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gar.<br />

rgthnicjty: the ordinary people<br />

THROUGH listening to missionaries, church—n,<br />

teachers and ordinary people, there la overahelalng<br />

evidence that Teonga-epeakers hava baan living<br />

perfectly easily amongst Vandaa and Sothoa for tha<br />

last 100 years. Throughout tha Northern Tranevaal,<br />

X aaa repeatedly Informed, Tscopes have intaraerrled<br />

extensively eith Vandaa and Sothoa and hava lived alda<br />

by alda with tnaa. In aany araaa tha conatltuency of<br />

Vanda chlafa aaa predominantly Taonga, and tha convarsa<br />

appllad too* Those to whom I spoke wvn virtually<br />

unanimous in declaring that sustained friction<br />

bataean athnlc groupa la a ralatlvaly racant<br />

phanoaanon, a dlract consequence of tha implementation<br />

of tha Bantu Authorities system.<br />

A Sotho haalth inspector ehoa I met at a cafe<br />

naar »lluuane told aa that *bafora aaparata develop-<br />

aent I llvad amongst Taongas and sent to achool aith<br />

thaw. Horn I would rathar hava a ahite men In ay<br />

houaa than a Shangean'.-<br />

Throughout these araas poised between<br />

coneoUdetion into althar Vanda or Gezankulu, Taonga-<br />

apaaKara expressed horror at balng 'Vendafied'.<br />

Friction arupts everywhere. At Ghlluvana naar<br />

Txanaan tha Oouglaa Salt hoapltal ahlch eas built<br />

after World War 1 to aarva tha local population aa*<br />

declared pert of Gazankulu In 1961. In retaliation<br />

Phatudl of Laboaa ordered tha removal of all Sotho<br />

ataff froa tha hospital in Aprll/aay 1981,<br />

Moreover, Sotho patlanta (soma on drips i] vara<br />

reached by ambulance to a 'Sotho 1 hoapltal some 15cm<br />

•way. At preaent, tanalona ajaongat Sotho and Taonga<br />

epeakara at Shiluvane ara close to breaking point -<br />

all this in en araa ahlch churchman daacrlba aa<br />

having baan a modal of haraxmloua huaan inter-<br />

ralationehlp.<br />

How, than, ara inter-ethnic tanalona stimulated<br />

aaongat tha ordinary paopla aho atand only to lota<br />

froa bantuatan consolidation? Tha key to thla<br />

quaation llaa in the fact ttiet there ia no<br />

altarnatlva; facad with tha raallty of bantuatan<br />

consolidation, ordinary paopla ara foread to oparata<br />

within tha ayataa In ardor to survive. In tha fight<br />

for survival, gladiators auat hava hotad ona another<br />

with more intanaity than thay did tha Roman<br />

aristocracy responsible for placing than in tha<br />

arana in tha firat placa. Tha aaaa prlnclpla<br />

undarllaa tha davalopaant of athnic hostility in<br />

tha Northam Transvaal.<br />

Tha aatabllahmant of boundariaai bantuatan<br />

consolidation and population raaovala ara aaong tha<br />

aaln masons for athnic dlffarancaa asaualng a<br />

politicised fora. Oiviaiona ara anforcad through tha<br />

aatabllahaant of aaparata cllnice, schools, labour<br />

bureaux, poat offlcaa and othar adalnlatratlva<br />

atructuraa for aacn population group. On a aaln road<br />

In Gazankulu, tha road suddenly narroaa and la pittad<br />

because It haa brlafly antarad Vanda territory and la<br />

tharafora of no algnlficanca for 5ezankulu euthoritiee.<br />

It becomes Incraaaingly difficult for pensioners<br />

to racalva their aonthly handouta if thay ara living<br />

outside of thalr 'nation' * even If they have baan<br />

living in the same placa all thalr Uvea.<br />

One of tha greatest reasons for tha eaargence of<br />

athnlc hostility relates to tha establlahaant of<br />

slngle^nediua schools. Whan schools ara auddanly<br />

daclarad 'Vanda' or 'Qhangaan' or 'Sotho 1 . It bacoaaa<br />

Impossible for children to receive aother*tongue<br />

Instruction. Faced «ith this problem, cultural<br />

traditions can only be upheld by removing to onee<br />

'homeland*.<br />

Tne relationship bataean the davalopaant of tha<br />

bantustans and tha acceptance of their existence by<br />

thalr 'citizens* is a product of a vicious circle.<br />

The South African state establishes boundaries in<br />

the name of 'homeland 1 consolidation and those people<br />

caught outalda their 'hoaeland' euffer victimisation<br />

and uncertelnty as a result, victimisation with<br />

regard to schooling, tha awarding of labour contracts,<br />

pensions, hospital aervlces» etc, together exert<br />

treaendoue pressure on people to eove* In addition,<br />

a favourite tactic of tha 'GO' 12 ia to intlaldata tno*o<br />

threatened eith removal over an amended period of<br />

tlaa. As a raeult of these threats of removal, those<br />

in poaaaaelon of relatively greater aatarial nmmn*<br />

move before the eltamatlvee offered to thaa become<br />

laaa and leaa attractive. The community la therefore<br />

split and It is inevitably tha pooreet alaaenta aho<br />

are finally carted easy and duapad by the M trucks<br />

or their bantuatan functionaries. Within these<br />

peraaetere it la therafore virtually lapoaaible not<br />

to accept homeland 'independence• in aoaa form. Tha<br />

South African govarnaant seta the situation and the<br />

nechenlea of ethnic fragaantat1on acquires a dynamic<br />

of its own. *<br />

Conclusion<br />

Tha tragedy of ethnicity in the Northam Transvaal<br />

le that it la real. At a political level tha<br />

lapllcetlona ara extremely depressing; tha South<br />

African atate ahlch ia ultleately responsible for<br />

the polltlcleetlon of ethnicity through its pushing of<br />

separate davalopaant. ia seen by soaa aa an honeet<br />

broker. The greatest amount of antagonism in<br />

Gaxankulu ia reserved for Vends end Laboaa -<br />

ehile Koornhof la respectfully approached by<br />

'deputations 1 . Rev Sydney Ngobet general secretary<br />

of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church , e*plolne that<br />

'ethnic feelings have increased ao much since<br />

separate davalopaant that people apeak of "aa Sotho"<br />

or "ae Taonga" rethar than "we people" or "aa<br />

afrlcane". People aho uaad to aay "aa blacks are not<br />

allowed to go there" no* aay "aa Shangaen aay not go<br />

there'.<br />

It ia tharafora at their peril that progressives<br />

blithely dismiss tha eaargence of ethnicity In the<br />

Northern Transvaal es 'false consciousness'* Falae<br />

it is in tha sense that the real source of edeery and<br />

Oppression - the South African state - becomes<br />

obscured. But this falae conecloueness le not e aare<br />

ephemeral ideology ahlch can be ignored. Its basis<br />

le dletlnctly aatarial; rooted on the one hand In<br />

tha claas interests of tha new afrlcan petty<br />

bourgeoisie, and on the othar hand in the atruggle<br />

for survival faced by the ordinary aaae of exploited<br />

end ccpressed paopla.<br />

Saul Ouboa

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