Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela on the Challenges for a New South Africa
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is a psychologist and
author from South Africa. In 1996, South African President Nelson
Mandela appointed Gobodo-Madikizela to the Human Rights Violations
Committee of the TRC, on which she served until the Commission
completed its inquiry in 1998. In this video clip from a talk she gave
for Facing History and Ourselves educators and community members,
Gobodo-Madikizela talks about the many challenges in a society
undergoing transformation.
Transcript:
"There are new problems in South Africa:
Poverty that you talk about, the crime rate, the crisis of AIDS; all of
these problems are new challenges that force the government to be
creative about the way they choose to address them. In a way, some of
the problems, particularly the problem of poverty, unemployment, is a
legacy of Apartheid. Many black people moving from rural areas into the
city centers looking for this hope that the present government had
promised, failing to find jobs because they were never properly trained
and prepared for this moment--this global moment--where people have to
have skills.
These are new challenges and they do not take away what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission achieved. They are problems that come with the process of transformation. The issue of economic justice has not been adequately addressed because it is so complex. The Anti-Apartheid Struggle is not over in that sense of ‘that's it, we are done,' there is a new challenge, there are new challenges that invite people who are involved in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle to engage with the process in a different way.
I've read in this country some newspaper reports that claim that people are nostalgic about the past. There is no black person that can be nostalgic about an oppressive system such as Apartheid, but people of course are longing to experience this change, to know what it means, to get a sense of what it means to be in a transformed society and it is happening very, very slowly and for many people it has not happened."
These are new challenges and they do not take away what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission achieved. They are problems that come with the process of transformation. The issue of economic justice has not been adequately addressed because it is so complex. The Anti-Apartheid Struggle is not over in that sense of ‘that's it, we are done,' there is a new challenge, there are new challenges that invite people who are involved in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle to engage with the process in a different way.
I've read in this country some newspaper reports that claim that people are nostalgic about the past. There is no black person that can be nostalgic about an oppressive system such as Apartheid, but people of course are longing to experience this change, to know what it means, to get a sense of what it means to be in a transformed society and it is happening very, very slowly and for many people it has not happened."
Video length:
02 min 02 sec
Date filmed:
Apr 10 1997 
