Some ghosts of the past, and glimpses of the future…

Ruthann Hall and Jan Tore – South Africa

The story was about an Indian lad who had been in attendance at a ‘Test’ match involving the then all-white South African team, held at the Kingsmead cricket ground in Durban; the youth had been seated in the small portion of the grounds set aside for Indians. The youth had been beaten to death during the match by white spectators, because he was rooting for the other side, England or whoever it was; no one was identified, no one was prosecuted.

Ruthann Hall and Jan Tore – South Africa

The story was about an Indian lad who had been in attendance at a ‘Test’ match involving the then all-white South African team, held at the Kingsmead cricket ground in Durban; the youth had been seated in the small portion of the grounds set aside for Indians. The youth had been beaten to death during the match by white spectators, because he was rooting for the other side, England or whoever it was; no one was identified, no one was prosecuted.

 

When we first came as Global Ministries volunteers to South Africa, in 2000, we were placed as ‘organizational management consultants’ (and given the titles “Special Projects Advisors” — no one knew then, nor since, what either designation meant), with what was then the M.L. Sultan Technikon, originally the Indian technical higher education institution for this province, which has since merged with the formerly white Technikon Natal, to form the Durban Institute of Technology. We made some good friends that first year, with which we’ve maintained contact.

Recently, we had dinner at our rented cottage in Umhlanga, with Thiru Pillay and his wife Heidi [‘hay-dee’]. The South Africa – West Indies cricket match was running on background TV during part of the evening. Something in the course of the match drew his attention, and Thiru told of an event from his youth, during the Apartheid era, which had had some notoriety at the time and had been made into a famous short story, apparently.

The story was about an Indian lad who had been in attendance at a ‘Test’ match involving the then all-white South African team, held at the Kingsmead cricket ground in Durban; the youth had been seated in the small portion of the grounds set aside for Indians. The youth had been beaten to death during the match by white spectators, because he was rooting for the other side, England or whoever it was; no one was identified, no one was prosecuted. Thiru told how his father, though a passionate lover of cricket, still could never bring himself to root for South Africa, even now that the team has become nonexclusive.

His grandkids, Thiru’s children, don’t have any such issues – Thiru is somewhere in the middle. We remembered, in prior visits, learning of Thiru’s discomfort about visiting this province’s wonderful game reserves, once only available to whites. He knows he’s not subject to the same restrictions anymore, nor would he necessarily be shunned or maltreated as he’d have anticipated in the near transitional past, but the sourness about such places, and about the cricket team, remains for him, and probably always will to some extent. But things may be different for many of the younger generation, he thinks.

One of the new ‘matched’ churches in the ‘Ibandla lami linge lakho / My church is your church’ initiative for local church to local church relationships between UCCSA churches in the KwaZulu-Natal Region and UCC churches in the Massachusetts Conference, is Umlazi, the central church of the Umlazi-Lamont Circuit, which encompasses a number of churches generally in the inner southern suburbs and townships of Durban.

We were at that church a few weeks ago to meet with two of their leaders concerning the commencement of their relationship with the Boxborough church in Massachusetts. One of these deacons is Guardian Mfusi, and during a lull in the meeting, we had a nice conversation with him. It was a wide-ranging discussion, and in the course of telling about his work, he talked freely about his own reticence about relationships between whites and blacks in the country, including in the work context.

But he marveled at how readily younger people, especially those such as his children who are thrown together in multi-racial schools, intermixed. This was something that was much more difficult for people of his (early middle) age, even. Ruthann recalled the song from ‘South Pacific’ about ‘they’ve got to be taught to hate, before it’s too late’, and it does seem as if much of the difficulties of this country in regard to its race relations come from prior concerted efforts to teach these habits, and the distrust that goes with them. That is changing, but it is well understood that it takes time to undo such harm. Actually, it seems to us that the sight of a rainbow of schoolmates, in particular, around the streets of this city, is quite a bit more common only five years on from our first visit here.

During the latter part of our original long-term volunteer commitment here, during 2001 and 2002, we worked closely with the UCCSA’s KZN Region through its Mission Council, and thus with Florence Madlala, the Council’s convener. The activities that brought us back to Durban this year have us interacting with the Council quite a bit as well, and so we have plenty of excuses to maintain our relationship with Flo. We wanted to meet with her to discuss various matters including the progress of a major effort she’s spearheading to establish a ‘care centre’ in the Lamontville township where she lives, and we agreed to meet mid-way, at the wonderful Botanic Garden close to the center of Durban. We had come to know and appreciate this well maintained and fascinating green spot, with its towering trees from all over the world and multitudes of birds, not to mention squealing schoolchildren on field trips, when we had been at M.L. Sultan Technikon, which is just a block or two away from the Garden.

We had afternoon ‘tea’ with Flo at the volunteers’ cafe/kiosk at the Garden. And we’re sitting there at the umbrella tables, talking away. It was getting towards closing time, though, and something – clearing the table, whether we needed to vacate so they could take the chairs inside, whatever it was – became a question and a conversation between Flo and one of the Zulu ladies who worked the tables (the counter is done by the white volunteer ladies, usually). And then Flo giggled a bit, and told us: “She asked ‘are those your bosses?’ and I told her, ‘No, they’re my friends!’” There’s so much in that little story, concerning the expectations in this place, but how warm it makes us feel, to have her put it that way, and to be able to laugh about it, and to be able to tell us. It’s a very good feeling. And the continuation of a beginning.

God’s blessings on this land — Nkosi sikilel’ iAfrika.

Ruthann and Jan Tore Hall
Jan Tore and Ruthann Hall served as short-term volunteers with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. They served through their work of local church connections initiative between individual churches of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ and the Kwa Zulu Natal region of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa.