Rebecca ’Toyin Doherty `24 on the Rutgers visit to the entrance of Drakenstein Prison in Cape Town, South Africa, which has a statue of the late Nelson Mandela memorializing when he was released from prison in 1990.
Our 12-day Learning Abroad experience to South Africa was transformative in many ways. Even though our experiential assignment and course readings gave us a good background of what to anticipate, as the popular saying goes: “Seeing is believing.” In this case, seeing the museums, visiting the markets and townships, talking to people, and many other in-person experiences truly gave me a unique insight on South Africa beyond the literature. My reflections will focus on a variety of themes around my discoveries about the country and its people.
Education
Since the legal end of apartheid, strides have been made around access to education. Families can now send their children to any public school in South Africa regardless of race. While this is indeed great progress in terms of access, there are still issues around equity that persists. Schools in low-income neighborhoods are still under-resourced which impacts the quality of education that they receive. Also, families from low-income neighborhoods cannot afford the cost of transportation to send their children to schools in high-income neighborhoods. Historically, apartheid created vast geographical distance between affluent and low-income neighborhoods when native South Africans were displaced. This issue has not been rectified so there is still a socioeconomic apartheid even though it has ended by law.
Another aspect of our learning abroad was our visit to the Klipfontein Primary School. As I looked around the school, the people there appeared to be predominantly “Coloured” based on South Africa’s standards. While it was such a joy to be at the school and interact with the students, faculty, and staff, I also wondered how the schools for “Blacks” would look since that was the only perspective we had. I was also certainly curious to see how the schools for “Whites” would look. As earlier mentioned, while the law of apartheid might have ended segregation by race, there seems to be a need for some work to be done around social and economic inclusion and integration—which is invariably still largely determined by race.
Rebecca with students at Klipfontein Primary School in South Africa.
Housing
Housing in South Africa remains a problem. There is just not enough supply to meet demand. Blacks are about 80% of the population but the wealth of the country seems to sit within about 10% of the people who are mostly non-Black.
When Blacks were displaced decades and centuries ago, many people had to result to living in shacks and shanty towns. The government has built some new housing developments and renovated others, but there is still a significant population of South Africans who are still living in shacks.
I was very disappointed to hear that the promise to return 30 percent of the land formerly owned by Black people was not fulfilled. I was even more disappointed that this promise of 30 percent, that was made during the government of Madiba Nelson Mandela, is still where it is today. During Madiba’s administration, the government returned 9 percent of land to the people, and that is where things are today. It brings me to question, “When and where did South Africa lose its focus? Is there still hope?”
At Langa Township, our tour guide showed us some of the new housing developments and explained how they needed proof of income to rent an apartment. He also said that when they asked to have the opportunity for a lease-to-own, they received a “flat no” in response. I found this troubling. I thought about options any of the people who moved to these new apartments would have to actually own a home. I also wondered how people who engaged in informal markets would ever have the opportunity to show proof of income so they could move to a better living environment.
Voter Apathy
Given that the hope people once had for a better South Africa might feel deferred or unfulfilled, there seems to be a rising sense of voter apathy. At Brand SA, one of the speakers who was a government official shared that there has been a decline in voter participation. But he seems to pin the issue to voter awareness and registration. I wonder if they have conducted surveys and focus groups to see whether people truly lack awareness or are just disappointed by the government policies that have not delivered equality to all its people. I also wonder if the speaker was being political based on his role in government.
Contrary to the sense of optimism I observed during the government official’s speech, the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s acting director sounded quite disappointed. He mentioned that he was a part of the Truth & Reconciliation Committee (TRC) and the recommendations of the TRC have not been implemented. He shared the facts about land ownership earlier mentioned in this reflection and hopes for a better South Africa. As a member of the civil society, he is certainly determined to continue to hold the government accountable and see new ways they can build social engineers to help do this work.
Protest sign at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa.
On the issue of voter apathy, I was surprised to see a silent protest by elderly women at Constitution Hill. These women’s signs suggested “No Vote” if the government did not deliver on their promises. I was saddened to see the response to issues with government result in “voter apathy” as opposed to voter mobilization to “vote people out.”
While respecting social values that people uphold, this view also brings me to wonder whether some civil society work can be done around voter education so people can truly understand that voting is power. As I reflect on this, I also recognize that South Africa has issues with corruption so I wonder if that is also causing the voter apathy where people think their votes would not matter because the elections might be rigged.
As South Africa is in another election year, I am very eager to see how things turn out in terms of voter participation and who becomes the hopefully elected, and not selected, leader.
My own contribution would be to raise awareness on through a documentary titled, “The Aftermath of Apartheid: South Africa Today in 2024.”
