20 years of Freedom for Nelson Mandela

Meeting Mr Mandela at Broederstroom in 1994, at our Juvenile Justice for South Africa conference

In 1994 I had the wonderful privilege of meeting Mr Nelson Mandela. It's a story worth telling. But today I am remembering the day Nelson Mandela was released from Pollsmoor. It was the 11 February 1990, exactly twenty years ago. I was cooking at a camp for kids from my old Cape Town school, Westerford. We were in Onrust, not far from Hermanus (which is about an hour and a half from Cape Town). Someone wandered into the kitchen and announced, quite casually, that Nelson Mandela was about to be released from prison. My heart skipped a beat. It seemed completely impossible.

All over the world people would have been having the same reaction. This amazing day had seemed well nigh impossible until just before the announcement. The fight against Apartheid over the few previous years had become more and more intense, with more and more hope, yet this dream had still felt like it was a long way off. The pain and suffering of the Apartheid era was all around us, and we had seen many people detained in the late eighties. We'd heard terrible stories of beatings and torture and had known many people in hiding from the security police. Three people in my immediate family had been detained between 1985 and 1988. We knew we were amongst the lucky ones - others, mostly black people, had not been as lucky and had lost family members to the abuses of the system.

I felt as if I should not show too much jubilation. 1990 was still a time of mistrust and I didn't know quite how to react. I wanted to leave immediately and watch the moment of freedom for this remarkable prisoner of 27 years. If my memory serves me, the camp organisers felt the same, and the camp ended early so we could all head back and see the big moment on TV.

I set off as fast as I could, and found myself at a petrol station on the highway at the time that we expected Mandela to be released. I parked my car and hoped I'd find a TV somewhere. There was one. It was in the tiny room that was used by the petrol attendants during night duty and had just a single bed and a small TV on a table. It was afternoon, and around10 people had crowded into the room. They were a fabulous cross-section of South Africa - black people, white people, Afrikaans, English and Xhosa speaking people. They were old, and they were young. And we were all glued to the screen.

Suddenly, there he was. The old man who noone had been was allowed to take pictures of during his 27 year stint in prison. Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela taking his first steps to freedom from prison with Winnie Mandela on his arm. What a dignified man! What an aura! And what quiet power as he raised his right fist. Yes, this was the man we'd been waiting to see.

I raced back to Cape Town. Parking in District Six, about a kilometer from the city, I joined a huge group of people "toy toying" down to the Grand Parade where Mr Mandela was to address the people from the Town Hall balcony. The crowd was restless. They had been waiting there since morning. People were pushing forward, surging towards the Town Hall. Rev Allan Boesak (who was later disgraced in a funding scandal) was urging people to hold back in a bellowing, amplified voice that did nothing to still the restless crowd, but rather seemed to egg them on to a greater frenzy. The crowd pushed ever forward. I kept my distance. Crowds had always scared me, especially the mass protests of the recent years. I knew I couldn't run as fast as my friends when the cops chased us.

Finally Mr Mandela arrived. I remember him cutting such a fine figure up on that balcony. And I particularly remember his wonderful voice that we would all grow to know so well holding the attention of each and every person in the throngs of South Africans who had waited hungrily to hear his words all day, and for some, all their lives. What an utterly historic moment, and what an utter privilege to be there.

The years that followed were filled with hope and promise, and working at NICRO at the time gave me a platform for the optimism I felt so strongly. It also was directly responsible for putting me in the right place at the right time to later meet Mandela. However, things in South Africa are a bit different now, twenty years on, with crime and wide-spread poverty ravaging the country. The damage of years and years of Apartheid continue to take their toll. And worse still, an immoral President Zuma is creating an increasingly dissatisfied electorate (while providing unending fodder for my cartoonist brother, Zapiro's, pen!).  The leadership of that country is nothing compared to the years under Mandela, but political freedom continues. Mandela set the tone for perhaps the greatest modern democracy on earth, and I hope against hope that South Africa can find the Mandela factor in the coming years. The movie Invictus reminds us of where South Africa was headed, and all South Africans whether living at home or abroad, need to take responsibility to let Mandela see the South Africa of his dreams in these, his twilight years. Viva, Madiba! Viva.

Photo of Nelson Mandela and Rosemary Shapiro-Liu by Nigel Branken

The last Riverboat Postman

Just north of Sydney, an hour from my door by foot and train, is the incredible Hawkesbury River. There the thickly forested islands and peninsulas rise out of the water and are a haven of indigenous flora and fauna. The area is somewhat reminiscent of Asia, and it is there that I can find the greenery and bluery I miss so much living in Ashfield. Transport costs just $13.60 at peak hour for a day return and $9.40 off peak.Well worth it, I must tell you.

I propose a trip at peak hour so that you can get there by 09h00. That way you can catch Australia's Last Riverboat Postman at 09h30 (Mondays to Fridays) for a four hour excursion through the Hawkesbury delivering post and some supplies to the otherwise unreachable islands and forested peninsulas. Unfortunately the Riverboat Postman is not cheap as an experience, but I think it's worth it. I hear the area and stories of it's inhabitants have been captured in the Australian movie, the Oyster Catcher, but I have yet to see it. The boat trip is a step back in time, and comes complete with a cup of tea and a very ordinary biscuit. The tea, though, is served with great pride by a chap who will tell you the story of how he learnt to make a great cup of tea from his mum. At each stop, the boat pulls up to the shore to be met by someone sending mail and receiving mail. Some of these people look as if they haven't left the Hawkesbury in a while - and I'd have to admit that some reminded me of forest gnomes. And if you're lucky you'll see a dog or two coming down to the short with a human. The dog waits patiently, and gets a daily biscuit. Unfortunately it shows. There's not much space to run around on the thickly forested shoreline, and there are dense forests right to the edge of the water. The daily biscuit combined with a lack of exercise could be the start of Jenny Craig's programme for dogs.

It's good to catch the train to arrive by 09h00 to be at the Brooklyn Wharf, right next to the train station to get your ticket and secure a good place on the boat. The upper deck is a great vantage point - complete with plastic chairs and serious sun. You'll need a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. Downstairs, inside, you'll find shade and large windows and a supply of things to keep kids happy (books, crayons - well, they were there the last time I went). It's best to  book as sometimes travelers fill the boat, and sometimes school children going to camp at Milson Island.

Don't say you weren't warned about the stairs at the Hawkesbury River station - a huge flight of steps gets you off the platform and another gets you down to the water level. The 360 degree view from the top of the stairs is worth the climb! And you'll spot huge pelicans perched precariously on bollards and local residents arriving at the Brooklyn wharf in tinnies, complete with a dog each!

Lunch can be fish and chips at one of the local restaurants in Brooklyn where you disembark, and if you feel up to it a 25 minute walk along the road towards the highway will get you to the Brooklyn on Hawkesbury Apartments. An old convent has been converted into a number of apartments that are surprisingly inexpensive to hire, and seriously fun. One of the apartments is in the old church itself and is whacky, to say the least. There there is a pool overlooking the water, and lots of kookaburras, corellas, cockatoos and other birds. The marina is right in front of the apartments, and most have a view over the water. Three minutes back towards Brooklyn on foot you can hire tinnies. I've done that a few times which gets one up close and personal with the huge jellyfish that the Riverboat Postman bumps up against each day on it's trip around the bays.

I once came across a woman who told me that her grandmother had been dropped at the Convent during the second world war at the age of seven with her little sister, then five. They were left there as their parents had fallen on hard times, and they didn't know if and when they would be collected. Apparently two years later their parents managed to take them back. That story remains has added some texture to my holiday experiences at the converted convent, I must say.

The apartments are self-catering as there are no places to eat nearby, other than in Brooklyn itself. A 25 minute walk back to the village at night is sometimes more exercise than one wants after chilling out for the afternoon at the pool. Instead a bbq outside the apartment seems a much better option. Of course you could choose to take a car to the Hawkesbury and that would give you a bit more freedom to move around - especially if you have more time. Mooney Mooney and Woy Woy are nearby, and both offer some eating options.

So my proposal is:
Between 07h30 and 08h00: Take a train to Hawkesbury River with either a day return or a single ticket if coming back the next day.
09h00: Arrive at Hawkesbury River and buy a ticket for the Riverboat Postman
09h30: Board the boat for the trip through the Hawkesbury
13h30: Lunch in Brooklyn
14h30: a walk along the path around the area to the right of the boat mooring, at the level of the water, to where the boats launch and the pelicans gather
15h00: Go up the steps on the way back to what could be called a low promontory. Look out for bush turkeys and take in the views through the Eucalypts. There's a clean public loo up there
15h30: Walk down the hill towards the place where you boarded the Riverboat Postman, take a few steps to your right and pop into the water for a swim, safely behind the jelly-fish netting
16h00: Walk to the Hawkesbury Apartments (25 minutes) on the main road back towards the highway and book in for the night. Relax, have a swim, prepare the BBQ and enjoy!

Next day take a tinny out for a couple of hours before making your way back. There. That's my idea of two days of heaven. Hope you think so too.

See where you can catch the Riverboat Postman   Map