Beautiful South Africa

The strory is shared by a young African woman who traveled to South Africa in Winter 2011. During the World Cup. This happens in Johannesburg.

"During the flight, The plane hovers some countries in Southern Africa, in this night flight we an only see blue clouds and nothing else..The plane departed from Nairobi in the night to start its journey over Mozambique, Zimbabwe...In Zimbabwe we could see the town of Harare which was bright and then Tohoyandou in South Africa before landing on Johannesburg..One of the most largest and populous cities in the World!"

Johannesburg midnight: At the Airport OR Tambo people are not friendly it's really cold near the South Pole.

It was cold in Johannesburg due to the 2010 Winter. Johannesburg lies in the 28 to 33 in the south. GMT+1
"Johannesburg looks like Canada with the leafs on the ground and playgrounds. In quarters people are jogging with their dogs"

South Africans did invent anything it was Americans who did most. South Africans, French, British, Europeans, canadians just copied.  First with the crops(choco pops), they make their own cars, the German brand one (BMW..). On the TV.They copied all Americans programs and entertainment. There is "Oprah" of South Africa, The Bold and The Beautiful of South Africa(Isidingo [from a Zulu word: the need),"Idol played in Cape Town derived from "American idol", Big Brother is the same as the one of America( At the episode there was an Angolan(with a light skin, she was mad), a mixed Tanzanian, a Malawian, Ugandan, a South African(of course) regarding that it was played in the same buildings the previous episodes and in Johannesburg near the traffic.This episode was played by former candidates..)In South African commercials, movies, advertisement.., Whites look like white Americans and Black like African Americans , they may speak in Zulu in some scenes in their language and the Coloured also play.

 In South Africa, Whites look like Europeans, they behave as if they lived in Europe with their dogs(true European dogs), Teenagers have gothic style, there are disabled and older who probably knew the hard days of the Apartheid. White South Africans are true White, they mostly have blond, or red hair. nothing with the French or other Mediterranean but some have brown hair, they are Nordic or English. They descend from Dutch and other Europeans who cane to the South 400 years ago. In 1549 Bartholomau Diaz become the first European to long Africa coastline to find East Indies followed then by the other Portuguese Vasco Da Gama in 1588 who reached the Cape of Good Hope and then continued far to the Western coast at Christmas Day(Natal in portuguese). portuguese were not interested in the Southern parts that they decided to establish in the North of Natal their colonies which will become later the departure of innocent people to new American colonies in Brazil. Guinea Bissau, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, some parts of Congo and Mozambique are then Portuguese possessions. Duthc had also their colonies in Asia in the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia for spice trade. The Dutch East Companies(Vereenidge Oost-Indische Compagnie)departed from Nertherlands. They took the same route as Vasco Da gama but due to the elements in the top South. Their ship flew to the elements and the sailors who remained could survive on the hostile atmosphere and in the Cold Winter. They could wait the second ship one year later and then deciced to make this place where they survived a way-station for ships en route to East Indies. This place at the border of The Table Mountain was named "Cape of Good Hope", a windy place with beautiful sandy beaches and penguins.

Cape Town

Table Mountain

Former Dutch Flag

In 1652, The Dutch Jan Van Riebeeck too possession of the Cape of Good Hope. This date is the beginning of the Dutch presence in South Africa. The settlement became later a Dutch colony and a place of exil for the hundreds of French Huguenots who fled the peresecutions. Many of them with French family names as TerreBlanche, DuToit, DeVilliers, Marais..were given lands by the Governor Simon Van der Stel to cultivate, they could grow wines in Stellenbosch. The French was soon forgotten and Dutch learnt. The town of Frenschook is also an hritage of French Wine in South Africa. A new name was attributed to the new settlers in the southern tip of Africa. The"Afrikander"in Dutch meaning the "Africans" and  later deformed as"Afrikaner". They brought some diseases from Europe such as smallpox that devastated neighbouring stammering cattle breeder people. The Khoikhoi renamed "Hottentot". Due to the possessions of colonies in Dutch East Indies. Dutch brought from Indonesia, India, Malaysia and even Madagascar and Mozambiques, slaves to help them in farms. because most of them were poor farmers who tried to get a chance in South Africa( Kap Staad/Cape City). There were also immigrants from Germany (with family names such as Kruger) and Scandinavia.

San painting depicting the arrival of Western Bantu in South Africa 

Owing to a war with French, British started to get interests in the Dutch Cape colony which became a British dominion in the nineteenth century. British established their laws and practice. they abolished Slavery in the Cape Colony which generated the anger of the poor farmer the "Boers" with families, children, wives, servants, cows and carts. Boers started a long journey on unknown areas in the North of Cape. Their journey brought them to the large Vaal river. They compared their travel to Bible events when Moses and his people fled Egypt to promising lands in Israel. The voortrekkers were helped by the hunter-gatherers Sankhoi to survive on the Veld. The Great trek(Die Groot Trek) pass the Vaal river to the Transvaal region in the East Home to hostile tribes; the Zulu, Swazi, Tswana, Sotho. which led to bloody wars such as Bloody River Battle but conflicts and wars between Africans themselves let inhabited and wide lands to the Boers to settle as when Moises settled in Israel. The discovery of Gold in the Witwatersrand region brought thousands of pioneers from South Africa, Europe and even America to the rich Gauteng region in order to find fortune and wealth.

Gauteng Gold Rush-South Africa

 This area is perhaps the most concentrated in Gold in the World. This rush gave the city of Johannesburg. The gold was pumped from the soil, the work was done with the help of Zulu, Sotho and other  African workers. In another place a child found a huge piece of diamond in the Kimberley region and soon after the diamond rush started and founded the town of Kimberley in the Karoo. The Big Hole can still be seen in Kimberley as the result of Diamond found. Paarl is one of the cities founded from the diamond rush. At this time Afrikaner Republics were born.

The Orange Free State(Oranje Frijstaat)

Orange Free State flag

The Republic of Transvaal

Transvaal Republic Flag

Natalia republic

Natalia Flag

South African republic: Transvaal Flag

United States of Stellaland(Verenigde Staten Van Stellaland):

Stellaland Flag

Dutch Flag:

Dutch flag often used in Afrikaner republic Flags

At the end of the nineteenth century Anglo-Boer War stroke. There were Zulu in the Anglo-side. Kommando Boers used archaic weapons and horses during the Wars which will be used later by the Sotho in the highlands. The wars were provoked by the annexation of Transvaal and Orange Free State to British dominions. The rest of South Africa was part of the Cape colony and as territories in Africa were given to Great Britain during the Berlin Conference in 1885 a new project of rail road was set connecting Cairo in Egypt thousands of miles in the North to Cape Town in the South. British built concentration camps were thousands of Blacks and Afrikaners starved and died. Zululand as well as Bechuanaland (present-day Botswana) and Rhodesia(from Cecile Rhodes) were under British rule.

Union jack

 Louis Botha, Paul kruger(alias Oom Paul) to whom the "Kruger National Park" in the Transvaal was dedicated, and Andries Pretorius were eminent figures during the Anglo-Boer Wars. The second Boer War ended in 1909 after the treaty of Vereeniging was signed. The Afrikaner republics; Orange Free State Republic and South African Republic had to be annexed to Cape Colony and to the British Empire to form the New Union of South Africa. In 1910, South Africa became an Independent country.

Therefore, the New South Africa was celebrating the Union between Afrikaners and British South Africans. Dutch(later Afrikaans) and English became the two official languages. The new flag was the fusion between Union Jack and the two other former Boer Republic Flags(Orange free State and Transvaal Republic) inside the Dutch flag used by the Dutch East India Company in the Cape: Orange-White-Blue=Oranje-Blanje-Blou.

"South Africa National Flag"from 1928 to 1994

White South Africans were given all rights and control over wealth, resources and economy while Black were gathered in former and poor reserves called "Bantustan".

In 1947, the national party won the elections and a new policy of separation is set. Hendrik Verwoerd is known as the architect of this new policy. 

                                                       

                                                  APARTHEID means "apartness" in Afrikaans

                 

                    That means that any people had to be separated regarding their ethnic belonging in South Africa. 

   

  White and Blacks, Coloured and Asians hadn't the same rights. in every public places they had to be taken apart such as on transports, services, gates. In jobs White and Non-Whites hadn't the same job and justice wasn't the same for people of different race. the White was the one who had more right, than the Indian and the Coloured and lastly the Blacks. As well as in education, schools for Blacks were derisory. Their parents had to work as gardener, housemaid and cook in White homes. Any non-white had to present a pass before entering in a White area. Any non-white who wouldn't follow the rules would be kicked. Blacks had to live in poor areas in sub-urban towns far away from where they work, in "chic White quarter" where their White boss and family and dogs live. Nobody was there to denounce this policy. Anyone, any group who protested would be massacred or killed by the police or Army. Leaders were arrested, imprisoned and mistreated in prisons. Every privilege and value were given to the White Citizen. The Black was led to live in poor conditions with no hope for his wife and his children.

                             THIS TERRIBLE ERA OCCURRED FROM 1947 TO 1994. 

                             "This was the white achievement in South Africa"

Aparheid Museum Pictures

But Frederik Deklerk will soon become South African president and abolish apartheir and free "communist terrorists" in Robben Island including Nelson Mandela who wil be elected as the first president of the New Democratic South Africa. Blacks and white will wait in line to vote for their new leader. Madiba will also support the Boks during Rugby World Cup which will be the first worldwide event in South Africa. And South Africa won with the captain François Pinaar whoom Mandela trusted. The new national anthem will include Afrikanns, English but also Zulu and Xhosa. "Nkosi sikeleli Africa" was first written in Xhosa in 1911 by the ANC.

In South Africa then, Johannesburg, most people in the car are White. At 18:00 people return from job, the roads are full. There is security in quarters such as Sandton. Each house has a button to push on and portals are automatic. There are birds in gardens from different kind even ibis. Dogs are barking and from different breed: German shepherd, Pitbull, labrador.. There is also a new Black middle Class who live in white neighborhood. they also walk dogs from european races. Temperatures could drop to 2 degrees at night and there was eveen snow in eastern Cape! "Waving Flag" is almost the South African National anthem sang by many also represented in the Coca Cola advertisement during the 2010 World Cup.

Where Joseph Blatter used to live

South Africa glassed building

White people in South Africa re not necessary racist, 60% are normal despite the fact they have black maids who wash their clothes. 10% are really racist. White appaerance ranges from very blonde hair to ginger and brown hair plus few dark brown hair and few if not at all black. Thier french names: Devilliers, Dutoit, Terrblanche or Terblanche. Or Pinaar fro Afrikanns names. When you're black and walking on the street, white tend to avoid you, they will sometimes cross a whole road, and they will badly look at you. But it seems not to bother Black South Africans who gladly welcome them in restaurants and Café. They just seem annoyed by foreigners5mozambique, Zimbabwe, Congo) who supposedly "steal" their jobs and become vicitme of South African Xenophobia. Xenophobia is everywhere, Alexandra, Soweto, Cape Town, they talk about it on radio, TV, newspapers.. But British tend to be more peacefull than Afrikaners and it's actually them who were opposed against Apartheid. Like during Botha regime where many Black were killed or imprisoned in Robben Island. During Soweto riots, 700 young students were shot where protesting against the use of Afrikaans in school, including Hector Pieterson who will be carried by anonymous student and his sister running along desesperately crying for him. A museum was built in Soweto in memory to Hector Pieterson.

Hector Piterson shot and carried by an anonymous student.

Downtown Johannesburg is so empty

Mandela statue un Sandton-city

Many names in South Africa of older Apartheid representatives were replaced by those of Anti-apartheidreplensatitves such as Olivier R. Tambo. We can cite Mandela bridge, Mandela square, Mandela Bay etc.

Downtown Johannesburg looks like New York City-Manhattan

Random building near a mall in South Africa

South Africa Flag-Today