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COLUMN
FOR SUNDAY DESPATCHES, SEPTEMBER 3 "Swedish
women complain of porn from SA" said a headline in this
newspaper last week.
Who would
have thought that South Africans would have the technology, let alone
the knowledge and techniques, to provide pornography to the
Scandinavians?
Who would
have thought that the Swedes would complain (except about the
competition)?
The subject
has provided enough material for an entire night of table talk, and
enough debates on almost every socio-politicial and physical issue
known to Man. And some known only to Woman.
Who would
have thought. . .
Nothing
should surprise us about our new country any more. Yet every day
brings a new surprise. We are a country enjoying a new birth, a new
Spring, with the first rains awakening new life and new awareness in
the age-old veld.
"Who
would have thought. . ." Triteness has become the chief
instrument for dealing with the seemingly unlimited novelties that
pour into our laps by the day, by the hour. Boredom is the one thing
we should never complain of.
Not like the
French, who have grown bored not only with pornography but, they
pretend, with sex - especially when selling it to the tourists.
Not like the
British, who are bored with everything from the Royal Family to the
latest football scandal.
Not like the
Americans, who are bored with their politicians, their businesses,
their lifestyle, and even, perhaps, their money.
In South
Africa, everything is new, suddenly. Everything is possible.
When a
politician speaks in Europe, or America, or in Asia, his or her words
are ritually reported, criticised, fussed over - then buried in giant
pinches of salt while life goes on as it did last year and years
before that. Governments change, but little else does.
On the other
hand, when a politician speaks in South Africa at the moment, his
words may alter our lives. Transition, transformation, change - these
allow everything to happen. Or nothing. We are left exhilarated by
the unpredictable possibilities.
For the
first time in generations, South Africans are pouring into Africa in
search of opportunity, wealth and the novelty of burning their
fingers. Latter-day Voortrekkers are trekking into the rich savannahs
of Zambia where they believe they can farm in peace. World leaders,
rockstars and popstars are jetting into South Africa. The novelty is
not over. The procession has just begun. Watch 1996 to 1998 for the
foreign flood.
At another
level, expert criminals have come to rip-off our local con-artists.
Drug dealers have arrived to push aside our petty pill-pedlars and
attempt to import disaster and tragedy.
Ex-pats and
ex-exiles are still coming home. Ex-liberals are still wondering
whether to flee the land of promise they said they wanted.
Everything
is happening on a "who-would-have-thought-it" scale. Where
most of the world has settled into a comfortable position of cynicism
and political boredom, South Africa is ablaze with idealism - a scary
fire, fanned by fear and hope.
Change is
exhilarating, but it is seldom comfortable. And not all of it is for
the good.
Crime is
rampant. Violence seemingly unchecked. A family could be burnt to
death, deliberately, in their squatter shack at midnight. A favourite
luxury German car is likely to be hijacked at noon. Corruption is
ploughing the same furrows it did under the previous government. And
yet. . . And yet. . .
Who knows?
It depends on what we ourselves do about it - not what smooth-talking
politicians say. It is in our power to change most things at this
hour. It is even in our power, if only we would act, to embark on a
national housing programme and a radical education programme to solve
two of the nation's worst problems.
And the
great aphrodisiac in South Africa - the thing that makes porn films
in Sweden look so tame - is that what we are experiencing here is
real. It is not a film. It is not a talk-show. It is something all of
us are living. Unlike other places in the more stable world, we can
have real influence on all kinds of developments here. Most agendas
are still open, and the theories of democracy and freedom of
expression are all around us, waiting to be tested and, if possible,
proved. Any individual who cares enough about something that can
improve our future is likely to be widely heard. We are experiencing
a moment and a place in history where everything is possible.
All the
great ideas of mankind, and all the problems of mankind, are spread
out on our table for us to choose. And, provided we can persuade
enough of our fellow citizens, our wider ideals are achievable.
Perhaps it
is Mandela who has set the mood for this feast, with his
compassionate, encompassing embrace of a "rainbow nation".
Whatever it is, we should appreciate the privilege of being alive in
this fascinating country at this hour, as the hinge of history
swings. |
