Archive for March, 2008
Apartheid Museum and Voortrekker Monument
The Commemorations and Memories of a Race Struggle
South Africa is one of the few countries in the world where the politics of revolution are a tourist attraction. Every backpackers lodge in Johannesburg offers a variant of the Soweto tour, and of course it is impossible to complete a visit to the Mother City without a trip across the bay to the penal settlement of Robben Island, where a peep into the prison cell of former president and iconic revolutionary Nelson Mandela is somewhat akin to a visit to Graceland. Moreover, one of the most compelling and popular sites on the urban map of South Africa is the Apartheid Museum of Johannesburg.
The Anti-Apartheid struggle of the 1980s was always more than the usual dry stuff of political revival, and had about it something of a global cultural movement. Symbolic shanty towns were built in the grounds of progressive universities the world over, and music concerts were held as old and young, academic or working class, punk rocker or hippie, were all in some way mobilized and involved in the last great push to end institutionalized bigotry and racism in Africa. The eighties generation is now the upper strata of the productive establishment, and has left it to a new generation to tour the halls of the Apartheid Museum in order to ponder and digest this vast anachronism that galvanized the world, and crumbled not a moment too soon.
Date: March 5th, 2008 |
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An Ode to the Landie
A few years ago Land Rover made the rather lavish advertising boast that seventy five percent of all models ever made were still on the road. Although that might be stretching a point, it is not stretching it that far.
These days the ubiquitous utility vehicle of the Anglosphere has borrowed more than is healthy from the SUV culture, meaning that the iconic Defender, that boxy, all purpose, everyman’s budget 4×4, has lost a lot of the original practicality that once made it the workhorse of the African bushveld.
There has always been a friendly rivalry between owners of the the FJ Toyota Landcruiser series and older Series I and Series II Land Rovers, as to which is the quintessential off road vehicle. If it was one’s desire to get behind the wheel and rough track it from Dar es Salaam to Harare without dipping into the toolbox, then the Toyota has always been the vehicle of choice. If, on the other hand, a certain amount of bush mechanics defines a great rough travel adventure, then the ‘Landie’ is, and has always been the preferred option.
The popular bumper sticker often seen on the back of a Landcruiser, that declares it the ‘Official Land Rover Rescue Vehicle’, is cheeky, but not a total lie. As a long time Land Rover owner and enthusiast I have owned an example of just about every marque prior to the age of the SUV, and can claim without exaggeration that I have broken down everywhere, under every circumstance, and with virtually every degree of severity. However, this being so, I can also say that I have never, at any time, been forced to get on my pins and walk any distance in search of a rescue. That peculiarity which makes the Land Rover the vehicle that broke the back of Africa, is simply that it can be repaired anywhere, and at any time, with a hammer, an adjustable wrench, a length of
bailing wire and a Swiss Army Knife.
Date: March 3rd, 2008 |
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