South Africans & Race - It's the Norm Here

Siphumelele Zondi

@SZondi

Recently I spoke to a mate who studied in China and then the UK when I was also at university there. We’ve both been back for the same amount of time and it seems as much as we love our home country, we realise that there’s that big struggle of race. The mate I am mentioning here is a white woman. She said to me, “In South Africa politics is in your face, race is in your face, inequalities that are a result of race are in your face.”

I am a black man and I realised in UK middle class societies that I found myself in, my race didn’t matter to a lot of people. I was once in a casual conversation with two women who were convinced I was British, they never mentioned my race but were trying to find ways to prove that I am in fact British and South African. These were white women. Their race is important because I am writing this in South Africa where race seems is the “thing” that people judge you on before they realise that you are South African, a good television producer, Zulu and are a generally nice guy. Yep you are black first in South Africa and as a result you have to predominantly interact with other black people and there will be certain perceptions made about you when people meet you for the first time, before you open your mouth.

It's Been 20 Years, But The Racist Mind Still Has Much Work To Do

Siphumelele Zondi
@SZondi

My first memory of apartheid in South Africa was the murder of Chris Hani in 1993, I even barely remember that. At the time my age was in the single digits. I remember my parents watching all news reports about it. I remember his daughters and wife Limpho crying on television. I also remember TV news anchor Noxolo Grootboom crying on television as she was an eye witness who had seen what had happened from her house which was next door to Hani's. I don't remember much else from that day and I didn't really know who Hani was until the day he was brutally murdered. I also remember his massive funeral that made me think that's how big all funerals are supposed to be.As I grew older I obviously learnt who he was and how his murder could have changed South Africa's road to democracy.

A year later I had a conversation with my father. It was the evening of the 26th of April in 1994. My father was preparing to vote for the very first time the following day. I asked him who he would want to win the election. His response was, "Anyone, just not the National Party."  

Some Black South African Still See Superiority in Whiteness

Zanele Ngwenyama

@zanelengwenyama

From January to March I was privileged to work with an American agency that brings volunteers from the States to South Africa. One of their main goals is to learn about South African culture and we learn from them. I was teaching a group of three the XiTsonga language and working as a translator for them in rural communities of Limpopo. In between sessions we had cultural sessions where we taught them about our way of life and they told us about theirs. I realised that as much as there are differences, it’s the similarities that surprised me more and showed me that humans still respond to human emotions, no matter where they’re from in the wold.

The young Americans would get to stay with host families in the rural areas. African Americans later raised their concern of how white people in the group were preferred over them, simply because race.  It didn’t matter that the young Americans were all bringing similar skills to the area and much needed help. One host parent complained when she realised that she was to host an African American. She demanded that the person that was to stay in her home be switched, just so she could host a white person. African Americans felt degraded as a result of the rejection.