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South Africa in 2018 – political transformation and the Nelson Mandela centenary
Minister of State Michelle Müntefering on her visit to South Africa 27 and 28 May 2018
Michelle Müntefering and Bheki Dube at a mural of Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg
Breakfast briefing session beside a high-rise building site in Johannesburg on 27 May
Immediately after arriving in South Africa, Minister of State Michelle Müntefering was briefed on the current political situation in the country. German Ambassador Martin Schäfer invited various experts to the briefing, including renowned political scientist and analyst Dr Ivor Sarakinsky of the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg.
Bheki Dube showed the Minister of State “his Maboeng”, the district where he grew up. Formerly a deprived area, Maboeng is now regarded as “South Africa‘s answer to Williamsburg, Brooklyn”. It is a diverse mixture of a residential, office and nightlife district, whose residents are working to transform it into a lively neighbourhood and a good place to live. Tour guide Bheki Dube is also actively involved in this process. He has set up a small hostel that is very popular with young people.
Minister of State Müntefering was shown around Soweto by tour guide Ntsiki Mdlankomo, who lives in the district. In front of an ANC Women’s League poster in Mandela House, 8115 Orlando West Soweto (www.mandelahouse.org), Ntsiki, who speaks fluent German, told the Minister of State about the history of Soweto and the anti-apartheid movement and explained why she never wanted to leave the area. Writing about the house in “The Long Walk to Freedom”, Nelson Mandela said: “It was the opposite of grand, but it was my first true home of my own and I was mightily proud.”
Hector Pieterson was born in Soweto on 19 August 1963. He was shot dead at the age of twelve on 16 June 1976 at a demonstration during the Soweto uprising. He became a symbolic figure of an uprising by the black population against the apartheid regime and the brutality of the South African security forces during this period.
Children and teenagers from Johannesburg’s townships take music classes at MIAGI music school. The Federal Foreign Office is providing MIAGI with funding for a tour of Germany in 2018, during which the talented young musicians will perform at venues including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin in early August at the celebrations to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth.
Representatives of the German business and creative sectors met for a discussion at the invitation of Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO of the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Matthias Boddenberg, Chief Executive of the Chamber. The guests included German solo artist Ralf GUM, a well-known DJ in South Africa, who presented a project concept on career opportunities in the music industry.
Cultural studies experts, people who work in the gaming industry, festival organisers, funding managers and artists met at the Goethe-Institut for talks with Minister of State Michelle Müntefering. Three German schools, an agreement on cultural and film cooperation, the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, and German Academic Exchange Service and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation scholars are just some of the many signs of the extremely vibrant cultural cooperation between Germany and South Africa.
The Minister of State held in-depth talks with Professor Mbembe on cultural cooperation and the debate on colonialism. “Do we really want to live in a world where everyone and everything has to return home?” (Professor Achille Mbembe speaking at a colonialism conference in Hamburg on 18 May 2018, quoted in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” newspaper of 23 May 2018.) “The main question for me is: what does sharing mean in the 21st century?” (Minister of State Michelle Müntefering in an interview with “Der Tagesspiegel” newspaper on 29 May 2018).
Minister of State Müntefering joined Lindiwe Sisulu, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, family members of the deceased and numerous well-known figures at Ambassador Eddie Funde’s funeral, where she conveyed the German Government’s condolences and paid tribute to the Ambassador’s achievements in the field of German-South African relations.
At a lunch with members of think tanks, human rights activists, religious leaders, financial experts and female ambassadors at the German Ambassador’s Residence in Pretoria, there was a lively discussion on how social and economic transformation can be achieved in South Africa under President Cyril Ramaphosa. The guests included Daniel Mminele, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, who attended school and university in Land North Rhine-Westphalia and speaks fluent German.
Minister of State Michelle Müntefering met former South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is now Minister in the Presidency. The two ministers discussed a wide range of topics and preparations for the new German-South African Binational Commission in autumn 2018.
“I am science!” Young girls and MINT subjects – girls aged between 13 and 16 conducted natural science experiments and tested the German Minister of State’s knowledge of MINT subjects. At the end of the visit, they asked their German visitor for her Instagram address, which was then written in the old way in chalk on the blackboard!
Let freedom reign” – the famous quotation from Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech on 11 May 1994 would become the motto of South Africa’s new democracy in the coming years. It was important to me to travel to the home of Africa’s struggle for freedom to see where the courageous men and women of the anti-apartheid movement come from. I walked down Vilakazi Street in Soweto, Johannesburg, where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived. I then visited the Hector Pieterson Museum, which documents the history of apartheid. The tragic fate of the 12-year-old South African boy Hector Pieterson, who was shot dead by security forces at an anti-apartheid demonstration in 1976, is a symbol of the uprising by the black population against the apartheid regime.
Nelson Mandela would have turned 100 on 18 July 2018. Germany and South Africa will mark this occasion with a range of joint projects. A Nelson Mandela stamp will be issued, there will be a concert in Berlin and the German Embassy Pretoria will hold numerous events.
My visit to South Africa also gave me a chance to meet Professor Achille Mbembe, who is currently lecturing at the renowned University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. We spoke in depth about current issues in the European debate on colonialism and agreed that the conference set up by the Federal Foreign Office in Hamburg on 18 May on the colonial legacy was a very good start as regards taking a new path together. It is important that we change course and promote a culture of sharing. The future lies in cooperation and cultural co-production by European and African partners. Only in this way will we be able to explore in detail what sharing means in the 21st century and what opportunities it creates for both sides.
Background information:
Minister of State Michelle Müntefering visited South Africa on 27 and 28 May, just three months after President Cyril Ramaphosa took office and around a year before the next general election. The new South African President’s firm commitment to democracy, the rule of law and the social market economy, as well as his plans to tackle racism, corruption and mismanagement, have impressed many observers. At the same time, South Africa faces significant challenges. An unemployment rate of around 27 percent and a youth unemployment rate of up to 50 percent, massive social inequality, a slow economic growth and the effects of the rampant corruption (“state capture”) under former President Zuma mean that all the political groups in the country need to make a huge effort.
The aim of the Minister of State’s visit was to underline Germany’s support for the transformation that South Africa wants to achieve and to take the first steps as regards organising the German-South African Binational Commission in autumn 2018. The two G20 partners of Germany and South Africa have excellent economic ties. With a bilateral trade volume of some 17 billion euros, Germany is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner. Over 100,000 people are employed in the approximately 600 German companies in South Africa. Like Germany, South Africa is applying for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2019/2020 term. The elections for non-permanent members will take place at the General Assembly in New York on 8 June 2018. South Africa sees itself as the voice of Africa in many international forums and plays an important role in foreign policy in the region. Many political observers hope that the new South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, will raise the country’s profile on the international stage once again.