Book Review : Long Walk to Freedom and Tutu, Voice of the Voiceless

 

To read biographies of great men of the past is like stepping into a time machine. And to read Long Walk to Freedom and Tutu, Voice of the Voiceless is like walking on the shoulders of giants.

Let me start with Long Walk to Freedom. It was a magnificent read. It is a very book but I finished it in three days. Buy it and read it, you will not be sorry. The book is vivid, detailed and well written. You feel Mandela's pain, joy and fears as he fights against the apartheid system that humiliates and oppresses his people. Mandela has secured his place amongst the greatest pan Africanists. He stands in the company of greats like Martin Luther King, Gandhi and to some he is the black equivalent of Jesus. However, like great leaders he remains controversial. He is beloved around the world and to many he stands in contrast to devils like Mugabe and Mobutu. Mandela was one of the few African leaders to voluntarily leave power when he didnt have to. He was not your typical African dictator who steals everything that is not bolted down. And yet to black South Africans he was a sell out, a Judas Iscariot who betrayed the revolution. And simultaneously, he is reviled by many white South Africans as a Marxist terrorist. I guess you cannot please everyone. Nevertheless, Mandela has immortalised himself in history by writing Long Walk to Freedom. His voice will echo throughout eternity.

I also read Tutu : Voice of the Voiceless by Shirley Du Boulay. It was a decent book but as exciting as Long Walk to Freedom. Since he was a religious leader there weren't many flights from the secret police, underground missions, lonely nights in the cell and near death experiences. Tutu embarked on a peaceful fight against apartheid and because he was a man of the cloth, the apartheid system could not touch a hair on his head without being subjected to the wrath of the international Christian community. Tutu was Martin Luther King whilst Mandela was Malcolm X. To read Voice of the Voiceless is to see apartheid for the ridiculous and unjust system that it was. A system that wanted its cake and to eat it too. A system that desired to exploit black labour whilst keeping blacks at arms length. A system that contradicted itself and collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity. 

On the other hand I do understand why apartheid was necessary. There is nothing wrong with living separately from other races and cultures. Multi-culturalism leads to a destruction of individual cultures and language. Plus, the present day crime statistics of modern day South Africa prove the blacks tend to engage in violent crime than white people do. Hundreds of murders and rapes a day is the norm in the Rainbow nation. But this is not surprising. Societies with lots of black people tend to be filthy, crime ridden hell holes and that is not because of the legacy of apartheid. That is just the way it is. Even black people do not want to live amongst other blacks. So why do we expect whites to live with black people? There should be freedom of association. Apartheid was not a crime, it was the taking of land, killing people, name calling and exploitation that was criminal.

If the whites who desired separation from other races had been serious about segregation they should not have used blacks as labourers in the first place. Sloth, pride and greed are three of the seven deadly sins that destroyed White South Africa. If white South Africans had not been so myopic they would have created a penal colony like Australia that utilised white labour. Then today South Africa would be a white majority country.

After 300 years of being in Africa, whites want a separate country but it is too late for that. Like Eminem said, 'You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow, because opportunities come once in a lifetime yo.' In their search for a white ethnostate Afrikaners have created Orania and English South Africans want the Western Cape to be independent but that time has long gone. They had centuries to build a white only state that did not depend on black labour but that ship has sailed. White South Africans must now deal with the consequences of the actions of their forefathers. Children are often punished for the sins of their fathers. That is cruel and unjust but that is the way of the world. Perhaps white South Africans will form a laager and succeed in their search for a homeland. Or maybe they will have to find a place in the Rainbow nation and live cheek by jowl with everyone else.

However, decades later and South Africa is at the precipice of an enormous crossroad. A wise man once said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And he was right. I am sure the creators of apartheid meant well and had good intentions. In their minds apartheid was the right thing to do. However their good intentions led to hell. And likewise, Mandela and his comrades had good intentions but those good intentions have led to a crime ridden South Africa that flirts with disaster. Nevertheless, no matter how bad South Africa seems, it is still a paradise compared to the rest of Africa. And this is why millions jump over fences and swim with crocodiles to breathe South African air. And that is thanks to people like Mandela and Tutu who helped create a democratic and semi-functional South Africa that is flawed but is still a giant on the African continent.