I have lived in Africa for 33 of my total of 58 years on this mortal coil.
I arrived on the seventh of January 1977 a short six months after the Soweto ( Soweto is the acronym of SOuth WEstern TOwnship so called as it lies from Johannesburg ) riots on June 16 1976 brought huge pressure to bear on the infrastructure both politically as well as socially within South Africa. I arrived and became a " privileged " white man gifted with a well paid job with Edgars, a company flat and all the trappings that went with entering the commercial arena of South Africa that was the staus quo at the time. Standing on my balcony sixteen floors above the streets of Beria, Johannesburg, I wondered to myself why black people were on the streets and it was after 18.00Hrs, I also took horse riding lessons back in the UK before my arrival in the belief that all people in SA road horses. Strange thoughts ? Maybe, but they were in my mind.
Today, Friday the 24th of September 2010 as all of us celebrate our Heritage Day in our way and manner, I look back over the ebb & flow of southern Africa, the futile civil/border and racial wars that condemned us to cull the very national assets that would become our future. The trials & tribulations that each of the countries I associate with have moved through, the advent of democracy in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and of course here in South Africa.
I take a look at how African people have been robbed of their heritage, natural style of living as it was many, many years ago. Observe if you will the millions of African folks both living overseas and within the cosmopolitan cities of the countries that make up southern Africa who have become Westerners in every aspect of their life. They no longer are African but a product of deAfricanisation through the insidious ways of the Western world. The majority of Africans live in the rural areas of their country. These folks have a simple but well entrenched rural lifestyle under the watchful eye of a Chief and his Elders, life revolves around the seasons, agriculture and subsistence farming. It has been this way for eons, until the Western influence of consumerism, money and the drive to remove commodities from Africa back to the Western world for the sum of becoming " sub Westerners " commenced.
My time in Rhodesia in 1978 remains a key element of my beliefs today. Moving to live in Salisbury/Harare in February 1980 and witnessing first hand the elation of democratic election in Zimbabwe was utterly incredible. At the Eric DAVIES shop by the Parkade, we stood around the wireless to hear the election results, all of us, blacks, whites and the management all together. The fateful evening on April 18 1980 when filled with the spirit of gin, I joined a ZANU (PF) troop gathering and we all marched through to Rufaro Stadium from Zanu (PF) house in Railway Avenue to witness the ceremony of Zimbabwe Independence with Prince CHARLES & President MUGABE. Eighty black troops in full battle gear and I a sole white man in civvies within their ranks. They were quite comfortable to have me within their celebrations. As we approached the waiting throngs of onlookers, we were tear gassed by the Zimbabwe Police men & women who, when hearing our chants and seeing a battalion of men in army uniform, thought that we had come to kill the new President ! Close on to thirty one years on, this act along with many others reminds me of the wonderment of African people.
For those of you who wish to experience a visit to Africa, I would recommend this very much. The reasons are varied, valid and diverse but there is one fundamental reason to come that is unique and special. African people have suffered and in fact continue to suffer through now both Western & Eastern direct influence and yet we can take you to meet folks who still talk & walk as Africans did, as pure Africans. Proud, instilled with purpose of simplicity, socially strong and family focused. There are many examples to share with you.
" Our heritage is the sum total of all the influences within our previous generations lives as they mould ours going forward ". Today I braai ( barbecue )and as I watch and listen to the burning wood of the fire, the African sun bearing down on my shoulders, I will recall the many African men & women who are part of my hertitage, who have moulded me, who have instilled much within me and who have taught me so much. As the afternoon progresses and these souls arrive within, the Spirit of Africa will course through my mind, my heart & soul. I live in Africa, I am blessed !
Ciao
Colin J. FRYER.
Centre Stage Travel, Cape Town - South Africa.
www.centrestagetravel.yolasite.com
