.

view of Jozi (Hillbrow Tower, Coke Building, and more)

March 4^th- 4^th year debriefing- Because the UJ program for Childhood Education (Foundation Phase teachers) is in its first stage of development there is a special opportunity for developing a wonderful program of support and knowledge for the preservice teachers. One way the university is doing this is through a 4^th year debriefing to discuss what they are experiencing in their classrooms. This gives the student teachers an opportunity to discuss the successes, challenges, and issues that are coming up while they are in the field.

March 7^th- I finally visited a school in Soweto. The visit was to a special school that is currently becoming more inclusive. We discussed how I could support the staff and students. After the meeting, I went to the campus and found it empty, evidently the school of education was in a meeting (that I didn’t have to attend), the secretary told me she was closing the office for the day. I still hadn’t made it to the Apartheid Museum and I figured it was a good use of my time. 

The museum sets the tone with the Seven Pillars of the Constitution (Democracy, Equality, Reconciliation, Diversity, Responsibility, Respect, and Freedom) that laid the foundation for the values of the constitution that was signed in 1996. The exhibit presents the history of how gold brought migrants to Johannesburg beginning in 1886. In 1910, the country was called the Union of South Africa and the policy of segregation was started with the founders, Jan Smuts and J B M Hertzog (they also banned Blacks and White Women from voting). Remember, this is when Gandhi was non-violently protesting the treatment of different racial groups.

The museum then presents the social issues that laid the foundation for apartheid, such as the struggles of the poor White people and the Afrikaner’s fight for their country post civil wars (with the British) at the turn of the century. In 1948, the apartheid laws officially began with the relocation of certain racial groups into townships.  

People actually changed their "race"

March 21^st, 1960 a group of 5,000-7,000 people marched to the police station in Sharpeville to “turn themselves in” for not carrying their pass books. There were about 20 police on duty. Later, it is said, about 19,000 people were present. The police retaliated and 69 people were killed, many shot in the back as they were running away. At least 180 others were injured. This is known as the Sharpeville massacre and now Human Rights Day is held every March 21^st to commemorate that day for all South Africans (and UNESCO marks this day as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination).

After the massacre, the South African government outlawed the ANC and the PAC organizations and both groups went underground. Another policy called “Bantustan” aimed at getting Black citizens onto “homelands” according to their ethnicity. This idea is similar to the Native American reservations in the United States except the leaders could not establish economies or jobs…the homelands were dependent of South Africa for funding.

In the 1960’s Black leaders began to challenge the philosophy of apartheid, such as Stephen Bilko. He was a leader of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) and supported the 1976 uprisings. In 1976, Black student protests were held around the country to fight for improving education. The Bantu Education Act of 1953 said students learned in the Afrikaans language, received an inferior curriculum that would support their position compared to Whites, had overcrowded classrooms, and were not given the same education (such as high school). SASO fought for more schools, better books, and learning in their home language (versus a language their teacher often didn’t speak). In 1977, while being detained and interrogated on anti-terrorism charges, Bilko died in prison. He, along with many others, died due to “gross human rights violations in the custody of law enforcement officials.” 

The next stage of the museum focused on the violence of the 1980s. The students and civil rights leaders organized two major groups:  United Democratic Front (UDF) and Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU). Just as the UDF and COSATU were supporting human rights and the foundations of the ANC, the government was coming down on protesters. I learned informants for the police were “tired”, basically a tire was stuck around their body and they were lit on fire publically. This was in response to the government pressures to turn people associated with the ANC into the officials. Even this week in the newspaper there are some suspicions that two bodies of boys found buried in a local township could be related to a disappearance during this time. In this section of the museum, there were examples given of the brain washing the White people were getting in the media. They also highlighted supporters of the anti-apartheid movement.

By the late 80s, talks began with the ANC and in 1989 F W de Klerk became president. He released Nelson Mandela from prison and once again allowed the political parties to come out of their underground existence. February 11, 1990, Mandela was released with his fist held high, however, over the next four years, 14,000 South African lost their lives in political violence. During this time, a national Bill of Rights was created and the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) supported the next election. Nelson Mandela became president and the ANC won with 63% of the vote.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu was formed in 1995 to work towards healing the country by hearing stories from perpetrators and victims of apartheid from 1960-1994. Some people were given amnesty for their crimes.

March 8^th- The morning of my birthday, I was surprised by flowers from my neighbor, Maxime, and Agata and I went to breakfast before work. Later, I co-taught an English class. The students were asked to read the second Harry Potter book. I provided a list of 13 activities for groups to discuss in a book club fashion. I put together a presentation on some different elements of reading comprehension and critical thinking. 

March 9^th- Because of my illness the weeks before, I was unable to teach the class to honors students at the university, so I rescheduled. I went over brain-based research and strategies for working with students with diverse needs.  The class only had three students so many of the group activities had to be altered, but the class overall was interesting and informative. The students were so enthusiastic about discussing what they experience in the classroom and also what they are exposed to at their school sites. Overall, another amazing week in SA. 

Edward, Michelle, Benedict, Anelda, Maxime, and Ronell

My crew from UJ (I am cutting my homemade Tiramisu)