Full to overflowing - January 17-18, 2013
As the jet was circling and preparing to land, memories began to rise in my mind as if they were plants searching for sunlight.
I had been told that Johannesburg (or Joburg, as the locals call it) is a city of some 15 million inhabitants. The lights that defined the city showed even as we circled, that Joburg is indeed a sprawling metropolis.
What could not be seen from the air were the vast pockets of darkness which are to be found in such locations as Soweto and other areas of extreme poverty, so much a part of the fabric of this city ... nay of this country.
As it turns out, I wasn't far from the truth. Joburg has a population of about 13 million, but of this number, almost 6 million are migrants and refugees who have come from other parts of Africa. They have come to escape war and strife, hunger and misery. They have come ot South Africa, and to Joburg, like so many others before them because of the gold and the relative prosperity that is to be found here.
During the decades of apartid, Joburg's population was segregated: Whites, blacks orientals (mostly from India) and a fourth designation somewhat akin to malato each had their own designated areas of the city , and none of the population were permitted to visit areas of the city other than their own except for work, in which case they would have an identification card bearing their names and details about where they were employed. These cards were the only way to cross from one section of the city to another.
Still today, the black sections of the city are very poor, including Soweto (short for the South-Western Township). Despite extreme poverty, there are some meagre signs of hope: vegetables and fruit trees grow in little gardens outside the shanties that the locals call home, and residents are extremely proud of the the little they possess.
Also on the visit agenda for our day in Joburg was the Hector Peterson memorial, a tribute to the young boy and his school friends who marched in demonstration (with permissions granted) in order to demonstrate their desire to learn Afrikans in school, the Nelson Mandela Museum: the house where the Nobel Prize winner lived prior to his imprisonment on Robben Island, and the Constitution Hill Complex, once the site of the jail where blacks accused of various infringements were held, in very severe conditions. Only a few decades ago, part of hte Constitution Hill prison was demolished, and the bricks were incorporated into the new Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Like the Supreme Court of Canada, the Consitutional Court includes eleven (11) judges who hear matters of law which involve the need for interpreting the Constiution of South Africa. This is no enviable task since there are twelve (12) official languages in the country including nine (9) indigenous languages, sign language, English and Afrikans.
Joburg is indeed a keleidescope of language and culture. The largest city in South Africa is still attracting visitors and migrants because it is still an important trade city. In a continent which still struggles with many serious problems, South Africa shines as a beacon of hope, and Johannesburg is the city of promise, even as it struggles to respond to the needs of its millions of inhabitants.
As the jet was circling and preparing to land, memories began to rise in my mind as if they were plants searching for sunlight.
I had been told that Johannesburg (or Joburg, as the locals call it) is a city of some 15 million inhabitants. The lights that defined the city showed even as we circled, that Joburg is indeed a sprawling metropolis.
What could not be seen from the air were the vast pockets of darkness which are to be found in such locations as Soweto and other areas of extreme poverty, so much a part of the fabric of this city ... nay of this country.
As it turns out, I wasn't far from the truth. Joburg has a population of about 13 million, but of this number, almost 6 million are migrants and refugees who have come from other parts of Africa. They have come to escape war and strife, hunger and misery. They have come ot South Africa, and to Joburg, like so many others before them because of the gold and the relative prosperity that is to be found here.
During the decades of apartid, Joburg's population was segregated: Whites, blacks orientals (mostly from India) and a fourth designation somewhat akin to malato each had their own designated areas of the city , and none of the population were permitted to visit areas of the city other than their own except for work, in which case they would have an identification card bearing their names and details about where they were employed. These cards were the only way to cross from one section of the city to another.
Still today, the black sections of the city are very poor, including Soweto (short for the South-Western Township). Despite extreme poverty, there are some meagre signs of hope: vegetables and fruit trees grow in little gardens outside the shanties that the locals call home, and residents are extremely proud of the the little they possess.
Also on the visit agenda for our day in Joburg was the Hector Peterson memorial, a tribute to the young boy and his school friends who marched in demonstration (with permissions granted) in order to demonstrate their desire to learn Afrikans in school, the Nelson Mandela Museum: the house where the Nobel Prize winner lived prior to his imprisonment on Robben Island, and the Constitution Hill Complex, once the site of the jail where blacks accused of various infringements were held, in very severe conditions. Only a few decades ago, part of hte Constitution Hill prison was demolished, and the bricks were incorporated into the new Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Like the Supreme Court of Canada, the Consitutional Court includes eleven (11) judges who hear matters of law which involve the need for interpreting the Constiution of South Africa. This is no enviable task since there are twelve (12) official languages in the country including nine (9) indigenous languages, sign language, English and Afrikans.
Joburg is indeed a keleidescope of language and culture. The largest city in South Africa is still attracting visitors and migrants because it is still an important trade city. In a continent which still struggles with many serious problems, South Africa shines as a beacon of hope, and Johannesburg is the city of promise, even as it struggles to respond to the needs of its millions of inhabitants.
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