A community apart

By Malebo Gololo

"An elephant is never burdened by its trunk". These words hit me like a train that has realised that an object has just jumped in front of it.  These are the words that Barbara Bell cites in Lauretta Ngcobo's Prodigal Daughters.  I must say that I have mixed emotions about the overall storyline not disputing or undermining Lauretta’s amazing writing skills.  I, however feel that the stories were not told to their depths, I wish we were given more.  I do understand that the contributors had limited amount of word count to stick to, but stories such as women who were in exile need to be told more. I still feel that a lot is being kept from us, maybe to protect us as the truth can sometimes be to difficult to live by; not that I subscribe to that notion, but it makes for a better denial trip.  I would have also loved to hear more about those women who trained with the MK and what their lives are like in current South Afrika.  Did the negotiations really betray the struggle as Liepello Pheko puts it in her story?

This just goes to show that the struggle has not really come to an end, it has just shifted onto another gear and maybe that is why the very words that hit me had such a huge impact on my heart.  I have been carrying a load on me and this load was starting to burden me.  My grandfather always told me that whatever it is that bothers me, therein lies part of my calling.  I have a burden to see a totally free Afrika, a Afrika that depends on no one but itself to define it.  A Afrika that is not divided, a Afrika that no longer carries the darkness with it but rather is the light of this global village.  A Afrika that shows that it is not only rich in natural resources but in human capital as well.

Image from www.ubunturepublics.org

As a South Afrikan, it breaks my heart to see fellow South Afrikans looking down on our brothers and sisters from all over Afrika;  when it was the very brothers and sisters that opened their gates for South Afrikans to enter during the struggle of our freedom.  It is the very brothers and sisters that were very active in our liberation movements that we so cast away now.  This is how you see that mental slavery is the most potent weapon of all times.  We, the generations that are supposed to be free from those chains have inherited the very shackles that caused the mess we find ourselves in.  So this is my burden, it is my load and I will not lose hope as I work towards a better Afrika, for that which is mine and on me can and must never burden me. Mayibuye iAfrika