Already for some time, more than 10 years actually, I have a custom to visit an interesting country across (some) ocean every New Year’s. This time, I decided to visit South Africa. I must say before going there, I was somewhat concerned with the fact that South Africa has the reputation of a very unsecure country with quite high rate of murder and carjacking, but my temptation was too big, since I also heard wonderful things, especially about Cape Town and its surroundings. And, of course, there is a story of Nelson Mandela and how South Africa won its freedom. I knew the main points in the story, but was curious to find out in further detail why Mandela is often named as the most admired person in surveys throughout the world. After the visit, my admiration of what Mandela did is even much greater than it had been before. During my visit to Robben Island, I bought a T-shirt with the image of Mandela and with the text “History depends on who wrote it”. And I could not think of a better way how to summarize my impressions of South Africa and events that took place there during the past couple of decades.

When planning my trip, I focused most on Cape Town, where I stayed for a week - I also spent New Year’s Eve there (of which Cape Town is famous of). Before flying away from the area, I visited the famous wine land Stellenbosch and the surroundings. Afterwards, I spent 3-4 days in a safari lodge in the Greater Kruger National Park, and, finally, two days in Johannesburg. All in all – two packed weeks with full program and lots of things to remember and have nice memories of.

Planiravši put, usredotočio sam se najviše na Cape Town gdje sam ostao tjedan dana. Tamo sam također proveo Novu godinu – Cape Town je diljem svijeta čuven po vrlo živom novogodišnjem ozračju. Prije no što sam odletio iz tog područja, posjetio sam poznatu vinsku regiju Stellenbosch i okolicu. Zatim sam proveo tri-četiri dana na safariju u Nacionalnom parku Greater Kruger te na koncu dva dana u Johannesburgu. Sve u svemu, dva u potpunosti ispunjena tjedna s puno sadržaja i krasnim uspomenama. Razlog više da s vama podijelim ono što mislim da bi vam moglo biti najinteresantnije od toga.

Cape Town and surroundings

Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa, with a population of 3.7 million inhabitants, it is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever visited and probably the fullest New Year destination that a man can choose. Perhaps it could be compared to Sidney in a lot of ways – no wonder both are among top world destinations around New Year’s. Cape Town enjoys a nice climate at this time of year, a spectacular water front, striking nature around and within city boundaries, interesting cultural sites to visit, and fascinating history to learn from, excellent restaurants and good wine (all at very decent prices), good beaches and partying in the evenings. It also has lots of interesting activities in the city and around it, from which I have chosen probably the most popular ones - shark cage diving and visiting some of wonderful wine estates like Stellenbosch.

My hotel in Cape Town was located in city center, at walking distance from the main night life hub situated on Long Street. It was also close (a ten minute taxi ride) to other city attractions like Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay. City was packed as always is around New Year’s and one therefore taxi had to order the taxi around one hour ahead. Weather was perfect – sunny, but not too hot (25-30 degrees Centigrade).

I took the hop on hop off bus tour to see most sites in the city. One of the stops was the famous Table Mountain, a landmark of the city and the whole South Africa that also features on the flag of Cape Town. There is a cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain which is slightly more than 1,000 meters above the sea level. When you step out from the building with the cable car, you find yourself on a flattish plateau that is approximately 3 kilometers wide and long and is edged by impressive cliffs. The view from the Table Mountain can be only described as spectacular. You can see the whole of Cape Town and the wonderful scenery around it. Due to its uniqueness and beauty, as well as interesting geology and rich biodiversity, Table Mountain is named as one of world new Seven Wonders of nature (together with the Amazon river and Iguassu waterfalls, for example). hop on, hop off tura) kako bih vidio većinu lokacija u gradu. Jedna od stanica bila je poznata Table Mountain (gora), atrakcija po kojoj su cijeli grad i cijela Južna Afrika poznati. Ona se čak nalazi i na zastavi Cape Towna. Na vrh brda koje se nalazi oko tisuću metara iznad mora vozi vas suvremeno opremljena žičara. Kada izađete iz građevine do koje žičara stiže, nađete se na platou širokom i dugačkom oko tri kilometra, okruženom impozantnim klisurama. Pogled s Table Mountaina zaista je spektakularan. Možete vidjeti cijeli Cape Town i predivnu prirodu oko njega. Zbog njezine jedinstvenosti i ljepote, ali i zanimljive geologije i bioraznolikosti, gora Table prozvana je jednim od novih svjetskih čuda prirode (zajedno s rijekom Amazonom i slapovima Iguazu, da spomenemo još neka od njih).

In Cape Town, there are also some remainders on the past Apartheid regime: famous District 6, for instance - former inner-city residential area. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed from there during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. Before this act, it used to be a relatively cosmopolitan area made up largely of colored and black residents and smaller numbers of Afrikaans, whites, and Indians. Government officials cited a couple of reasons for the removal, such as the necessity for separation of the races, too much crime etc., but most residents believed the government sought the land because of its proximity to the city center, Table Mountain, and the harbor. On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a whites-only area, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60,000 people were relocated to the township some 25 kilometers away. The old houses were bulldozed. The only buildings left standing were places of worship. However, international and local pressure made redevelopment difficult for the government. Since the fall of the Apartheid, the South African government has recognized the older claims by former residents to the area, and committed to support rebuilding. In 1989, the District Six Museum Foundation was established, and, in 1994, the District Six Museum opened. It serves to remember the events of the apartheid era as well as the culture and history of the area before the removal.

Another reminder of the times during Apartheid is Robben Island – an island with top security prison located just 7 kilometres west of Cape Town. This was the place where most of political prisoners in South Africa served their time during the Apartheid regime, and where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. When you embark from a boat on Robben Island, you are greeted with the sign on the coast that sends a strong message: “Freedom cannot be manacled, shattered and undermined”. We were led through the prison by ex convicts that were also on Robben Island as political prisoners able to tell authentic stories about how it was there and how they felt. Robben Island was the place where the political future of South Africa was created, among political prisoners who were later the ones leading the country after the Apartheid regime collapsed.

Besides Table mountain, the most famous landmark of Cape Town is Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront. Situated in South Africa’s oldest working harbor, it offers a wide variety of things, ranging from numerous restaurants, cafes, pubs and taverns, together with a host of shopping and entertainment options for visitors (450 retailers, 10 hotels and over 80 eateries, including 12 fine dining restaurants). It has 22 official historical landmarks on-site and remarkable views of the Atlantic Ocean, Table Bay Harbor, the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain. V&A Waterfront contributed almost 20 billion USD to South African economy over the last ten years and attracts more than 23 million visitors annually, which makes it the most visited destination on the African continent.

Another landmark of Cape Town surroundings are Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. The full day Cape Penincula tour, which I took from Cape Town, takes you to this world famous sites. The first European that reached the Cape of Good Hope was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, in 1488, who initially named it "Cape of Storms". A few years later the King of Portugal named it “Cape of Good Hope”, because of the hope and optimism connected to the opening of the sea route to India and the East. It was once believed that it represents the most southern point in Africa and that, at the place, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet. Today it is known this is not so. Although Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope are very well known and they represent the biggest tourist attractions due to the fact they are conveniently placed in proximity to Cape Town (and Cape Point also includes a very nice sightseeing spot at the lighthouse on the top of the rock), neither cape actually represent the most southern point in Africa. This is actually Cape Agulhas, located approximately 150 kilometers further east-southeast. Also, the point where Atlantic and Indian oceans meet really fluctuates between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point (depending on currents). Further proof that it is the mix of marketing, history and convenience that makes the place famous and not the actual significance and meaning of the place itself .

There are numerous options for going out in Cape Town around New Year’s. There is the famous Long Street with lots of clubs and bars, then there are also a couple of good clubs – some on the top floor overlooking the city and some on the beach with nice, relaxed atmosphere. There are lots of foreigners from around the whole world about town and it is very easy to engage them in conversation and consequently have a good time. There are also some places with traditional African music, featuring songs with African rhythms by famous artists like Mama Africa (Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist and the first artist from Africa to popularize African music in the world). New Year’s celebration was a very lively one, with lots of big venues in the city featuring famous DJs - like Goldfish at the Botanical Garden (which I had a chance to hear a few days earlier at a beach club), a range of DJs on the main square, crowded clubs and bars in the Long street and lots more. My hotel had also a big celebration in front of it (with a nice crowd, good DJs, fireworks and stuff), so I decided to stay and commute between this party and the Long Street – which proved to be a very good option. rooftop barovi i klubovi), a i na najpoznatijim plažama može se pronaći dobra i opuštena atmosfera. Posjetitelji dolaze sa svih strana svijeta i vrlo je lagano zapodjenuti razgovor s njima i dobro se provesti u bogatoj multikulturalnoj atmosferi. Tu su i neka mjesta s tradicionalnom afričkom glazbom – ritmovima poznatih zabavljača kao što su Mama Africa (Miriam Makeba, s nadimkom Mama Africa, bila je južnoafrička pjevačica, dobitnica Grammyja i aktivistica za prava građana; prva umjetnica iz Afrike koja je popularizirala afričku glazbu u svijetu). Proslava Nove godine u gradu bila je vrlo živa. Na mnoštvu lokacija diljem grada nastupali su poznati svjetski DJ-evi (poput Goldfisha u Botaničkom vrtu – koje sam već imao priliku slušati nekoliko dana ranije u jednom cool klubu na plaži), na glavnim gradskim trgovima organizirane su proslave, a barovi i klubovi na Long Streetu, naravno, bili su prepuni. I ispred moga hotela odvijala se velika proslava na kojoj su zajedno bili i stranci i lokalno stanovništvo (uz dobre DJ-eve i prigodni veliki vatromet), pa sam odlučio jedno vrijeme biti tu, a ostatak uživati u zabavi na Long Streetu  – što se pokazalo dobrim izborom.

Another site worth mentioning is the Botanical Garden of Cape Town which is very beautiful and is definitely a place to be recommended. There are numerous options for dining and I must say the steak I had in a restaurant called the Nelson’s Eye is, according to my opinion, after top Buenos Aires restaurants, the second best steak I have ever had. It was ovened with pepper sauce, very tender and juicy – just as it should be. Fish food too is also very tasty in Cape Town restaurants, but my favorite food experience from Cape Town and South Africa was actually the Sushi Restaurant Willoughby’s at the V&A Waterfront. Sushi there, served with shrimp on top, was just to die for. And South Africa has also very lovely wine that come with a very affordable price tag, for our standards. Price to quality ratio they offer is superb and one of best value for money propositions I have found in any country. steak koji sam pojeo u restoranu Nelsonovo oko vjerojatno je jedan od najboljih koji sam ikada imao priliku kušati (nakon, naravno, vrhunskih restorana u Buenos Airesu i najboljih kobe steakova u Tokiju). Bio je pripremljen u pećnici i poslužen s umakom od papra. Bio je vrlo mekan i slastan, upravo se topio u ustima. Riblji specijaliteti također su vrlo ukusni u restoranima u Cape Townu, ali moje najdraže gastronomsko iskustvo iz Cape Towna i Južne Afrike bio je suši-restoran Willoughby’s na rivi V&A. Suši na ovome mjestu, poslužen sa hrskavim škampima na njemu, prelivenima prigodnim umakom, zaista je nezaboravno iskustvo i pravo kulinarsko kreativno remek-djelo. Južna Afrika također ima vrlo dobra vina koja su cijenama prilično pristupačna i za naše standarde. Omjer cijene i kvalitete prvorazredan je te pruža jednu od najboljih „vrijednosti za novac“ na koju sam naišao u bilo kojoj zemlji koju sam posjetio.

The wine country and wine estates close to Cape Town I had a chance to visit were really very nice. I was staying overnight at Stellenbosch city, famous as the heart of the region of Stellenbosch and Paarl  Franschhoek valleys, that jointly form the Cape Winelands – the larger of two main wine growing regions in South Africa. I passed through a couple of most famous wine estates and I had my chance to do a wine tasting of a couple of wines and enjoy wonderful surroundings of the vineyards, as well as, in some cases, lovely interiors and views around the valley. The most impressive one, for me, was the Rust en Vrede estate, where I tasted, at least I think so, the best Syrah (Shiraz) in my life ever. And the Wine estate was really special and the restaurant in it was great. There, I found out that Rust en Vrede became, in 2000, the first South African winery to be included in the prestigious “Top 100 Wines of the World,” by the widely influential US wine magazine Wine Spectator, repeating this achievement numerous times later. Also, in 2009, the restaurant there was included in the list of Top 100 Restaurants of the World. And finally, in 1993, President Nelson Mandela selected Rust en Vrede wine to be served at the Nobel Peace Prize dinner in Oslo, where he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. So I guess it is small wonder I was impressed and obviously I was not the only one.

Surroundings of Cape Town are also well known for having White Sharks, especially at some places as Gansbaai - which is a couple of hours’ drive away from the city. I could not miss the opportunity to look at the “Great White” from close distance (and pet them if possible ). So I took a full day shark diving tour to Gansbaai and tried cage diving next to sharks as well. It was quite an interesting experience. You board the ship together with a group of around 25-30 people and sail for some time (perhaps 30-45 minutes) into the Gans bay. When the boat stops, the crew take the cage out and place it on one side of the boat. They also take pieces of bloody fish and throw them in the water next to the cage. Next we took diving suits and masks and, in shifts of 8 or 9 people per shift, we went into the cages and waited for the signal which meant the crew saw the white shark approaching. The bait with bloody fish was thrown in front of the cage so the White shark would go for it exactly towards or next to the cage. When the great White was spotted, the crew shouted “dive!” and we all went underwater, watching the white shark approaching us and passing one or two meters next to the cage (sometimes even hitting the cage in the way). I had a chance to see the shark (or sharks) up close and personal on perhaps 5-6 occasions while in the cage and also numerous times while on the boat waiting for my shift to come (each shift went 3 times into the cage for about 15-20 minutes). All in all, quite a weird experience and that did not seem that dangerous at all. This would be, on the other hand, a totally different experience if I would be in water and outside the cage, not knowing when the Great White would appear. So people there came up with this very nice and safe way to see these amazing creatures from very close distance.

Kruger National Park

After having a great time in Cape Town and surroundings, the next stop on my trip was a visit to safari lodges next to the Kruger National Park. Having in mind the size of South Africa, this was of course a distance one had to cross by plane. The Kruger national park is very big, and, as a matter of fact, it is one of the largest national parks in the world. The greater Kruger area is even bigger and covers around 20 million hectars (HA) or 20,000 square kilometers. It consists of the Kruger National Park and Associated Private Nature Reserves, (APNR) - association of privately owned nature reserves bordering on the Kruger National Park where my safari lodge was located.

After having a great time in Cape Town and surroundings, the next stop on my trip was a visit to safari lodges next to the Kruger National Park. Having in mind the size of South Africa, this was of course a distance one had to cross by plane. The Kruger national park is very big, and, as a matter of fact, it is one of the largest national parks in the world. The greater Kruger area is even bigger and covers around 20 million hectars (HA) or 20,000 square kilometers. It consists of the Kruger National Park and Associated Private Nature Reserves, (APNR) - association of privately owned nature reserves bordering on the Kruger National Park where my safari lodge was located. off road vozila, dok se u njima može voziti posvuda po divljini i na taj način prići na nekoliko metara lavovima, leopardima i drugim životinjama. Za one koji vole safari i imaju dovoljno novca i vremena, možda je najbolja kombinacija 2 – 3 dana u odmaralištu i 2 – 3 dana u Nacionalnom parku Kruger nakon toga (tako su mi barem rekli vodiči).

For safaris we used the Toyota Landcruiser adopted to have up to max 13 seats and stronger front side for the off road drive (we were literally going over the bushes with the car). The safari vehicle also includes a seat for the tracker in front of the car, who goes together with a ranger and is trained to read animal tracks and direct us in the area where we could find them. Lodges had certain designated areas, but they also made an arrangement between themselves to use each other’s allocated space and, in this way, we were going through the pretty wide area during the 3 days that I was there. off road vožnju (jer smo doslovno gazili grmlje automobilom). Ovo vozilo za safari također je uključivalo sjedalo za izviđača u prednjem dijelu automobila, koji je išao s nama na safari-ture zajedno s rendžerom i obučen je za čitanje tragova životinja. Time nas je upućivao na područja gdje možemo naći zanimljive životinje. Posjedi imaju određene granice, ali imaju i međusobne dogovore da jedni mogu koristiti prostore drugih. Tako smo u tri dana safarija prokrstarili gotovo cijelim i prilično širokim područjem Sobi Sansa.

During these 3 days, I was able to see all of the “African Big 5” and a lot more interesting animals. The term "Big 5" refers to the African lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. It was coined by big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently, the term was adopted by safari tour operators for marketing purposes. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size. Besides these, I was able to see, from very close distance, also cheetahs (that can run up to 120 km per hour and are the fastest mammal), impalas, rare species of hyenas, hypos and a lot more interesting animals. We were in the car, passing by wild animals just a few meters away. Although wild animals looked quite peaceful and not very dangerous, the ranger warned us going outside of the car in the proximity of wild animals could be very dangerous and that, for example, the lion in attack can cover more than 20 meters in less than a second.

 

It was rather funny that our group ranger (named Andreis) was especially pissed at the Lion king movie because of lots of incorrect things in the story. For example animals in fact don’t have personalities and lions don’t live in a jungle and they sleep during the day and not during the night as the song says (“In the jungle the mighty jungle, lion sleeps tonight”). One other interesting thing is we were not allowed to move in the camp during the night without escort, as sometimes wild animals can break into the camp. During the time I was there, this happened with a small leopard and a few elephants – which broke into the camp during the night. But since everybody listened to instructions, nobody got hurt and we all had a wildlife experience during our stay.

Johannesburg

The first thing that came to my mind and the first thing I heard about Johannesburg before going there is some call it the carjacking capital of the world, due to extremely high rate of hijacked cars, this while people drive them (among, if not the highest in the world – each year more than 5,000, according to statistics). Apart from this fact, in general, the crime rate in Johannesburg, or Joberg as locals call it, is very high. I found the statistics from 2007 according to which murder in the Johannesburg municipality amounted to 1,700 in 2007, which makes the rate of 1 on each 2,500 inhabitants being killed every year. Not very encouraging. Based on all this, I decided to make my visit to Joberg quite short – only a day and a half (one overnight). In the end, I didn’t have any negative experiences and it would have probably been better if I had stayed one more day to see some more interesting things.carjacking capital of the world) zbog visokih stopa krađa i to u dobroj mjeri dok ih ljudi voze i bivaju istjerani iz svojih vozila vatrenim oružjem (prema statistici koju sam našao na internetu, svake se godine ukrade više od pet tisuća vozila). U Johannesburgu, ili Jobergu kako ga lokalni stanovnici zovu, stopa kriminala općenito je vrlo visoka. Pronašao sam brojku za 2007. godinu koja kaže da se u Johannesburgu te godine dogodilo 1700 ubojstava. Time dolazimo do zastrašujuće brojke od jednog ubojstva na svakih 2500 stanovnika svake godine! To baš i nije ohrabrujuće. Na osnovi takve statistike odlučio sam da će moj posjet Jobergu biti vrlo kratak – tek dan i pol (jedno noćenje). Na koncu nisam iskusio nekakve negativne doživljaje i vjerojatno bi bilo bolje da sam ostao još jednu noć kako bih vidio još zanimljivih stvari (a možda i ne J).

According to a 2007 survey, the population of Johannesburg is 4.4 million inhabitants, and, for greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area, it is more than 7 million, while, townships included (like Soweto), broadly defined, Johannesburg has more than 10 million inhabitants – which is 20% of the population of South Africa. With this population, Johannesburg is one of the 50 largest urban agglomerations (city with wider areas) in the world and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline.

Townships are generally areas with more poor inhabitants and could be compared with, for example, slums in South America (Brasil especially). The biggest and the most famous township of Joberg is Soweto. It is famous due to the fact that this was the place where the uprising begun in 1976 (with students participating mostly). These protests are known as the Soweto uprising. Soweto was incorporated into Johannesburg in 1994 and, earlier, the apartheid government was separating Soweto from the rest of Johannesburg to make it entirely a black-residents area.

Johannesburg is quite a young city. It was established in 1886, as a consequence of the fact that gold was discovered in this area in 1884. During the Gold Rush, South African gold production went from zero in 1886 to 23% of the total world output in 1896. At the same time, and already in 10 years, the city accrued 100,000 inhabitants and was one of the fastest growing cities ever. This was probably the main trigger for the second Anglo-Boar war (1899-1902) for gold domination. The British won the war and they let the Boars to establish the state in 1910 (with Pretoria as a capital), but in return, retained control over gold. It is estimated that, in the beginning of 20th century, 25% of world gold supply came from South Africa – mainly from Johannesburg. Due to this discovery, Johannesburg became the center of all activities in South Africa and the wider region.

During my stay in Johannesburg I visited the Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 as testimony to the 20th century South Africa in which the Apartheid story was strongly determining the country and people in it during the period. The Museum is very interesting and shows what was happening in SA in terms of segregation, discrimination and the attempt to create a society which was neither democratic, nor human, nor sustainable. Watching exhibits, newspaper extracts and video clips, man wonders how anybody was thinking that this is fair, just and that this kind of society could function without severe consequences for the entire country and all its citizens (regardless of color). It is very logical that violence and high crime rate are still there as a consequence of this period. Later, while we were driving around Johannesburg, I noticed lots of houses (all the nice ones for sure) have electric fences which was further proof what inhabitants think of safety in Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela had a law practice in Johannesburg until he was sent to prison. Interestingly, one more big historical figure of the 20th century had a law office in Johannesburg. This was Muhatma Ghandi. He lived between Durban and Joberg for more than 20 years. And it was discrimination directed to all colored people in South Africa that motivated Ghandi to fight for human rights and against injustice and develop his famous methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, as means of fighting white dominance. This was later perfected when he returned to India where he managed to lead India towards independence. Ghandi was a true role model for Mendela who started teaching and applying his policies during his time in prison.

Nelson Mandela imao je odvjetničku praksu u Johannesburgu dok nije završio u zatvoru. Zanimljivo je da je i jedna druga velika povijesna ličnost dvadesetog stoljeća imala odvjetnički ured u Johannesburgu. Bio je to Mahatma Gandhi. On je živio na relaciji Durban – Joberg više od 20 godina. I baš je diskriminacija prema svim obojenim ljudima u Južnoj Africi motivirala Gandhija da se bori za ljudska prava i protiv nepravde te da razvije svoju čuvenu metodologiju nenasilnog protesta (Satyagraha ili posvećenost istini) kao sredstvo za borbu protiv bjelačke dominacije. To je kasnije usavršio kada se vratio u Indiju i poveo je prema nezavisnosti. Gandhi je bio istinski uzor Mandeli koji je započeo s proučavanjem i prakticiranjem Gandhijeva učenja za vrijeme svog boravka u zatvoru.

South Africa during the Apartheid and Nelson Mandela – the Long Walk to Freedom

There is a Chinese curse which says “May you live in interesting times," which means it is always better to live during the “boring” time of peace, then during time of rapid changes. During the second part of 20th century South Africa was the country with perhaps biggest change occurring, when the country moved from the Apartheid system which was discriminatory and inhumane, towards democracy. This transformation was very difficult, required very long time, while the central figure who led the process of transformation and enabled it proceed without major wars and bloodshed, was of course - Nelson Mandela.

Apartheid is the name of the racial institution established in 1948 by the National Party that was the leading political party in South Africa, reflecting the fact whites only had a right to vote (all the way till 1994). The term literally means “apartness” and represents a violent and repressive policy designed to ensure whites, who comprised 20% of the nation's population, would continue to dominate the country. As a result of the Apartheid, numerous policies were put in effect to ensure the segregation of whites and others. Marriages and sexual intercourses between Europeans and non-Europeans were prohibited and every South African was categorized by race - whites, blacks, colored. People were obliged to carry on them, at all times, a card stating their racial identity and black workers were required to use different public transportation, post offices, restaurants, schools, and even separate doors, benches, and counters.

Areas of land were marked for different racial groups and it was illegal for people to live in any but their designated areas.  As a consequence, thousands of Africans were moved into racially segregated neighborhoods (just like the eviction from District Six in Cape Town). All this seems unreal and it is difficult to believe this was happening from today’s perspective. The international community felt resentment about the Apartheid and reacted accordingly. In 1974, South Africa was expelled from the United Nations and severe economic sanctions were imposed against it.   Isolation and sanctions created pressure on the South African government, but change had to come from the inside. And this is where Mandela stepped in and played a critical role.

Due to the fact that he was son of a respected advisor of the village chief where he was born, Mandela had a chance to get very good education, which was very rare in case of blacks in South Africa. He finished law school, moved to Johannesburg and started working as a lawyer, soon opening his law practice. Being witness and exposed to the racism and segregation of Apartheid, he had to react and so he joined the African National Congress (ANC) – the strongest organization fighting against the Apartheid. The ANC was banned after some time and therefore activities of its members, including Mandela, were outlawed. Mandela, at the, time already became one of the main symbols of the resistance. He was at the time at his full strength, handsome and sporty. One of most famous photos of Mandela is from the time when he was practicing boxing on a Johannesburg roof. Having married for the second time, to Winnie, who was also an activist and was a very energetic and attractive young woman, the two of them represented the electrifying image of revolution and change everybody hoped for. Mandela was then much more radical and aggressive, convinced the ANC had no alternative to armed and violent resistance. He was actually representing the militant wing of the ANC. He believed then in using force as means of achieving the desired goal – the end of Apartheid.

Mandela was arrested for the first time in 1956, but, this time, after two years, charges against him and the whole group were dropped. He was arrested for the second time in 1962. The South African government generally deemed Mandela and his co-defendants violent communist saboteurs. The defendants used the trial to highlight their political cause and get international attention (which they succeeded in doing). At the opening of the defence, Mandela gave a three-hour speech. That speech was widely reported in the press despite official censorship, and it is considered as one of his greatest speeches. The most famous quote from the speech strongly emphasizes Mandela’s personal drive for fighting against the Apartheid and is today known as perhaps his most famous quote. It goes as follows: “During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But, My Lord, if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” In 1964, Mandela and two of his co-defendants were found guilty on all charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death.

Mendela spent altogether 27 years in prison - 18 years on Robben Island, 7 years in another jail and 2 years on a farm near Cape Town. As mentioned, I had a chance to visit Robben Island and, as you can imagine, it is not a nice place to spend 18 years of your life on. Walking around Robben Island, I had to think of as well of political prisoners in Croatia and of “Goli otok” (known as the “Croatian Alcatraz”), which, in some way strongly reminds one of Robben Island. Also, I had to remember my grandfather, who was a political prisoner in the 50s, just for the simple fact that he loved his country and wanted Croatia to be independent. He spent more than five years in different political prisons around Croatia, was beaten heavily lots of times and also spent 6 months in solitary confinement. He was saved after the 5 years by the same person whose life he saved during World War II and was later in the position to return the favor. After exiting the prison, my grandfather decided not to have anything with politics any more (using the famous Croatian saying that “politics is a bitch”), after seeing how some people betrayed him and others changed their opinions and beliefs “as the wind blows”. After he exited the prison, he became quite a successful entrepreneur, this during the time of socialism – which I often use as proof anything is possible.

I am a true believer in difficult times bringing the true nature of man. Some convicts from Robben Island became alcoholics or gave in to other vices or signs of weakness and despair. But not Mandela. It is known Mandela used to often recite his favorite poem Invictus (about not giving up) to his fellow prisoners. Prison shaped him to be even much stronger then he was when he entered jail 27 years ago. He became more disciplined, self-controlled, tolerant and, of course, wise. Also, the Soyagrata teachings from Ghandi were something he learned and started to apply in prison. Satyagraha bilo je nešto iz čega je učio i što je započeo primjenjivati u zatvoru.

During the visit to Robben Island I asked the tour guide to tell us the story about how Mandela behaved in prison and he told us the Eddie Daniels story. Eddie Daniels was a minor and not so important political prisoner that served on Roben Island with Mandela. One day he got sick and didn’t come to hard labor in the Lime Stone mine. During the working hours in the mine, Mandela asked about him and was told that he was sick. Having returned to cells, Mandela came to his cell and asked him how he was and gave him words of encouragement. Next day when the cells opened, Mandela was waiting for Eddie in front of his cell and helped him clean his toilet. Mandela was already then a legend and he could easily delegate this task to anybody. But he did it himself and this shows his true greatness.

Robben Island represents as well one of the stories on how one can turn disadvantage into advantage. Limestone mine and the whole Robben Island became a gathering place of greatest political minds in South Africa that were together carving their thoughts and preparing thoroughly for negotiating for freedom. As a result, when negotiations finally began, Mandela and his colleagues where fully ready and prepared for it much better then was the team of the South African Government. Preparations went that far that Mandela used his time in prison to learn Afrikaners language in order to understand them better and to be able to better correlate with their culture. Mandela’s famous autobiographic book, the Long Walk to Freedom, was mainly written on Robben Island, but finalized and published in 1995.

In 1989, Fredrick Willem De Klerk became new president of South Africa. In 1990, he lifted the ban on the African National Congress and released Mandela from prison. Accordingly, after 27 years in prison, he was finally freed. Mandela thanked President de Klerk for setting him free, but said that there is more work to be done to end apartheid. His release was a worldwide covered event and everybody greeted the fact that Mandela was finally released and that there is hope for peaceful future of the country. There is a detail about his release that I especially like, because I think it shows how disciplined Mandela was. He used to practice every day with dumbbells during his time in prison. No exception. After his release and full day of receptions and greetings till late in the evening, next day at 4am Mandela called the leader of his protocol to ask where his dumbbells were, for he was used to train early in the morning. No exception and no matter he had just been released from prison after 27 years.

The peace talks lasted for a few years and resulted in the first democratic elections in 1994. De Klerk and Mandela got the Nobel Peace prize for their work on finding a peaceful solution for transitioning the country towards a democratic society. It was then that Archbishop Dezmond Tutu coined the expression Rainbow nation (nation of Hope) to describe high hopes and expectations about better future for South Africa. Mandela initially didn’t want to run for President when he exited the jail. After everybody begged him to do it he finally did run, but with firm condition that he will be president for one term only. One more proof of Mandela’s true greatness.

As a President, Mandela was promoting tolerance, forgiveness and mutual understanding. One famous episode is his strong involvement in supporting the South African rugby team and the 1995 Rugby World Cup that took place in South Africa. Rugby was mainly a sport for whites and the rugby team was predominantly made of white players. However, Mandela was insisting on wide nation support for the rugby team in order to promote unity of all people in the country and finally, on wings of strong domestic support, South Africa won this championship. This episode is described in the Clint Eastwood movie “Invictus”.

The transformation of South Africa into a democratic country was peaceful. And there were numerous reasons why this transformation could be extremely violent. When I think of the war in ex-Yugoslavia in the 90s, I cannot suppress the thought what would have happened if we had had a Mandela on the Croatian or Serbian side to avoid the war. If, for example, South Africa followed the ex-Yugoslav scenario, this would have resulted in bloodshed of catastrophic proportions, having in mind its size, complexity (11 official languages), history of black oppression, dominance of blacks in numbers (over 90%) and the fact that South African white Apartheid government had one of the strongest armies in Africa.

Mandela had a tremendous gift of connecting to people and this was one of his main human virtues. During my visit to Cape Town, the tour guide Sharon shared with me her personal story on how she met Mandela. A chain of gyms went into financial problems and was about to bankrupt, which would have entailed thousands of people losing their jobs. Mandela called his friend Richard Branson and asked him for help. Branson stepped in and took over the company and formed the Virgin active chain of gyms. So all people kept their jobs and the company expanded even further afterwards. Sharon was exercising in the gym on the day of the opening of Virgin active and she came with her son who had the South African flag painted on his cheeks. Suddenly, helicopters landed and Mandela stepped off into the gym. Sharon, who was exercising on the treadmill jumped onto Mandela and gave him a big hug and a kiss. One of Mandela’s bodyguards tried to separate them. Mandela stopped them saying that he is enjoying the moment. Just after this, Richard Branson entered and, seeing Sharon hugging Mandela, asked “Can I have one of those too?” Sharon went to search for her son and when she found him, she brought him to meet Mandela. When Mandela met the boy, he pressed his cheek strongly on the boy’s cheek saying that he wants the South African flag on his cheek as well. Quite a story, quite a man. If this is a true story (and Sharon swears that it is), it tells about Mandela’s extraordinary ability to connect with people he met.

With a wise and prudent leadership from Nelson Mandela, South Africa avoided a potentially catastrophic scenario that could have easily occurred if only there had been no messages of peace and tolerance towards even those who had represented the Apartheid regime in the past. Mandela himself made reception of the judge who sentenced him to life imprisonment and told him that he did not hold anything against him since he was just doing his job. Some people begrudge Mandela for not nationalizing everything after democracy. After the fall of the Soviet empire, he considered that it was too risky to do this and to chase off foreign investors from the country. When we look today in what state countries that did conduct massive nationalizations are now (Zimbabwe with Mugabe for example), and how their citizens live today in average vs. the ones in South Africa, this was probably a wise decision to make.

Present and Future challenges for South Africa

South Africa today is a much better country than it used to be more than 20 years ago before Apartheid ended, but still a country with lots of challenges ahead. Best testimony for this are striking facts about the country that I learnt about while visiting. South Africa is the leading country in the world with its murder rate, rape rate (including child rape rate as well), car-jacking rate (especially in Joberg), and has the largest HIV/AIDS infected population in the world, since more than every fifth citizen is HIV positive (Swaziland has few % more in rate but is much smaller).

I was explained the root of the problem of all these terrible record statistics is the fact that during the Apartheid, the government was deliberately worsening education for blacks, during the 70s and 80s (to support “white dominance”). Consequently, the currently described situation came to be and the fact is the country will need years and years to heal all the wounds caused by Apartheid. Although unemployment in South Africa in total is slightly above 25%, in townships this reaches 70% due to poor education of the people living there, while this results in the mentioned high crime rate. Furthermore, around 30% of the population (15 million people) struggle with hunger and basic survival and 60% of people live with less than 200 USD per month. The country still has very poor education and medical care systems (even though this is improving) and it is estimated that up to 30% population are illiterate. I was shocked with the information that I overheard from the tour guide, that widespread child rape is strongly driven by belief from uneducated HIV positive individuals that if someone with AIDS has sex with a virgin they can be cured. Also, since government gives grants for AIDS of approximately 300 EUR per month (if I understood this correctly), poor unemployed people without hope even deliberately get infected to receive aid and not to die of hunger. The Apartheid perhaps ended 10 years ago, but its consequences are still felt by the people living in South Africa.

When I was taking a plane from Nelspruit (next to Kruger) to Johannesburg, I was witnessing an episode that also, I think, showed Apartheid has still not been forgotten. The plane was about to take off, when an older black gentleman stood up and started to slowly move to the toilet. The whole plane waited for him to finish and when he got out, a middle aged white gentlemen told him that he could have waited for 15 minutes for the plane to take off and not to leave the whole plane waiting for him. The older black gentleman became very upset and started yelling that this is South Africa and that he should be treated with respect, asking the guy where he was from, not wanting to return to his seat. A flight attendant came over, and, after a minute or two, managed to calm the situation down and to return the older gentleman to his seat. My impression, as an objective outsider, was the comment really didn’t have anything to do with racial assumptions but this is not how the older gentleman perceived it. I guess after so much humiliating experiences from the past, some wounds are quite difficult to heal. Moreover, this proves South Africa is a country where you need to be careful what you say and how you say it, since otherwise it could be perceived in lots of ways – having in mind the turbulent and violent history experienced during the second part of the 20th century.

During my stay at Cape Town, while having a fabulous sushi at Willoughby’s (that I already mentioned), I had a chance to meet, as dinner companions at the table, a mother and a son – two white lawyers/professionals. They told me that, for professionals, there is a problem in South Africa that blacks are preferred at all positions when they apply and that they have advantage against whites and colored. If you are very good and you work very hard, regardless of skin color - you can make it (as anywhere else). But for the blacks with the same qualifications - it is easier to make it. I guess since currently there are over proportionate number of whites in professional positions, this is a government attempt to set the ratio of professionals in line with ratios in the general population. One analogy would be the worldwide under-representation of women in leading and managerial positions in corporations and government entities. Therefore, they sometimes prefer gender (or racial) profiles in order to equalize the ratios. Is this good or bad? I generally support the view qualifications for certain positions should not at all be connected with gender, sex or age (in any direction), but with the skills, knowledge and dedication required for the job. But it is understandable that if there were certain injustices in the past, now there are attempts to correct them in even protectionist ways.

After the Apartheid ended, the government introduced preferential treatment of blacks, but with the so called “Sundown close” – which meant it was going to be practiced until ratios even out as per general population and should then be abolished. This was set to correct injustices from the past. Apparently, not only whites today have issues with the preferential treatment of the blacks, but also the colored ones. While riding a taxi in Cape Town, a colored taxi driver (with German father and African mother), complained 5 years ago he wanted to join the Navy but they were only admitting Blacks, claiming that even the ad in the newspapers said “blacks only”. Of course one cannot drive any conclusions from isolated cases, but they are definitely proof things are not perfect and - they can hardly cite recent Apartheid history in South Africa as excuse.sundown close). To znači da će se takav tretman prakticirati dok se omjeri ne izjednače s onima u općem stanovništvu i da bi ga tada trebalo ukinuti. Takva je praksa pokrenuta kako bi se ispravile nepravde iz prošlosti. Ali izgleda da nemaju samo bijelci problem s takvim tretmanom crnaca danas, nego i obojeni. Dok sam se vozio u taksiju u Cape Townu, obojeni se vozač (koji ima njemačkog oca i afričku majku) potužio kako je prije pet godina htio u mornaricu, ali su primali samo crnce. Čak je tvrdio da je oglas u novinama govorio da se na natječaj za mornaricu mogu prijaviti samo crnci. Naravno, ne možete zaključivati iz pojedinačnih slučajeva, ali oni sigurno pokazuju da ima dosta vrlo diskutabilnih političko-rasnih politika i praksi i u današnjoj južnoafričkoj svakodnevnici.

One other burning problem in South Africa is the fact that there are lots of immigrants coming from even poorer African countries like Nigeria, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I was witnessing, several times, fights taxi drivers coming from those countries had with local taxi drivers for customers-tourists. I later found out this antagonism was also causing riots and violence in the cities in South Africa where locals, due to the high unemployment rate, were protesting and raging against newcomers.

South Africa is unfortunately not different from other African countries in terms of corruption. I heard from numerous South Africans it is a widely known story the current South African President Zuma spent 200 million USD on his new house, without, of course, accounting where money came from. And, during the past two decades, there were numerous cases of corruption in high government positions, which is unfortunately the usual norm of behavior in almost all African countries.

Despite of all things said, progress has being made during the past 20 years and South Africa is the country with a promising perspective if it manages to overcome its antagonisms.

Between 1970 and 1995, labor productivity increased less than 1% annually, while, since 1995, it increased by approximately 3% per annum. GDP growth rate, after introduction of democracy, doubled to more than 3% per year (decreasing to slightly below 3% during the past 6 years since the economic crisis set in 2009), resulting in growth per capita income growing by a third since democracy was introduced. And, finally, if we look at the average household income increase in the period from 2001 to 2011, for example, data shows the average income of black households increased by +169%, average income of Indian households increased by +145%, average income of black households increased by +169%, average income of colored households increased by +118%, and even the average income of white households increased by +88% (while inflation increased at the same period by +78%). Higher employment remains one of the biggest challenges for South Africa, because, even though the number of employed people is on the rise, due to the country demographics and birth rates – this is simply not enough to decrease unemployment levels to more appropriate levels. Crime and HIV problems will have to be addressed in the future with improved education and with raising opportunities for the population coming from the townships. Research shows the victim knows the crime perpetrator in 4 out of 5 murder or rape cases in South Africa. This clearly indicates the country is more dangerous for its citizens than for tourists and visitors and that there is a big necessity to increase awareness violence is not acceptable and is not something that pays off in modern society.

One interesting theory I heard from some locals is South Africa is a third world country with first world constitution. The constitution of South Africa composed by the first democratic government is one of the most progressive ones in the world. For example, in South Africa it is illegal to smoke close to 12 year old children. The legal system is very democratic, open and not extremely rigid to crime. This sometimes results in pardons to murder and rape offenders, which means they often have to serve only a third of their sentence. According to some locals, this is the root of the problem for high crime rates not going down, since punishment is probably not big enough to revert from crime. One could argue since there is research that shows crime is not directly proportional to punishment in society. In addition to appropriate and non-corrupt legal system, society should enable all citizens to have the opportunity for basic decent quality education, as well as opportunity for people from all social levels to prosper based on their abilities and hard work. Only then can South Africa successfully defeat crime and fulfil high expectations that this Rainbow Nation deserves after so much suffering caused by the dark times during the Apartheid.

One of the locals that I met told me she believed that all problems in 20th century were caused by the fact South Africa is a country that experienced a clash of cultures. White culture is more rational and calculated, while black culture is more emotional and native. Some countries (as the United States, for example) use their diversity as a competitive advantage. South Africa has to do the same. It has to look to the future without anger caused by past or antagonisms from the present. The country is indeed beautiful and, especially due to its population diversity and historical connections with Europe and the world, it has lots of reasons why it can become a leading economic power on the growing African continent (natural resources and natural beauties aside).

They managed to successfully make their long walk to freedom and now they need to find a way how to go beyond that and build a modern and progressive society for all citizens, regardless of their race, gender or social status. I wish them all the luck on this journey and hope to come and visit South Africa again in the future.

Josip Muller,
September 2nd, 2014