Microphone check 1,2...what is this?

So in an effort to consolidate information and streamline my thoughts, stories, and findings into one forum, I am starting this page. I am in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa as an English Teaching Assistant supported by a Fulbright grant. I arrived just about a month ago and will be on the continent of Africa until October/November of this year.

I hope to broadcast not only my own two cents, but much more importantly, to highlight articles, music, events, and historical information pertaining to this resilient, dynamic nation. I'll also probably post miscellanea from other parts of the world as my internet wanderings allow. I will try to keep a diligent eye towards South Africa, however.

Let me start with some basic information. You could probably get most of this stuff from wikipedia, but then it wouldn't be as charming would it?

South Africa is known mostly for its oppressive system of racial domination entitled Apartheid. Recently, of course, it is also came into western focus for hosting last year's joyous World Cup (go figure). The country was catapulted into the international spotlight with Nelson Mandela's victory in the 1994 election(see note 1), breaking the stronghold of white political hegemony and initiating a new era of multiracial (or nonracial as some call it, although that is more of a problematic term for me) democracy. The two subsequent presidents, Thabo Mbeki and the current Jacob Zuma, have been from the foremost party of liberation, the African National Congress (same as Mandela). While the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, garnered 16.66 percent of the vote in 2009, the ANC is perceived to be in a comfortable position of power at the moment.

The country's population is about 50 million people, with racial breakdowns (2010 estimates) as follows: Black 79.4, White 9.2, Colored 8.8, and Indian/Asian 2.6. As you can see, the apartheid system categorized people into four main racial groups: White, Black, Colored, and Indian. The term Colored has a different denotation than our historical derogatory usage in the United States. The people who ended up being classified as "Colored" were a mixture of "indigenous pastoralists who called themselves Khoikhoi" and slaves brought in by the Dutch settlers from places as diverse as Madagascar, India, Indonesia, Sr Lanka and Mozambique (Thompson 46, 36). The Khoikhoi were present in the mostly the western part of the country, hence their encounters with white settlers from the start who landed in what is now Cape Town in 1652. The Colored population then had "immense...biological and cultural differences" but were lumped together nonetheless (Thompson 65). Probably due to their proximity and numerous interactions with Dutch-Afrikaners, most speak Afrikaans as their first language.
While there might have been a small percentage of slaves brought from India in the 1600-1700s, the vast majority came a century later. The “first” six thousand arrived "between 1860 and 1866...from Madras and Calcutta" and settled in the eastern most province (now called Kwa-Zulu Natal) (Thompson 100). They came as indentured servants under a five year "contract." When in 1870 the "first Indians became entitled to a return passage to India, nearly all elected to stay" (ibid.). By 1936 there were around 200,000 Indians, comprising of two percent of the nation's population (Thompson 171). Most had come as indentured laborers during the period of 1860-1911 (when the system of indenture servitude stopped).

There are nine provinces in South Africa, with Gauteng (the province that I am in) being the smallest (in terms of landmass) and most dense due to Johannesburg and Pretoria being within its boundaries. Also within South Africa's borders are the two small, sovereign nations of Lesotho (pronounced Le-sutu) and Swaziland.

There are 11 officially recognized languages in South Africa. Afrikaans from the Dutch, and English from the Anglo settlers are the two European-based languages. The nine African languags are members of the Bantu language family. There are about 500-600 Bantu languages spoken in sub-Saharan Africa. The languages are split up into four broader categories:

The Sotho (again, pronounced Sutu, like tutu except with an s) languages are Sepedi, Sesotho, and Setswana. These are also known as Northen Sotho, Southern Sotho, and Tswana respectively. This language has no click sounds and a disjunctive writing system (meaning even whole words can be split up by a space).

The Nguni languages are Zulu (the most widely spoken first language), Xhosa, Swazi, and Ndebele. These are click languages (meaning that different words and sounds require a different sort of click) with a conjunctive writing system.

The other two languages are Venda and Tsonga. They are separate from each other and neither are attached to a wider language group. Less than 7 percent of the population speak either of these languages as their first language.

As I am told, if you speak one Nguni or Sotho language, you can approximately understand and speak the other languages (although all of the languages are distinct). I am highly ignorant of this subject, however, so I will come back with more information on the question of linguistic interchangeability.

Let me shift gears to discuss my first impression of South Africa.

Riding in a minivan packed with Americans and our luggage, we pulled into Pretoria in the early evening after having been collected from O.R. Tambo Airport outside of Johannesburg (Oliver Tambo was the longtime head of the ANC during its years of underground resistance and exile). As we drove through the streets of the Arcadia neighborhood (not far from downtown) to our hotel destination, I couldn't help but notice the emptiness of the streets, and the invisibility of houses or businesses. Instead, I only saw trees lining the sidewalks, and walls. These walls have now become commonplace to me, but they represent the securitization and sheltering of many South African domestic and commercial structures. If I was able to look closer in the fading light, I would have seen not only eight to ten feet walls/fences (some barred and see-through but others impenetrable and concrete), but also an electric fence, barbed wire, or two inch spikes lining the tops of the barriers. The fear of crime is so pervasive that it manifests itself in an unwelcoming, intimidating, but also highly secure fashion. I went to a grand house far from downtown that was in a gated community. Yet, the grounds of the house itself were only accessed through another gate...A gated house in a gated community.

My first night at the hotel/guesthouse I met a gentleman named Petric (not sure of the spelling) who worked as security. He was one of several men that sat around outside the gates all night, keeping watch. A gracious host, he told me if I needed anything to get him (I was staying in another guesthouse alone across the street from the main complex). "If you need anything, wine, anything just call me." I responded that I would only need wine if we could drink it together. He laughed and said his boss would probably look unfavorably at that. Being my first real interaction with a South Africa, he instantly put he at ease with his pleasant way. I have every intention of going by the guesthouse one future evening and shooting the breeze with him.

My fondness for Petric withstanding, I am trying to illustrate a larger concept. That is, the abundance of private security teams. Whether they be larger firms that contract out hundreds of guards all over the city mostly to business or sizable institutions, or a few informally dressed people such as Petric and his colleagues watching over a guesthouse, the city is rife with security personnel.

Coming from Philadelphia (a city with decent public transportation...kind of) by way of spending a few months in Europe (and getting to use some world class public transportation), being here is a hard gulp of African reality. There is a limited bus system that could be useful in a few situations, a metrotrain that runs irregularly and people of all walks tell me to avoid like the plague (for safety reasons), and that's it. This is a car-heavy society. The mode of transportation most car-less people rely on is the omnipresent minibus. These are white minivans that operate in a hybrid bus-taxi combination. You can flag them down like a taxi, and they can take you to the area you want to go (although my one experience so far didn't prove to be so accurate!). However, they are not exclusive to you, and they try to cram as many people in as possible to boost their profits. If they have seats available and are driving through an area with pedestrians, they will honk every few seconds to let you know of their presence.

Country-wide travel is facilitated mostly by bus companies (in the Greyhound mold. There is actually a Greyhound South Africa). There is a national train service, the Shosholoza Meyl, but in the past few months they have been going through some difficulties causing their website to be inaccessible and their service to be limited. There are also a few domestic airlines that have relatively cheap flights to and from the major cities (Jo'burg, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth...)

Finally, what the hell am I actually doing here (besides writing very long blog entries)?

I am teaching in a few capacities through the University of Pretoria. Myself and the two other Pretoria ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) are establishing a "formal" writing center. This center will be open for Education students (mostly Second year students) to bring their writing assignments and receive assistance on any aspect of the writing process. While all university students speak English, probably less than 10 percent speak it as a first language (it is nationally between 6-8 percent who speak it as a first language). At the University of Pretoria one can take courses in Afrikaans (it was an Afrikaans only university until 94-95) or English. In short, the faculty has recognized the need for English instruction, especially when it comes to writing.

My other main project is working at the University's Mamelodi campus. Mamelodi is a vast, sprawling township to the northeast of downtown. Townships are where black citizens made their home during apartheid since they weren't allowed access to most property in and around the city (Soweto is the most famous township). Townships are places of great cultural vibrancy, strong communities, and rich histories. They are also places of dire poverty, mass unemployment, indecent housing, etc. The US Embassy has helped to fund the Mae Jemison Reading Room on the University's campus. The Reading Room serves middle and high school students from Mamelodi as an after-school center, full functioning library, computer lab, and event center. It is a hugely positive place and kids literally have to be turned away some days because the place physically cannot hold anymore people!
At the Reading Room I will/and have been assisting students with their assignments. However, I am slowly defining my focus as a literacy and writing resource for the students. I will run some literacy workshops and be a writing tutor for students. The Reading Room is Science and Maths oriented (two of the subjects targeted as areas for national improvement by the National Dept. of Education), but since this guy isn't any use at all to the students in that regard, he has to create his own role!

Besides from these primary responsibilities there will be other smaller side projects that I will work on throughout the year. For example, this week we are hosting a couple of workshops on To Kill a Mockingbird for a specific high school that is reading it (as their one novel for the year). There will undoubtedly be more things of this nature that pop-up.

More to follow...

Notes:
1: Actually this isn't really true. There was much international media attention given to South Africa through the 80s as the build up to transformation slowly unfolded.

The book I reference earlier is A History of South Africa by Leonard Thompson (Yale University Press: 2001). This is a great introductory text. It is reasonably short, dense and comprehensive, but accessible at the same time.