KwaZulu-Natal, Mpophomeni 1968, Exploring situations of (un)freedoms
Forced Removal in South Africa
To explore the experiences of the first inhabitants of Mpophomeni, west of Pietermaritzburg, who had been moved from neighbouring places like Kwa-Joji, Kwa-Zenzele, Cedara and Lions River, a Time Travel back to 1968 happened on 21 February 2014. Participants arrived from seven schools of Mpophomeni and Kwa Haza, a nearby village. A total of ten teachers and 140 school learners in various colourful uniforms descended on the site of the Time Travel under the cover of dark clouds as predicted by the weather bureau. Local Municipality of Umngeni and the two chiefs were each represented in the Time Travel by two participants.
Issues of today
Many days of meetings to have perfect plans paid off on the morning of 21 February. Changing ways of thinking takes time – it has been nearly eleven months from the first presentation of the Time Travel method to the staging of the first Time Travel. The series of meetings were very important as they included not only the planning of the Time Travel but mainly to address issues related to fears, uncertainties, timidity, debates, discouragements, resignations and lack of confidence. Activities that enhanced the lessons the Time Travel aimed to teach included cooking chicken legs (amawotwana), maize meal mixed with potatoes (isigwaqana), cabbage, minced meat and marrow bones. All those who had a taste of the Time Travel meal had nothing but praise for it. Some learners tasted for the first time real butter and drank tea brewed with loose leaves rather than the usual tea bags. The use of condensed milk in the tea reminded most of the adult participants the time they used to steal the sweet milk often reserved for their parents only. Other activities were candle-making and using hammer and nails by fixing the clothes line and later having it painted.
Change of plans - challenges for leaders
The family of Shinduzi offered the use of their home for the Time Travel after the original family reneged on their promise the night before the event. The truck that was going to be bringing the load was delayed due to another vehicle that was parked too close to it. Along with the drizzle that nearly spoilt the fun, one can learn that however meticulous one can be in preparing to the last detail, there can be unexpected disturbances that call for the change of plans. Despite the challenges, a very informative Time Travel happened. There were two women story tellers who kept both adults and learners attention with stories from the rural areas from where they were forcefully removed more than forty years back. Students learnt about the cost of food, transport and bride prize (ilobolo).
Reflections after the Time Travel
While the learners shared how they liked the Time Travel and what they learnt, the women saw it as an opportunity to compare manners and behavior of the learners to theirs, when they moved to Mpophomeni. It is not easy for one to decide if the evaluation of the whole Time Travel experience degenerated into a space to moralize the learners or if it served a good purpose for the older women and older men to instill good values among the youth. Discussions on moral regeneration, social ills, the value of school education could not be avoided even though they seemed remote from the themes of forced removals, landlessness and lack of democratic spaces. What is certain, however, is that all present learnt valuable lessons around the arrival of the first inhabitants of Mpophomeni.
Radikobo Ntsimane, the Museum Service of the Department of Arts and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal.
In cooperation with:
The Interim Committee of local school teachers - Bridging Ages Mpophomeni
The Zulu Mpophomeni Township Experience (ZMTE) Museum
The local Mpophomeni Township Eco-Museum
