Once in a while, we have a movie that pulls at the heart strings as it attempts to re-establish friendship between African people and those of European descent.
On the Day of Reconciliation I went to watch Invictus by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. The movie is about how former President Nelson Mandela bent backwards to reconcile a nation that was divided against itself.
It must be said that these two Americans – one a descendant of African slaves and the other of formerly European ancestors – have given South Africa one of the most authentic, brilliant, prophetic and healing screen experiences in a very long time.
Those who allege that they have no business to be telling South African history and stories are misguided.
As creative intellectuals, they have accurately – with a little embellishment – portrayed the spirit of forgiveness and desire for reconciliation that is driven by South Africans to make this country work.
Sometimes, in the mid 1990s following the first democratic elections, a place within some Africans refused to open up and let go of the past. People did not believe that Nelson Mandela was serious about the programme to make African people live as brothers and sisters with their former oppressors of European descent.
In those years, Mandela – who was celebrated by the whole world for his ability to forgive and forget – was chastised by some sections of the African population.
They felt that he was winning accolades and pleasing the former Europeans at the expense of African people.
The whole initiative to save rugby and retain its apartheid emblems, among many others, was cited as a case in point. They alleged that his New South Africa had failed to transform an unjust economic system or transform an inherently racist social system.
But, at some point, we all have to allow our hearts and bodies to yield to a great softness carried by the Madiba Magic. This is what happened to many who have sat to watch Invictus in movie auditoria of the privileged around the country.
I was touched to see some whites wipe away tears as Morgan Freeman exuded the charisma and soul of Madiba in his convincing portrayal of the legend.
If you think about it, it is easy to realize that Africans – more than their former European counterparts – are filled with the same Madiba compassion to try and bring more reconciliation in our beautiful land.
There are many moments when my mind just stops and simply follows the actions, conduct and gestures of many African people to get this country where it is going. Somehow, a great faith washes over me, making me believe that the Madiba Magic that lives in African souls will help us to get where we need to get to.
It is at such moments that I resign myself to let life take its own course and not necessarily worry about politics, racism, inequality and the crisis of leadership in the country.
I just know that there is enough of what we need: enough people, enough determination, enough love, enough compassion and enough energy for all of us to all learn to live together as brothers and sisters.
There is a great tenderness in many Africans — and some former Europeans — for the beautiful people of this beautiful land that no man can enjoy. Over the last three centuries, we have travelled a long hard road to find freedom and democracy.
We all know and accept that we all belong to this time, to this unequal society, to this earth, to this hope and optimism that will help us get where we going. There is something that is larger than Madiba and all of us that sustains and holds us together.
I would urge anyone who has not yet been to watch Invictus to take the entire family to appreciate how much was sacrificed, especially by Mandela, to get this beautiful land where it is today. Invictus is the sort of movie that should galvanize us to total commitment to and compassion to take Mandela’s vision to its greatest heights.
We can and must do better than our ancestors who left us with the heritage of Dingane’s Day, Day of the Vow and, now, Day of Reconciliation, for instance. Its significance rises from a violent encounter between Africans, especially the Zulus, and Afrikaner Vootrekkers who had a dispute over ownership of the land.
Of course, after the signing of some treaty, the Zulu felt that people of European descent, that is, the Voortrekkers, were traitors and witches who deserved to be killed. It was for this reason that Inkosi U-Dingane — after whom the Africans named the day — ordered his armies to dissolve them into the African soil so that there would be no trace of them.
This is part of our sad history and there will always be different versions of the same story. I cannot help but try to connect Invictus with this tragic part of our history to encourage a greater appreciation for this inspiring movie.
It was our blood drenched history that got Nelson Mandela to be the saintly figure that he is. But over the last 15 years, especially through a movie like Invictus, we are slowly been re-imagining our history to re-invent a better future for us all, both Africans and former Europeans.
This is the new reality we live in: South Africa belongs to all who live in it, both black and white! This movie, if you like, wants us all to aspire to be at our best, longing for justice and peace.
But it also requires that we, sometimes, be angry that with everything that Madiba has done we are the most unequal and racist society on earth. We can never have true reconciliation and forgiveness as long as there is racism, inequality and injustice in our beautiful land.
We undo everything that we have achieved by shrugging our shoulders in resignation instead of doing something to protect and defend everything that Madiba has given us.
Once in a while, we are given a movie to reconcile with ourselves and our past.
We can use Invictus, for instance, to reconcile the African and the European or watch them perish as fools as they hold on to the past that cannot be changed. Thank you very much to visionary Clint Eastwood and prophetic Morgan Freeman. You are an example that we can work together as brothers and sisters to make this country what it ought to be.
Can we have you make more movies about this miracle nation, please?
How can the country become a nation when some writers persist in highlighting our differneces. Why is Sandile so obsessed with race. He cannot write anything without refering to race.
The only conclusion one can draw is that he is a racist.
Perhaps Mandela was not trying to unite races BUT was trying to unite people which is why he was successful at it. Had he harped on race like the author of this blog he would have divided the nation not unified it. Mandela concentrated on our similarities not our differneces, perhaps the autor should try that approach some time.
wow this is a dreamy piece sandile, you tried to balance it out in the end but its unfortunately way too bombarded with fantasies and not REALITIES.
…You need to know something. THe White Apartheid state gave up political power for economic might instead. It was strategic, knowing that we couldn’t do much because of the foothold they hand in our economy. The black negotiator’s knew that too.
There was not a raise in the collective consciousness on the part of the Europeans with regard to their destructive ways, rather a strategic compromise to maintain what was and has always been important to them and it must also be said that they did not expect the NP to loose that much ground in the subsequent years…ANd thats really the crux for me, How can I go make peace with someone who has shown no repentance for their previous ways?
I do believe that Mandela does typify the deep humanity (or servitude?) that exists in our people and his gesture had its SHORT-TERM benefits. HOwever we surely would have hoped that it would have kick started a larger and deeper process of reconciliation over the long term which has proved allusive.
I think you might be confusing the actual reality of the situation with the glamour,mystique,emotion and timelessness of the hollywood touch. They can turn most things into a blockbuster heartfelt film you know!
Mr. Mamelang I do not appreciate your term “Africans and former Europeans”. I won’t mind too much though, if you express this as former central Africans and former Europeans
Fantastic blog. Let Invictus remind us that we all need to join hands and work together to build the dream that is not dead.
Sandile
Don’t get carried away. An ancestor of mine watched that killing of Piet Retief by Dingaan from a far hill. All Dingaan cared about was power. He realised that the whites threatened his power (with their superior weapons). His actual instructions to his men were “Kill The Wizards”
My suggestion, for what it’s worth is simply ‘black and white’. I don’t think anyone is offended by these terms, and I think they are the most neutral and unlikely to upset anyone. They are also inclusive as they include former Indians, former Pakistanis, former Malays, former Chinese etc etc and hence I think would be the most comfortable, inoffensive and inclusive terms possible.
I must defend Mr Mamela against Mr Owen’s comment that he is ‘racist’. This is not warranted. Mr Mamela certainly has a strong interest in and focus on racial issues, and I sense a deep concern with inequalities and injustice. I have agreed with him on some views and disagreed on others, as with all commentators. But we simply need to stop labelling people, especially with the ‘R word’ as 9 times out of 10 it is simply not correct, and it remains a terribly lazy form of commentary that tends to obscure differences of experience and opinion rather than clarifying them. Thank you,
And a response to Mr Beddy – surely sir, Dingaan was concerned about more than simply his own ‘power’. What about his own freedom and right to self-determination? Were these not also under threat? Let us be fair.
Clint Eastwood has certainly come a long way since the days of the spaghetti western genre, as he focuses his talents on shining the light on the underlying causes of our divisions and hatred. If you liked Invictus you should check out his other masterpiece – Grand Torino, a movie that examines prejudice in American society .
“Creative INTELLECTUALS”? A movie-director and an actor are “intellectuals”? The trash-collector will be an intellectual garbologist next.
I resent being called a ´former European´ – my passport says I am African and so does my heart, I was born here, I have never been to Europe and neither have my parents… To start referring to me as a former European (labeling me based on my skin color)does come across as racism to me. I am African.
Mr Memele is an ANC Racist of note…and what the hell is a ‘government funk”? My dictionnary says funk is: a state of nervous depression, the condition of being greatly afraid or in a panic; a low, depressed mood; A state of cowardly fright;
Do you think he meant ‘flunky’, as in “Lackey: a male servant;A person of slavish or unquestioning obedience;a toady; yes-man. …all of which would work given his columns.
So from this positive background Mr Memela, how about just South Africans being ‘people’, and Mark Robertson, not ‘black or white’, what do you call the so-called ‘coloureds’? or the South AFricans of Asian decent?
Just people
Clint Eastwood is a thoughtful and provocative producer/director/actor. All his works have been wonderful. Maybe it comes with age. So there’s hope for Sandile Memele yet.
Merry Christmas to al South Africans
I doubt that the movie, brilliant as it is, can accurately be described as “prophetic”, seeing that it describes PAST events.
I have to take issue with the statement that it is “easy to realize that Africans – more than their former European counterparts – are filled with the same Madiba compassion to bring reconcilliation to this land”. It is not so easy to realize, actually. Also not from this post.
“There is a great tenderness in many Africans”? Perhaps so, but I know of one recent bull which would vehemently disagree. Had it been allowed to live, that is.
“Inkosi U-Dingane, after whom the AFRICANS NAMED THE DAY?” Pray tell, Mr Memela, which calender of theirs indicated that the event occurred on Decemver 16th?
Nice touch, the attempt to link the murder by Dingaan’s brave warrrior of unarmed men to Invictus. Bit of a stretch though, don’t you think?
@Steve, as a black American, I have to agree with you on that matter that you are an African. This is why Morgan Freeman doesn’t celebrate black history month in the US. He said it should be black in American history and not the other way around.
Mark Robertson
It is Mrs Beddy actually.
Dingaan was a pychopathic, superstitious, murderer, who killed his own people as easily as he killed the whites.
I give him that – he was no racist. He killed ANYONE whom he saw as a threat to his own supremacy. About on a par with Hitler, Stalin and Mao.
Was William Ernest Henley also imprisoned with Nelson Mandella?
Sandile,
When Mandela stood at the stadium and Pienaar’s men won the cup for SA; when they knelt in prayer in their faith to thank God; and when they acknowledged Mandela as their Leader – then I was proud to be South African.
When I read your comments, you come across as the Afrikaners did before: always blaming the British for all the sins of the past – and using that as an excuse for all the excesses of the present.
If the ANC in SA are going to rule as men we can all look up to – as opposed to the one-sided dictatorship of the past – something will have to change.
Mandela showed the way. No-one has picked up his mantle yet. To the contrary, the nepotism and corruption in government and municipal circles have shown quite clearly that the spirit of ubuntu has been superseded by criminal activity in many men’s behaviours.
If South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black, white, Asian etc. and you firmly believe that, then we are all Africans – and the culture of SA is the sum of all our cultures, not just those of the black tribes.
If however, you believe that only Blacks are Africans, then you obviously don’t really believe that SA belongs to all.
Which is it ?
As mentioned, Mr Eastwood’s other movie ‘Grand Torino’ is also a masterpiece. It is about prejudice, certainly, and an isolated white man’s disgraceful prejudice against his Asian neighbours. However it is also about heroism. Although initially a bigot (who overcomes his prejudice during the movie), Eastwood’s character is also a war hero, and the old fashioned ‘strong silent type’ who suffers cancer in silence, hides his emotions, shows real physical courage and doesn’t back down from a fight with a gang of cowardly street hooligans half his age. Dare I say it, in a world full of cowards and thugs there are very, very few men of courage left and Eastwood’s flawed hero certainly is one.
If Madiba preached forgiving and forgetting then ‘his’ (black) people have not listened carefully. Hardly a day goes by when a black person accuses a white person of racism, most often on the flimsiest of pretext. Or evidence for that matter. And that does not do much for reconciliation for which we have even reserved a special day. Of course whites are not above doing the same as just described and they too are just as guilty. Forgiving AND forgettting go hand in hand and the one means nothing without the other. I have not seen the film but if it can add a little bit to the big R of reconciliation I consider that progress. Reconciliation and racism are mutually exclusive.
Mark Roberstson and jo_slowboat you really made my day. Thank you for such comments.
I consider myself African. What happened to Mbeki’s great speech “I am an African” that included all those who call Africa home as Africans and did not differentiate people, be it so narrowly and obviously, by their skin. So the fact that I am 5th generation South African, came into the world days after Mandela was released and have never known apartheid still makes me a European and to refer to the article I must be filled than an African counterpart with Madiba’s compassion. To quote directly: “it is easy to realize that Africans – more than their former European counterparts – are filled with the same Madiba compassion to try and bring more reconciliation in our beautiful land.” I love this country but yet careless, thoughtless, unsubstantiated words such as these enforce the former generation’s racial hatred in the face of our generation.
Just because I’m a white South African does NOT make me a “former European”. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all born in South Africa. I am African, and nothing can change that.
Won’t waste my time going to see this one – there are many other far superior one’s – honestly Hollywood must seriously be running out of ideas
Way past your sell by date and your efforts didn’t work then and won’t work now !
CB, every human being on earth was originally from Africa. It’s the cradle of humanity, not so? Emperor Hirohito was originally from Africa. So there’s something pretty comical about today’s black African folk getting all huffily proprietary and exclusionary about their Africanness as if they’re somehow something quite special.
As a Canadian who travelled through your beautiful country in the days after this great World Cup win, and have kept a keen read of since, it saddens me to see that big R reconciliation has not yet arrived as it appeared it might. I pray that all of the hurt and resentment of the past, as weighty a burden as that is, may sometime soon wash away to the two seas that beg at the shores of your country, and that finally, South Africans – and not Africans/former Europeans – can be as one.
… “to re-establish friendship between African people and those of European descent” makes me wonder if they shouldn’t have rather done a movie about boxing instead, with a black and a white guy in the ring, where they beat the crap out of each other then hug in the end. To make it REALLY PC the two are actually gay, so they get married and adopt a Chinese kid. Sandile, come on boet… I have black, coloured and indian friends who laugh at kak like this, you seriously need to get over it and move on hey. A question for you – where did all the profit from this movie go? To the AIDS orphans of SA? I think not – more likely the actors and directors already wealthy pockets. It’s just a hollywood movie, a business – not an awakening of Africa by a bunch of Yanks.
To hell with multi-culturalism (as it encourages society to fracture into subgroups, any nation worth a damn celebrates all the threads woven into its fabric. Having worked in Southern Africa between 1995 and 1997, I am still delighted that the worst did not happen after the first election down South sixteen years ago, and I am hopeful that you will find a way forward, in your own time. Embelishment aside, the story of how Nelson and Francois came to be friends is interesting enough in itself, even if you aren’t necessarily in it for the boks.