Johannesburg - On 10 May 1994, on his inauguration as the first president of post-1994 South Africa, Nelson Mandela spoke passionately and optimistically of the birth of a new society.
Recognising the brutality of apartheid, he still managed to say: “Out of the experience of and extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud”.
He referred to the apartheid South Africa as “the universal base of the pernicious ideology and practice of racism and racial oppression”, which had, essentially, become the skunk of the world. Yes, it was on Afrika Month of that epic year at the Union Buildings, that symbol or seat of apartheid power!
Like a statesman, he could still mouth wondrous expressions of hope and belief with unimaginable profundity. He said: “We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world”.
It is in this respect that he emphasised national reconciliation, national unity and nation building. In acknowledging the role that the people of this country played to bring about that “conclusion” (read freedom), he courageously singled out the last apartheid leader, FW de Klerk. “Not least amongst them is my Second Deputy President, the Honourable FW de Klerk”, he said. Yes, the “honourable” apartheid leader!
And then, emphatically so, that iconic line: “Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world”. I have had to, rather generously, delve into Mandela’s speech as this piece is mainly about the issue of the (un)freedom to display the apartheid flag, which preoccupied the national mood this past week.
It’s precisely because what the apartheid flag symbolises is the antithesis of the core message that Mandela sought to communicate and rally the people around. Incidentally, it is the Nelson Mandela Foundation that is spearheading the legal battle against AfriForum in the matter heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Wednesday. Exactly 28 years since Mandela’s first speech as President of South Africa.
Well, it is clear this country is not at peace with itself. The debate around the apartheid flag has indeed gripped the national consciousness and imagination. This came in the wake of the Afrikaner nationalist group, AfriForum’s legal challenge or appeal of the 2019 ruling of the Equality Court at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that outlawed the “gratuitous” display of the apartheid flag in both private and public spaces.
In terms of the ruling, such displays amounted to hate speech, harassment or attack on the dignity of black people. But, according to the argumentation of AfriForum, the court’s decision is a drastic act which amounts to the suppression of freedom of expression (as per Section 16 of the Constitution); and will most likely serve as a precedence that will affect the existence of other symbols through possible litigation in future.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation sees the moves for the “gratuitous” display of this flag as nostalgia for apartheid, the system described by the United Nations as a “crime against humanity”. Of course, this is in the light of what apartheid, as a racial onslaught, did to black people in this country.
It was an embodiment of white supremacy, racial exclusion, conquest, exploitation, domination, indignity, and untold pain and suffering meted out to the majority of the people of this land, the natives, by a minority group of white settlers. This underscores the reality that the flag and other symbols are powerful carriers of delicate messages.
On its own, the apartheid flag is a powerful socio-political statement in multifarious ways. However, AfriForum is unsurprisingly confident its prayers will be heard (and answered) by our courts. In any case, ours is a rainbow constitutional democracy.
In the immediate sense, the demand for the flagrant display of the apartheid flag can best be described as an arrogant expression of white supremacy, which is essentially an indictment on the fantastical construct of the “rainbow nation” painted by Mandela in the speech. It is a kick in the face of Mandela and all those who forcefully promoted reconciliation without justice.
It’s extremely embarrassing in that it exposes the folly nature of the 1994 project in many respects. It confirms the myth of freedom and equality in this country. We may not like to hear it, but this vindicates the stance taken by Black consciousness formations, notably Azapo and some Afrikanist leaders at the time: they had expressed misgivings and concerns about the negotiations with the apartheid regime.
Assuming that we understand that a flag is not just a piece of material as it communicates deeper messages, it’s compellable that we frankly ask ourselves reflective questions about our journey as a people in this 28- year-old political dispensation.
Is it about the apartheid flag or what it stands for? If it’s about what it stands for, why do we still contend with the vestiges of this obnoxious system almost 30 years into this so-called democracy? What are the prospects of the ANC government to successfully dismantle the legacy of apartheid? If we have failed to remove the footprints of apartheid, it will thus be correct to call the post-1994 arrangement a “neo-apartheid” state.
In that case, won’t the display of the apartheid flag be a representation of the reality in this country? In this context, we shouldn’t willy-nilly insist on calling this a free and equal society (or a rainbow nation) unless we are champions of rhetoric and lies. We need to elevate our perspective or discourse on this matter lest we continue to bury our heads in the sand.
Additionally, the issue of the apartheid flag touches on the painful wound of the failure of the ill-conceived reconciliation project, which was force-fed to black people. It’s a reminder that the oppressed reconciled with people who were never remorseful nor apologised for the centuries of atrocious domination over the natives of this land.
It’s a revival of the pain of the failure of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which allowed perpetrators of evil deeds against black people to walk freely without taking accountability for their deeds, while the victims of apartheid atrocities have been forgotten, neglected and simply given a cold shoulder by the ANC government.
Many have even passed away, while those still surviving are yet to receive compensation or reparations. In fact, the late 1990s saw a flood of apartheid leaders joining the ranks of the ANC; and rewarded with cushy positions in government.
FW De Klerk, until the last moments of his life, remained unrepentant about the apartheid system and negated the view that “apartheid is a crime against humanity”. As if that was not enough, some of the apartheid killing machinery, like Eugene De Kock (of the Vlakplaas notoriety), are reported to be living comfortably, housed and financially sponsored by this government.
These should teach black people that they live under an illusion and lie of freedom. It’s an embarrassing awakening to the reality that the revolution was not completed. The battle wasn’t won. Unfortunately, we mustn’t be shy to face the truth that the scorecard of the negotiated settlement indicates how the apartheid leaders outsmarted our leaders with the result that we have emerged with a shell of “political” power, which ensured that racial bigots remained truly powerful.
Why should we be shocked by the insensitive forays of apartheid beneficiaries to display the apartheid flag in this rainbow nation “led” by an erstwhile liberation movement, ANC. We have allowed them “gore ba re telele”.
We need the honesty and courage to concede that the whole country is an “apartheid flag”. It remains a dramatic scenery properly scripted by the apartheid playwright HF Verwoerd. Essentially, there are so many “apartheid flags” predominating the South African landscape. And these continue to traumatize the natives of this land.
It’s ironic that “Die Stem” is a core component of the rainbow national anthem, the Union Buildings has been retained, the name “South Africa'' has been retained and exalted (while we are scared to rename it Azania), and the racialised spatial planning still speaks volumes, and so forth. In short, the whole post-1994 arrangement is the old “apartheid flag”.
Logically, the ANC government should, at some point, be taken to task (or to court) and made to account for “gratuitously” flying this “apartheid flag” all over the country. Tinkering with the apartheid system in the last 28 years, in my view, amounts to sustaining the “apartheid flag”.
What benefit do black people derive from the so-called new “inclusive” or rainbow flag while the country itself is an embodiment of the “apartheid flag”? Thomas Sankara showed us how to do this thing. With immediacy!
The lobbyists of the apartheid flag are simply emboldened by the realisation that the ruling party has long abandoned the liberation agenda, and their focus is on leadership contestations and electoral politics. Our obsession with politics of patronage, corruption, and the stomach will, sadly, see us gifting even our organisations to our oppressors, the real owners of the apartheid flag, who have infiltrated the liberation movement through white monopoly capitalism (WMC).
We need to go back to the basics and do proper politics of liberation. The only way to deal a decisive blow to the “apartheid flag” is to radically overhaul the socio-economic patterns of this country to ensure that the wealth of this country is distributed fairly. The socialist ideals of the freedom struggle should be re-centred to our politicking. Unapologetically. It is ridiculous to seem to be worried about the apartheid flag while we are comfortable with the real experience of apartheid in the mining, farming, education, corporate sectors and so forth.
It’s painful that the sun seems to have set rather so quickly on “so glorious a human achievement” that Mandela had imagined exactly 28 years ago, on 10 May 1994. Let’s wake up and stop the real “apartheid flag” that has been sustained under the guise of the rainbow nation for three decades now. Mayibuye iAfrika. Izwe Lethu!
David Letsoalo is a Sankarist, an activist and Law academic