18 July 2012. It is Nelson Mandela Day today. Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All South Africans are asked to give 67 minutes of their time, whether it is supporting a charity or serving the local community.
Place of refuge
I am on my way to Refihlile Primary School in Botshabelo. Botshabelo, meaning a place of refuge, is a large black settlement set up by the then apartheid government 45 km east of Bloemfontein, Free State province, South Africa. It has a population of about 1,000,000, mostly Sesotho speaking inhabitants. It is a poor area with huge unemployment.
Refihlile Primary is a school that was selected for renovations by the Free State Department of Education and the Further Education and Training Colleges (FET). One of the criteria for the selection was the management and maintenance of the existing structure.
Madiba
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Mvezo, Eastern Cape (then Transkei), South Africa on 18 July 1918. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. This led to the formation of ‘Umkhonto we Sizwe’. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, Mandela was brought to stand trial for plotting to overthrow the government by violence, and sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison (Prisoner 466/64), off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.
During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela’s reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.
Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organisation had been banned in 1960, Mandela
was elected President of the ANC. At the country’s first democratic elections, 27 April 1994, he was elected President of the Republic of South Africa. Mandela stepped down in
1999 after one term as President. He is often called Madiba, a nickname taken from his clan.
Students on the roof
The renovations are done by students of the FET Colleges. There are four such public colleges, all spread out over the province. They came together to tackle this renovation project. It is their 67 minutes for Mandela Day. Gutters are replaced, floors tiled, classrooms painted, roofs repaired. The students are proud of their work and the school is happy with the results. Time to celebrate!
A huge tent is set up in the dusty school ground. Learners are running around, despite the clear instructions of the Department of Education that after singing the National Anthem and the special birthday song for Mandela, classes were to be resumed.
Singing and dancing
Together with someone from the Department we set up the tables, clean the chairs, dress the tables and chairs in pretty white and orange. It starts looking festive indeed. And then the guests arrive. An endless series of speeches start and the renovated building is officially handed over to the school. We sing the anthem and Happy Birthday for Nelson Mandela. The audience is mostly female. Most mothers and grandmothers are without a job and more than happy to attend this kind of events. Local choirs and performances entertain and warm up this cold, but blue skied winter day.
Lieve Leroy,
Programme Advisor for VVOB South Africa in Bloemfontein
