Photo: Alan Weyer
We were lucky enough to be treated to a historical tour by Alan Weyer in Grahamstown over the weekend. Alan is a local historian who started life on a pineapple farm! He now runs historical tours of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa through his company Spirits of the Past. The blessing of the tour for us locals was that we do not know our own history! Some of us with an interest in politics and history have endeavored to plough through books like the Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mandela’s Biography) to try and balance it with the VERY one-sided history we were taught at school. But the truth is that most people from all cultures and races are oblivious to the true history of South Africa. This being owed due to propaganda and the suppression of freedom of speech that occurred here for almost 50 years and which had its origins in the colonisation of Africa.
As most people are well aware, South Africa has a seriously complicated past, made world-famous by the apartheid system that was implemented in South Africa in 1948 by the South African National Party. Having travelled fairly extensively, I have since realised that the stigma that South Africa received for making their racial and cultural issues “law” was unacceptable but somewhat overplayed. Now before you get the wrong idea of my political persuasion let me explain! Having travelled has shown me that every country has some serious political ghosts in its past and even the most renowned countries have a sordid history of corruption and abuse of their people for political power for it is ALWAYS a few that BENEFIT and the MAJORITY that suffer. South Africa became an international “scapegoat” for guilt that extended beyond the borders of South Africa. I actually feel sincerely privileged to have witnessed apartheid and subsequently witnessed the remarkable transformation that took place in our country after the fall of the apartheid regime. Having “experienced” life in South Africa makes us all seriously politically aware from a very young age and has given us the gift of analysing and questioning our governments actions. It has also given us a huge collective lesson in forgiveness, reconciliation (read about the Truth & Reconciliation Commission), tolerance and understanding.
I could go on forever! Suffice to say that South Africa still has a long road ahead of it in terms of recovering from its past and making good decisions for its future and its people. But if you consider how much political torment and ill-doing is swept under the carpet in countries all over the world, I think South Africa is doing ok! We have an extremely liberal constitution which is based on the ANC Freedom Charter and if we manage to deal with our past effectively without sinking into the pitfalls of corruption that plague Africa, we have a bright and unified future ahead.
So if you are visiting the Garden Route and can spare the time to visit Grahamstown, it is really worth exploring this pretty, colonial University town and doing one of the Spirits of the Past Historical Tours. For an understanding of South African history as well as the resilient nature of humankind.