Last Update: Nov. 26, 2000
Last Update: Nov. 26, 2000 |
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South Africa in Cuba
Havana - The name Nelson Mandela is well known throughout Cuba. The majority of Cubans told reporter Kytie Koekblik that they have heard "very good things" about Nelson Mandela. Some even knew Mandela spent some time in jail. Most were very excited about Mandela, because "Cuba and South Africa are amigos." Despite this, most of them refused to believe "blanko" people lived in South Africa, and some were even prepared to argue about the fact that there are only "Negro" (black in Spanish) people living in "Sud-Afrika." Other more subtle traces of South African history in relation to Cuban history, were found in Havana. In a private restaurant, called a paladar, an an old black and white photo of the restaurant owner in military uniform was found. Kudu horns and other African crafts were also displayed. The restaurant lady was in her late forties with five kids, when she was sent off to Angola to fight against the South Africans. The lady laughed, and told the group of South Africans we were the enemy! Little did she know that The South African government was hiding the fact that SA had troups in Angola. While in Cuba, the editorial team received the unfortunate news of the death of the South African ambassador to Cuba, Makhaya Mosia, who died after a short illness in Cuba on Monday the 13th of November. The memorial service in Havana was lead by Mosia's fellow freedom fighter and friend of twenty years, Father Michael Lapsley, a victim of a parcel bomb during the apartheid years. Father Michael lost both his hands. The body of the ambassador arrived back in South Africa last Sunday. A new ambassador to Cuba has not been appointed yet. The South African embassy in Cuba recently moved to new premises. The Jamaican embassy is now stationed in the old SA buildings. The new embassy is a beautiful building in the Miramar suburbs of Havana. 189 South Africans are currently studying in Cuba. 186 medical students are in various provinces all over Cuba. Outside Havana, three South African students are studying sports, such as baseball and volleyball. The medical students said they are missing their home country very much. Most of them will be stationed in Cuba's provinces for another three years, completing a six year degree. The students received intense Spanish training in their first year, and are fluent in Spanish. They often have South African gatherings, where they braai and have traditional dancing and singing. Late Ambassador Mosia attended a special occasion on National Youth Day, June the 16th. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnIlda Jacobs Washington D.C. - Kytie is terug van Kuba af, en sy is misrabel. Hier in Washington is die lug spierwit, en dit lyk asof n kernwapen al die bome eensklaps skoongeblaas het.Die mooie herfsblare het binne een week afgeval, en die kaal bome doen niks om my gemoedstoestand te verbeter nie. Ek is so half depressief, omdat ek daar in die Kuba wat altyd aan my voorgehou is as 'n nare kommunistiese staat wat deur die U.S. gestraf word, iets ongeloof en nuuts ontdek het. Daar op die eilandjie het ek 'n alternatiewe manier van lewe ontdek. Asof die Kubane in hulle klaslose, kleurlose samelewing 'n resep uitgeving het om die beste van arme omstandighede te maak. Daar is 'n sin van gemeenskap, 'n manier van saamleeeeeef, en omgee wat ons dalk lankal in ons westerse samelewing verloor het. Al het jy min, deel jy dit met jou naaste. 'n Kubaanse rastafarian het dit so aan my verduidelik: Jy moet jou naaste liefhe soos jouself... Natuurlik n baie bekende versie uit n bekende Boek, en komende van n Rastafari uit 'n gemeenskap waar ek naasteliefde kon SIEN, het hierdie versie nuwe dimensies aangeneem. Ek mis Kuba. Ongelooflik baie. Boonop is dit 'n land waar die son altyd skyn. Tyd verloop ook stadiger as hier in die Estados Unidos... Daarom is ek ietwat depressief, en my kop hou nie mooi tred met realiteit nie. So deurmekaar is ek, dat ek simpele dinge aanvang. Heel suf, en vasgevang in die Kuba wat nou al hoe verder in my verlede wegraak, klim ek Dinsdag -oggend op die metro werk toe. Op my rug het ek 'n Baie Belangrike Backpack, met leers vol inligting en my splinternuwe Kubaanse rap CD en'n boks fol rekenaar stiffies. Na ek so twee ure voor my rekenaar gesit en tik het, besef ek skielik die hele sak het die hasepad gekies. Omdat ek so 'n deurmekaar kop het, is ek gewoonlik baie bewus van waar ek goed soos sleutels en sakke neersit, en eintlik selfs paranoies daaroor. Maar die oomblik as ek in die verlede begin vasklou en heeltyd terugdink aan iets wat ek mis, is ek vir die realiteit verlore...totaal verlore... Daarom, in die greep van post-Kuba blues, verloor ek toe my sak. Maar die Amerikaanse gemeenskap maak voorsiening vir als en nog wat. Drie dae na ek die sak verloor het, kry ek dit terug by die Metro Lost and Found. Ek kon dit nie glo nie. As ek 'n rugsak op n trein in die Kaap sou laat lê, was dit finies en klaar, die laaste sien van die blikkantien. Maar in die Amerikaanse gemeenskap, is daar dus nogsteeds earlike, goeie burgers wat nie in jou sak sal rondkrap, of steel nie. Ek het alles teruggekry, selfs my CD. Van die os op die jas: Amerika se verkiesings 2000 is besig om in 'n spektakel te ontaard. Nooit weer behoort ons te kla oor Suid-afrikaanse verkiesings boobies nie.. Ek het gedink as ek terugkom van Kuba af, sal ons al 'n nuwe president elect hê. President Elect 2000 is steeds 'n tergende misterie, en die nuwe president sal slegs met behulp van tegniese hofsake die nuwe president kan word. Ek weet nie mooi watter afleidings om te maak nie. Beteken dit die Amerikaanse electoral college sisteem moet dalk heroorweeg word? Of beteken dit die Amerikaase gemeenskap is verdeeld? En watter impak gaan die nuwe president hê op wêreldsake? Spesifiek vir Suid-Afrika, en vir arme eilande soos Kuba? Kuba het my 'n hele klompie nuwe perspektiewe op die lewe gegee. Miskien is dit hoekom enige reis-ervaring deure in jou kop oopmaak,omdat jou met ander oë na jou eie gemeenskap en lewe laat kyk. In die Verenigde State is daar SOVEEL van ALLES, en dit is werklik 'n gemaklike lewe, kos is relatief goedkoop, en daar is relatiewe vryheid en genoeg geld om nie te erg te sukkel nie. Na Kuba kyk ek selfs met ander oë na Halloween. Halloween is wel 'n wonderlike manier vir ma's en pa's om saam met hulle kinders pret te hê, maar ek kan nie help om te dink dat elke kind soveel lekkers kry dat dit 'n naarheid is nie.ek dink dalk moet ek volgende 'n Halloween persent na Kuba stuur, waar daar omtrent geen lekkers is nie. Dit wat wel beskikbaar is, is so duur dat die gewone Kubaanse burger dit nie kan bekostig nie. Hierdie mal idée het in my kop gaan vassteek: dalk moet ek volgende jaar 'n klomp "candy" bymekaar maak en aan die kindertjies van Kuba stuur..'n Baie onpraktiese idée, maar my bedoelinge is goed. Ek was in die middel van landelike Kuba op 'n grondpad, toe 'n klein dogtertjie met 'n koekie wat sy by 'n toeris gekry het, na my toe kom. Dit is een van daardie koekies met die icing tussenin. Sy kry nooit koekies of lekkers nie, maar sy het die boonste helfte van die koekie afgehaal, en vir my aangebied. Die min wat sy het, wou sy met my deel. Natuurlik het dit jou amper in trane. Vergelyk dit met die kinders wat alreeds soveel lekkers het, maar steeds meer wil hê, of nie bereid is om te deel nie.ek dink nogsteeds daardie Kubane het iets wat ons nooi gehad het nie, of lankal verloor het.. Kuba het my kop heeltemal deurmekaar gekrap. Dag vier in Kuba, ontmoet ek 'n jong ou, so drie jaar ouer as ek. Hy is 'n tattoo-kunstenaar, en praat natuurlik Spaans. Kytie besluit toe op die daad om 'n tattoo te kry, iets wat my vir ewig aan Kuba sou laat dink. Wat 'n ervaring, en 'n storie om te onthou..Ek en die Spanjaard kon mekaar glad nie behoorlik verstaan nie, en ek het dus my tattoo in Spaans gekry het... Op die Kubaanse Peso, so 'n bruin sent, is daar 'n vyfpuntige ster, en die pronk nou ook op my rug. As ek te veel verlang na daardie eilandjie waar dit groen is, en waar die son skyn, en waar ek regtige naasteliefde herontdek het, dan kyk ek na my tattoo. Ja, ja, ek weet dit is verewig op my lyf. Maar dalk wil ek verewig Kuba onthou, soos ek dit in die jaar 2000 ervaar het. Want wie weet, as Gore dalk ons nuwe president is, en as die embargo teen Kuba eendag tot 'n einde kom, gaan Kuba en sy mense dalk verander, of "verwesters." En dan sal my tattoo my vir altyd aan daardie hartseer paradys herinner. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] SA Soldier honored at Arlington Cemetery In Washington, DC, a long-forgotten South African soldier, buried in Arlington Cemetery, was honored last week with a function at the residence of the South African ambassodor Sheila Sisulu. Last year the soldier was honoured with a praise poem and a wreath-laying ceremony conducted by the South African Ambassador, Sheila Sisulu. According to the South African military attaché, Col Raymond Marutle, the morning tea on Veterans day was held at the embassy in order to ensure a better attendance. Unfortunately Ambassador Sisulu was away on business, and could not attend this years' memorial gathering. For nearly 50 years World War II soldier Lt. Victor Potgieter lay unacknowledged in a common grave in the US, until his family learnt of his whereabouts in 1981. The South African embassy began to pay annual Remembrance Day tribute at his grave site from 1993. This ceremony became a tradition and even under the ANC government's administration it has continued. Last year, Ambassador Sisulu paid tribute to the battle against fascism and Nazism that Potgieter smbolized. "That was the first freedom for us that was defended, and he represents that," Sisulu said. At the previous ceremony, poet Valliant Ntombela from Pretoria, who currently lives in Washington, also recited a poem he had written in honor of Potgieter. "Herein beneath lies a soldier, like a lost and found soul we fly our nation's flag above, new as it is and yet as old-hearted to redeem the injustice and misanthrope," he sang. Ntombela was inspired to compose these words during the 1998 ceremony. "I thought: What if it was my brother? Then I thought: I am South African and Victor Potgieter was South African, so it is my brother lying here, and he is part of me," he said. In his poem, Ntombela did include a cautious and contemplative passage. "For though I feel homely on your crypt, in your house I might not have dwelt... for our Nation's past has scars and our pace of change comes not as swift," he recited. The fate of Lt. Potgieter, who grew up in Carolina, Mpumelanga, and attended Wits before volunteering for active service in 1940, remained a mystery for half a century. He went missing in 1944 and his family in South Africa did not know his fate until 1981 when they read a newspaper article about an unknown soldier named Potgieter who lay unaccounted for in the United States; most revered military cemetery in Arlington, VA. The lieutenant's brother, Ben Potgieter of Arcadia, told the Pretoria News in 1993 that he believed his brother was involved in a clandestine operation when his plane was shot down. "Victor was home on leave from Egypt two months before his death," Ben Potgieter was quoted as saying. "He told me he had volunteered for a mission and he would be photographing bridges there were to blow up." When Potgieter was first brought to the United States, all the authorities knew was his name. He was not registered as being on a mission in the area with any army. With no other leads, his headstone was marked as a British soldier. The South African embassy has now requested that at long last Potgieter be given due recognition, with his grave stone reflecting that he was a brave South African freedom fighter. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] SA ambassador in Cuba passes away
Havana - The diplomatic corps of Cuba and several South Africans paid respects to fellow comrade Makhaya Mosia, the late South African Ambassador to Cuba, at a touching memorial service in Havana on Friday. Mosia served as the last chief representative of the ANC to the Republic of Cuba in 1992-1994, and in May this year he was appointed as the Ambassador to Cuba. He died after a short illness on the 13th of November. A group of 42 South African students studying medicine in the province Via Clara in Cuba, were bussed four hours to attend the service at the packed Eglesia Episcopal Sancticima Trinidad in Vedado, Havana. The students sang several traditional songs to honour the late ambassador, including the ANC freedom anthem "Hambakahle Mkhonto." South Africa's National Anthem touched the hearts of every person present at the Service. Father Michael Lapsley, the South African Anglican priest whose hands were blown off by a security police parcel bomb in April 1990, lead the memorial service. Both Lapsley and the South African minister of Justice, Penuell Mpapa Maduna were in Havana for the second Worldwide Solidarity with Cuba Conference when Mosia passed away. Father Michael met Mosia when he was a Umkhonto we Sizwe soldier. Father Michael and Mosia had been fellow freedom fighters and friends for twenty years. The night before Mosia died, he told Father Michael that it gave him the deepest satisfaction to see how his fellow comrades developed themselves. "He was not simply a soldier, but he was committed to the education of our party's people," Father Michael said. He also emphasised the friendship which Mosia established between the people of Cuba and the people of South Africa. The South African minister of Justice said in his moving tribute that very few people address the ills of this world. "Mosia spent his energy to change the course of this world" Maduna said. He praised Mosia's efforts to advance the cause of humanity, especially with regards to the Cuban people and the people of South Africa. "The relationship between us and the people of Cuba is at its very best despite the problems facing Cuba" Maduna said. He said the South African medical students in Cuba are the living proof that Cuba was Mosia's second home, because he worked effortlessly to secure a strong relationship between the two countries. Maduna also referred to the Cuban doctors who are working in South Africa under difficult circumstances. "Despite their own problems, the people of Cuba extend to us their meager facilities to give to people back home" Maduna said. "Mosia was an example for all of us" said the Deputy Minister of Cuba, Guerra Menchero, on behalf of government of the Republic of Cuba. "He had faith, love, charity and he believed in the victory of his people." Menchero said. The Dean of the Episcopal Cathedral, Father Juan Ramon de la Paz, said Mosia had devoted his life to unity for his people. "South Africa has been a good example for Cuba," de la Paz told the Congregation. The Jamaican Ambassador to Cuba, Carlyle Dunkley, said it was the "most moving memorial service" he had ever attended in his lifetime. Mosia's remains arrived in South Africa on the weekend, escorted by his brother, Lebona Mosia who delivered a tribute to his beloved brother in Havana.
"Today I am an academic," Mosia, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Head of Department of Journalism, said. "Mosia sacrificed his own career to make sure I do not end up as a tsotsi or a social outcast, I would have been a part of the statistics if it wasn't for my brother" the deeply emotional brother told the congregation. Mosia, who obtained in BA (Hons) degree specializing in French, Portuguese and Russian, was awarded the Order of the Lion by the President of Senegal for meritorious service as Ambassador in Senegal from 1996 1999. Mosia's work both during apartheid and in the New South Africa will be remembered. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] SA Ambassador to the United States featured in book Washington D.C. - The South African Ambassador to the United States, Sheila Sisulu, is featured in a new book about the growing women corps of ambassadors in the United States. "Then they were twelve" by Marilyn Sepochle, is a historical account of these female diplomats who are changing the international diplomacy scene. Andrew Young, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, writes in the foreword that the woman featured in the book share two common factors. "They come from countries that are either facing a difficult crisis or recovering from it. They are also academically and professionally well prepared for their mandate," Young writes. South Africa, Bulgaria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, El Salvador, Lesotho, Liberia, Luxemburg, Macedonia, Pakistan, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Swaziland,Uganda and Bolivia are all represented by a woman in Washington this year and these women are presented in "Then they were twelve." The author offers the reader a snapshot of the ambassador's country. Young writes in the forward that the reader is given insights into cultural attitudes towards women's rights and the ambassador's life, her career path, "the hurdles she has had to overcome, her conduct of foreign policy and her outlook on the world." The chapter on Ambassador Sisulu does not quite measure up to these criteria which Young had outlined. The chapter is structured into an introductory note and an interview with the ambassador. In comparison to the chapter on Ambassador Eunice Bulane from Lesotho, very little about Ambassador Sisulu is revealed in the chapter on her. The author seems to focus on the fact that Sisulu arrived in Washington "bearing a family name that was anointed in the trenches of war against apartheid." Sisulu is the daughter-in-law of Walter Sisulu, who is pictured in the book as "Nelson Mandela's closest friend in their four decade struggle against apartheid." The first page and a half of the book is a condensed history of Mandela's early career , with Walter Sisulu in the supportive role as his best friend. In a brief paragraph Sheila Violet Makate is mentioned as a young woman who was waging a war against the miseducation of black children. Her personal history is outlined in one paragraph, and it is mentioned that she "married Sisulu's son." The name of Sisulu's son is never mentioned. The origins of Apartheid are discussed briefly, and the author neatly outlines the South African ambassors' context upon arrival in Washington, a period between the Mandela presidency and the post-Mandela era. When the author "meets" Sisulu in the Washington embassy dining room, she writes "the reality is awesome South Africa's ambassador to the United States, a black woman named Sisulu!" Sisulu articulates the African Renaissance vision of President Thabo Mbeki in her interview with Sepochle, emphasizing one of the elements, economic integration through regional structures which will be enable Africa to engage in a global economy. "Cognizance has to be taken of the impact of apartheid on the economy of the region" Sisulu said. Unfortunately, besides mentioning Sisulu's name and the author's obvious general knowledge of South Africa, the chapter reveals little more about the Ambassadors' personality or her strengths. By contrast, the interview with the ambassador from Congo, brings out a much less acedemic picture of her role as representataive of her country. The closest glimpses of the woman Sheila Sisulu, is revealed when she speaks about her duties as ambassador and the other roles in her private life. "There are many challenges but because of the support system one gets as an ambassador; the household demands are less. Pressures as mother continue." She also says that both her mother and her mother-in-law are the two women who most inspired her. What Sepochle does capture, is Sisulu's knowledge and insights on every aspect of South African government, life and politics. Her well formulated answers reflects her intelligence and her vision as ambassador, which is to influence policy makers in favour of her country. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] [ Top ] |
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