South Africa
The Taung Child (or Taung Baby) is the fossilised skull of a young Australopithecus Africanus
Boer War #1 (1880-1881) Anglo-Zulo War (1879) 1879 Boer Wars # 2 (1899 - 1892)
You’ve heard of that wonderful fella
Yes, that one: Nelson Mandela!
Xhosa from Thembu royalty to a law degree
In his heart he was a revolutionary
Led a sabotage campaign
Tried for conspiracy in 1961
Sentenced to life in prison
Released by President deKlerk in 1990
In 1991, President de Klerk had begun
Repealing most legislation
Which apartheid was based on
Mandela Joined the ANC (African National Congress)
Led the party to victory
Mandela was President
From ’94 -to ’99
Another term he did decline
Became an elder statesman
One who loved his great nation
His Goals were to combat poverty
HIV/AIDS through charity.
An icon of social justice is he
Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993
Known at home as “Madiba”,
Father of the Nation - ya
Died in 2013 at the age of 95
But his legacy will survive
In this country, this mighty country
People are willing to fight
Yes, in this country, this mighty country
People fight for human rights
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So, we’re walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
We are walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
South Africa, South Africa
What’d we say, what’d we say, what’d we say
South Africa, South Africa
FW deKlerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands
Miriam Makeba
Graca Machel-Mandela
Rosina Mamokgethi Phakeng
In this country, this mighty country
People are willing to fight
Yes, in the country, the mighty country
People fight for human rights
So, we’re walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
We are walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
South Africa, South Africa
What’d we say, what’d we say, what’d we say
South Africa, South Africa
“The Lion Sleeps Tonight” I’m sure you’ve heard
Do you know Solomon Linda & the Evening Birds.
SA musicians wrote this in 1939
Named it Mgube Zulu for Lion ,
In the 50’ s US musicians thought it great
Loved the rhythm, the range. Thought it free to take
Adapted, recorded, made millions in no time
Became US musicians gold mine
Solomon and the Birds only got a thousand
Ain’t that just the way to treat a friend
Would you like to listen to the song as you read tonight
The links are at the end so you can click them all right
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History here quite complex
Dates back further than dinosaur rex
Oldest archeological sites
Oldest human fossil sites
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Findings suggest humans lived here
About three million years ago
Fossilized findings everywhere
World Heritage Site” said UNESCO
See the skull of the Taung child
What was found might drive you wild
Called “Cradle of Humankind”
Imagine what else they did find
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh
South Africa, South Africa
What’d we say, what’d we say, what’d we say
South Africa, South Africa
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Who settled here you’d like to know, aaahhh
No! Not Trevor! the Bantu & Xhosa,
Then Portuguese, followed by the Dutch
Britain saved SA from France & such
Were there Wars ? Yes, oh brother!
One war right after another!
Two Boer Wars, Anglo-Zulo War,
Tribal conflicts & rebellions galore
Ever hear of concentration camps?
These camps carried the British stamp
Over 27,000 Boer women and children died
Who knows why or how much they cried
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In this country, this mighty country
People are willing to fight
Yes, this country, the mighty country
People fight for human rights
​
So, we’re walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
We are walking - and - we are talking
‘Bout South Africa today
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
South Africa, South Africa
What’d we say, what’d we say, what’d we say
South Africa, South Africa
Now here’s another interesting fact
In 1948, SA apartheid policy
Was framed by Canada’s Indian Act
Racial “apartness” was ordinary
Since 1913. Maybe even before
Here, there. All the world over
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Apartheid met with much opposition
You can imagine differing positions
Both external and internal
Apartheid became controversial
Countries boycotted SA
Guerrilla warfare on display
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One Oomama has a friend or two
But did you know Graca Machel
If not, then it’s time you do
Married and widowed twice
First to Mozmbique’s president, Samora Machel
Then to SA’s president Nelson Mandela; how nice!
She did far more than marry powerful men
She worked to reduce hunger, increase education
Researched the impact of war on children for the UN
She’s life-long award-winning humanitarian
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We’ve seen a lot and ’twas all just fine
Now where shall we go?
Let’s ask Mr. Trevor Noah
He’s the one who was Born a Crime
And tells us the twists and turns his life took
In his very readable book
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Guess who moved here in his teens
From SA , maybe wearing jeans?
Guess what he did when he was only ten
Created a computer video game, and then
Outer space, rockets, electric cars, pay pal
More endeavours as you can tell
All kinds of inventions for his curious mind
The world’s richest man you’ll ever find
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Do you know about Miriam Makeba
Click on the link to hear her “Pata Pata”
Yes, we can all dance to this pop song
But, might be tricky to sing along
She was quite a revolutionary
Against apartheid she did fight
Got herself banned from SA,
In the US she married Black Panther leader,
Stokely Charmichael; then lost her US visa
During a concert in 2008, she collapsed and died
You can imagine how the audience cried
Of her Nelson Mandela spoke and said this
"her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.”
In her UN testimony against apartheid,
she requested an arms embargo on the basis that
SA government would use them against
Women and children who were black
Hence her citizenship was revoked; her music banned
She now has honorary citizenship in 10 nations in our land
She worked closely with Graça Machel-Mandela,
Advocating for children throughout the nation
Child soldiers, HIV/AIDS, handicapped physically.
Goodwill Ambassador of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization
She established the Makeba Centre for Girls,
A home for orphans, described in an obituary as her most personal project
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Before we leave for Cape Town,
Here’s another person quite renowned
Her mother a teacher; her father the first black radio announcer
Her name? Rosina Mamokgethi Phakeng Can you pronounce it?
First black woman to earn a mathematics Phd
Now Vice Chancellor of Cape Town University
Founder of Adopt a Learner
Providing education to low-income children.
In this country, this mighty country
People are willing to fight
Yes, this country, the mighty country
People fight for human rights
So, we’re walking - and - we are talking
A trip to Cape town today
We are walking - and - we are talking
Off to Cape Town today
Wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh,
We’ll see Cape Town today
What’d we say, what’d we say, what’d we say
Yes, beautiful Cape Town today
Links to the Music
Solomon Linda & the Evening Birds: “Mbube”
After Johannesburg, Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and also the legislative capital. Colloquially called the Mother City, it is the largest city of the Western Cape province. The Parliament of South Africa is situated in there. Cape Town is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point.
The other two capitals are located in Pretoria , (the executive capital where the Presidency is based) and in Bloemfontein (the judicial capital where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located).
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Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town, as the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, it was developed by the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC) as a vegetable garden and supply station for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on the 6th of April, 1652 established the VOC Cape Colony, the first permanent European settlement in South Africa.
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Cape Town outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa.
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Prior to the mid-twentieth century, Cape Town was one of the most racially integrated cities in South Africa. In the 1948 national elections, the National Party won on a platform of apartheid (racial segregation) under the slogan of "swart gevaar" (Afrikaans for "black danger"). This led to the Group Areas Act, which classified all areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of residents deemed unlawful by apartheid legislation or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town was District Six. After it was declared a whites-only region in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed.
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Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats. Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of "Bantus", i.e. Africans. The implementation of this policy was widely opposed by trade unions, civil society and opposition parties.
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Cape Town was home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement. On Robben Island, a former penitentiary island 10 kilometres from the city, many famous political prisoners were held for years. It was a hard labour camp but also in a sense, a university.
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Nelson Mandela was held here for 18 years He was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace and was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa.
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Boat tours now visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of the site’s guides are ex-prisoners.