Me Scared............?

When I told a couple of black colleagues (separately) that I had visited the Red Location Museum, they both responded with surprise that I had gone there. They both wanted to know if I was not afraid to go into a “black township”.

My response was, “Should I have been?”

At the time neither of them responded to my question, but later on I pushed for an answer and got one.
According to my colleague there were a lot of young black people who felt that whites have no business going into “their” areas and will attack white people if given an opportunity. He said that as they were not aware that I was “ok”, as I had taken a stand against apartheid, I was at risk.

When I said I had not felt threatened, his reply was that as long as I stayed within the precincts of the museum I would be fine.

I find it hard to believe that can still be so much hatred and bitterness about and I wonder how widespread these sentiments are. Township tours have become big business in the South African tourism industry and are well received by the foreign tourists – so are these sentiments real or perceived.

Let me put the background to this situation into context.

The Red Location is a “black suburb” that was established under British colonial rule in 1903 and maintained under the old apartheid regime, which sought to separate the race groups through legislation. Living conditions there were appalling – many of the buildings were constructed of wood and corrugated iron dating back almost 100 years and had fallen into disrepair. During the 1970’s and 80’s the area, as with other black areas, became a hot bed of resistance against the old regime.

The residents fought for the ideals of equality and justice. Unfortunately as with most conflicts, there were unspeakable atrocities on both sides, which left the protagonists with deep seated bitterness and many unresolved issues. Generally the atrocities of those who come out on top are the ones that are overlooked at the end of the conflicts.

The reality is that the hatred can live on long after the conflict is over and if allowed it can fester and breed and create other problems.

I guess it is possible that that there can still be deep seated resentments. But then there are also the criminal elements who will try and mask their activities under a guise of “respectability”, like taking their revenge on whites for the injustices of the past. However, the elements I believe my colleagues were talking about are criminals who will kill a young woman for her mobile phone or a policeman for his firearm. Crime is one issue nation building is another.
This is why reconciling the opposing sides in any nation that has fought a civil war is so important. In this regard I do not think that the role of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission in bringing the truth to light and building bridges will ever be fully appreciated.

My visit to the Red Location Museum showed me that we still have a long way to go in building a truly united nation. However, one cannot build a nation by continuously looking backwards you can only do so by looking ahead and moving forward.

I will be return to the Red Location there is still a lot to see.

Red Location

Today’s jaunt was to show Sue the flamingos at Swartkops. Yes, we saw plenty them but they were far away and the pictures I took show more of the slums in the background than the birds. On the way home our trip took an unexpected turn, as we are inclined to take to roads that we have not used before.

“I have never been up this road”, Sue said on our way home. With that I made a quick right turn into New Brighton. We were driving into the area we were photographing from the salt pans. A few hundred metres forward we saw the sign pointing to the Red Location Museum. Another turn to the right and we were on our way to a museum we have wanted to visit for some time.

The Red Location was established in 1905, when the black residents of the Strangers Location and at
Coopers Kloof (Albany Road) were moved from Port Elizabeth. These areas were in the vicinity of where we now live,

These removals were orchestrated by the British Colonial government of the time. The National Party, the architect of apartheid policies, was only formed in 1914 and came into power in 1948 after which it was responsible for untold misery, injustices and crimes against humanity.

The name of the Red Location comes from the corrugated iron barracks, brought down here from a defunct concentration camp at Uitenhage and the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at de Aar; that had been used in the South African War of 1899-1902. In time, these sheds eventually rusted and turned deep red.

Some of the original houses at the Red Location

The Red Location Museum focuses on institutionalized racism and the anti-apartheid movement. It is an awesome museum with some very graphic displays.

The main hall with columns featuring the heroes of the struggle

The tribute to Vuyisile Mini, an ANC activist and the black and white photographs commemorating the Langa Massacre in 1985 are a chilling reminder of how a nation can become divided through unjust policies and beliefs and generate so much hatred


Tribute to Vuyisile Mini who was executed in 1964. Against the walls are replicas of inquest
filing boxes with the names of many who died violent deaths, where no blame was attributed.

What is striking about the museum is that it was developed in the midst of the slum area. The old and the new mingling together.

New housing developed along side the museum.

I was brought up as a child of apartheid, with a racist father. As a result I was a bigoted little racist at an early age, but as a young adult started to question those values. In the 1980’s my wife and I were members of the old Progressive Party and took our stand against the system. However, when we left the museum I could not shake the feeling that there was more that I could have done at the time. My stand then was from the position of privilege and I was largely sheltered from the reality what was happening in the townships.

Shacks alonside the Museum.

Even now, 14 years after our first democratic elections living conditions for some have not changed.

Yes, this is someone's home near the museum.