Small Talk?

by Doug Roland

Since arriving here three months ago, I have had quite a few people brief me, directly and indirectly, on the state of affairs in SA. For the most part, this is from white men. Some comments have occurred in a conversation and the others just in passing. There are three common elements.

One is that they are non-solicited. These were not the result of any questioning or curiosity on my part. Instead, it seems that each person wanted to be sure that I, as a foreigner and Americans, understood.

Another is that they relate directly to the end of apartheid. Comments or not, every adult can quote the year apartheid ended. This is not surprising. The end of the regime reversed everything having to o with government. The 89-90% black population and its leaders stepped into power. It is the day the Civil War ended, Armistice Day, and Kennedy's assassination combined - days you'll never forget if you were alive at the time.

Thirdly, there is a distinct tone, if not full expression, of anger or sorrow. These are common responses when a way of life is gained on the one hand and lost on the other. For winners and losers, things would never be the same.

The comments run quite a gamut. At the game park, a lady who grew up in Hillcrest said that she and her siblings used to be able to play outside without concern, free of fear, and all that. Today, high fences and gates surround most urban homes. She was lamenting the loss of the life she remembered. Another was the man who offered, ". . nothing is like it used to be." This was his take on how the activities at the Royal Exhibition Grounds in Pietermaritzburg had changed. That may seem a neutral or even positive observation, but not when his body language and voice inflection revealed an underlying anger. This morning at church, a gentleman asked me how long I had been here and had I been here before. I said it was my third time and he replied that I must be familiar with what had happened in the country. I gather I would have received a lecture from him had I not assured him that I knew the circumstances.

Saturday was probably the most interesting encounter. After a cursory introduction, the man said he needed to make sure I knew the truth of what was going on in the country today, specifically how crime is uncontrollable. He reckoned that this was because the 1994 constitution went way overboard to the "other side". Specifically, he believed that the 'hearsay rule' made it impossible to prosecute anyone. I know enough to know that the rights in much of the U.S. Constitution are also present in the South African constitution. I finally responded in arguing the merits of the hearsay rule (prevention of prosecution without sufficient evidence) and that moreover, his concerns were much more about government incompetence than flaws in the law. With that he calmed.

What is curious is why do they seem to have such a deep-seeded need to tell me about it, each one assuming that I know nothing. What am I supposed to do?

Some things are for sure. Before 1994, it is obvious to me even today that this was a white man's paradise for many people. When something like that is plowed under, it is painful to the losers. It does not heal quickly. It isn't pretty. Today, it isn't better for a significant part of the population. The verdict is still out on whether the ruling party, the African National Congress, is capable of governing responsibly. Corruption is in bloom. Of the white people we know of similar ages, nearly all of them have a child now living out of the country, Australia and the UK seemingly the most popular. The massive shift in power triggered a tsunami of emotion in everyone. Tangible results were inevitable.

I have no conclusions to this. They are just observations. It would be easy, as someone here to help in the healing that will take generations, to pass this off as people of sour grapes, children who had their toys taken away. But that would be wrong. There is a possibility that we as neutral parties are given the comments as part of their healing. We know that they love their country, that several of them support causes for needy people, and that indigent black people attend their church services. As for Mr. Hearsay Rule? Well, he and his wife sold their home last year to buy a run-down rural property on about 60 acres for the purpose of saving the lives of 13 severely disabled children, all black, who were being abused in the sense that the prior operator of the property was accepting payments from the government to care for the children. The property was in dreadful shape, the children sleeping on the cold concrete. They were kept alive and nothing more. This couple has exhausted all their resources for the sake of these children. And, they have a vision for the future.

Somewhere in scripture there is an imperative from Jesus to his followers to sell all that you have. Most of us turn our heads away, this being so "unrealistic". But these folks have embraced it. Through this Mr. Hearsay Rule may shed his anger and take comfort in a radical idea - that we exist to serve each other, especially the least of us.