Madiba's South Africa?

Nelson Mandela
1918-2013

For 11 days the entire South Africa has been bombarded with details about Tata Madiba's life, death, and burial. Until yesterday I refused to be taken in by the 'Madiba Madness'.

While driving to Cape Town International Airport to drop my family off,  my sister and I looked out of the window at the infamous shacks* of Khayelitsha**. As if she knew what I was thinking, she begun to talk about the state of South Africa and how it is still so evidently divided. It was then that Madiba's life and death begun to mean something to the Zambian in me.

Almost 20 years down the line there is still evidence of segregation; the blacks, the coloureds,  and the whites live in specific areas and they only mix as you go up the class ladder. Having lived in South Africa for a while I thought I could give you a more personal account.

For the past three years I've been in the most amazing relationship with the most amazing man.  Now before you decide that this is gonna be some soppy love story,  hear me out: we are in what the world calls an interracial relationship (otherwise known as an abomination by the majority of South Africa). My boyfriend is a Cape Coloured and dating across the racial divide is a big deal this side of the world.

After we had said goodbye to my family we walked through the crowded terminal building seeing tributes to Madiba at every turn. This didn't stop people from giving us the usual look of disapproval and in some cases disgust. I turned to my boyfriend, smiled and said, "we are the epitome of what Madiba wanted for South Africa."

Somehow I felt really superficial saying those words.  We definitely aren't living in Madiba's South Africa and even though the Country has come this far, it still has a long way to go.

*shacks - houses made of materials such as corrugated iron sheets, cardboard, or wood.

**Khayelitsha - 'new home' - the fastest growing informal settlement in South Africa.