History Making and Present Day Politics - Stolten's African Studies ...

H i s t o r y i n t h e n e w S o u t h A f r i c a
and the aim of Albert Grundlingh’s article “Reframing remembrance” is to
disaggregate these permutations and to elucidate their purpose.
It seems that at least in some areas, history in South Africa is very much
alive. Heritage and various kinds of popular history arouse as much interest
as ever, as can be seen from the great number of books published to mark the
centenary of the Boer War. Heritage studies have also been a growth area at
South African universities, and not only for antiquarian reasons. 98 “The Heritage
Industry invokes a sentimentalised past which makes bearable a sordid
and painful present”, as Jeff Guy has put it. 99
According to Grundlingh, the ANC-government had some problems developing
its view on the historical conflict between Afrikaners and Englishspeaking
whites in a direction that is relevant for blacks. As it turned out,
some of the high profile events during the centenary celebration were actually
used by black communities to address pressing issues of poverty alleviation.
Grundlingh enumerates several different cases of present use and misuse of
the history of the South African War, including the white fear that the counting
of black war graves could make the Afrikaner history of suffering seem
less important, and, as another case in contrast to this, how some Afrikaners
have used the construction of a shared anti-imperialist past as a basis from
where the old white elite could speak to the new black elite. Statements from
President Mbeki show that he is open to this approach. 100 The use of battlefield
tourism is also discussed. The killing fields of yesteryear are analysed as
the potential money-spinners of today.
In his article “Apartheid in the museum”, Georgi Verbeeck critically
analyses the newly established Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. This
museum is destined to serve as a mirror for the new South Africa trying to
come to terms with its past. It has provoked both admiration and criticism.
To some degree, it meets the actual needs of the majority to identify with the
past. Critics like Verbeeck, however, point at a growing tendency to create a
new nationalistic discourse. In their eyes, the museum constitutes a controversial
attempt to close the history dialogue by locking away the memory of
apartheid. Verbeeck also draws attention to problematic connections between
98. Also Nuttall, Tim and Wright, John, “Probing the Predicaments of Academic History
in Contemporary South Africa”, South African Historical Journal, Vol. 42, May
2000, pp. 29, 30, 34.
99. Guy, Jeff, “Battling with Banality”, Journal of Natal and Zulu History, Vol. 18, pp. 156–193.
100. President Mbeki, “Address at the ceremony to hand over the garden of remembrance
Freedom Park”, 8 March 2004.
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