Listening to the silent majority

[49]

I wondered what, in the meantime, was happening to Jabulani Patose. I understood that he had arranged for some youth camps that had been a huge success. ‘Let me point out another aspect that concerns both blacks and whites in this country,’ he told me when I saw him again. ‘When I am speaking, my voice will not be heard. But if some prominent guy from Johannesburg opens his mouth, he is heard all over. Or, when some of the comrades in Soweto execute another of their plans and projects, they will be widely reported in the media. Some of the blacks that are in jail today are there by mistake. Sometimes, the police receive wrong information and lock up the wrong guys. A lot of us find ourselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and thus are caught in the cross-fire. So, some of these men happen to get jailed and then become famous when they come out. Or, like some of these hunger-strikers, they will receive mass publicity and even worldwide attention, just because they were released by the authorities. But actually, some of these loudly-proclaimed freedom-fighters were, in fact, nothing but hooligans, who had nothing to do whatsoever with serious work to help liberate the people of South Africa. So, when some of these people come out of prison, they only pose as prominent figures in the struggle to free the black man, and the media build them up as “leaders”. Now, I have been there from the grassroots upward. I actively helped to organize the VRRP, which led our President Samuel Kolisang to become mayor of Lekoa by a landslide, but I will not get media attention in Johannesburg, because I was not locked up in jail, did not go on a hunger-strike, was not released from prison in the full glare of television cameras, but still, I have been working here in the Lekoa townships with smashing political success. Within nine months we organised an election of an entirely new party. And, we received from the electorate massive support indeed.’

[p. 60]

I mentioned to him the chaos that had followed most African liberation movements. He immediately shot back, ‘How can one concentrate on international issues, when you don't first start here, at home, in the townships? Like Jesus said to his disciples, we first work here in Jerusalem, then you go to Nazareth and other places in the world. Christ did not say, start in all corners of the world at the same time. He said, “here at home first”, and that is what we are doing in the Vaal Residents Representative Party. We wrote this in our Constitution as well. This is what we are teaching our people. We are not ignoring international politics and we are not neglecting international developments at all. On the contrary. But, we believe local politics in Lekoa make up national politics and national politics make up international politics. In our present stage of political development, we are not in a hurry to take part in international movements.’

‘You know,’ said Jabulani in a pensive mood, ‘democracy is really a delicate process. It's a political concept, that needs to be learned, like any other political system. It takes patience. It takes lots of time. We are actively engaged in introducing in our townships the workings of true, representative democracy. You cannot win the struggle of liberation by hooliganism or political naughtiness. How can delinquent children contribute to our freedom? Therefore, we are trying to contact as many people as possible, in an effort to get them into a responsible track.’ I mentioned Winnie Mandela's football team. ‘The Winnie Mandela issue is a complicated affair,’ he replied. ‘Now, all of a sudden, they start attacking her. But, we do know that Mrs Mandela infiltrated into the highest levels. She knows everything. Could they deny it? They could not. She is right up there. She knows the truth. There remain lots of suspicions about the entire football-team affair. Even if the matter came to court, suspicions would remain.’ Gradually, confidence and friendship developed between this young man from a township in the Vaal Triangle and myself. He also became a valuable source of information on how some of the younger blacks were feeling and thinking. He amazed me as to the lucid and practical ways his brain worked. Jabulani was constantly making lots of common sense. He never lost my attention when he spoke. He was aware, articulate and obviously very intelligent. I was grateful for having come across his mind.