A South African Story

If you read my posts, you will notice that they are primarily political musings. That's because politics - particularly South African politics - is a topic that I am passionate about. It's not only because I am a South African though, and because in South Africa (for a very long time) politics could literally kill you. It's also because I've been researching and writing a book that starts before apartheid came into being, winds through World War 2, and ends shortly after apartheid really took it's grip on South Africa. It's really a fictionalised accounting of my grandfathers life - growing up raised by a Xhosa woman, even though his parents were German and Welsh. It's also the story about how the advent of apartheid affected him - and his relationship with his 'brother' Sangapo. One thing the researching and writing of this book has taught me is that in a very literal sense NOTHING in South Africa's history is black and white. There are no absolutes. Not all white people supported or even liked apartheid. Not all black people support the ANC. Aside from all of that though, researching the Eastern Cape circa 1923 and beyond, and imaging myself in pre war Cape Town (where my grandmother made the decision to lie her way into the WAAF's at the age of 14) has really opened my eyes. There are stories from our past that no one in government today want anyone to remember - but those are exactly the stories we need to hear. We need to hear about the Xhosa woman who raised my grandfather when his mother died of consumption. We need to hear about how poor the British immigrants in Cape Town were - particularly those who came over to fight for the empire in the Boer War. We need to hear about how the ordinary people in South Africa felt about things like apartheid and forced removals. If we forget all those things, we will certainly repeat them, albeit it as a mirror image. I've signed up for NaNoWriMo this year, so I hope to finish the first draft of the book (working title 'The Other Side of the Story') in November. Wish me luck, and watch this space!