From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOUTH AFRICA: CULTURAL STAGNATION AS TOWNSHIP VIOLENCE ESCALATES
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 13:57:44 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Opecna Morning Transmission
Title: SOUTH AFRICA: CULTURAL STAGNATION AS TOWNSHIP VIOLENCE ESCALATES


an inter press service feature

by eddie koch

johannesburg, dec 17 (ips) -- comrade tenor and comrade gadaffi
were surveying the ruins of ntshongweni, a village built in the
basin of a beautiful valley in the natal midlands, from the
branches of a tall bluegum tree when ips arrived.

each of them, no more than 18 years-old, were the leaders of
a ragtag army comprising 300 young boys whose job it was to
defend the ransacked village from further attack.  they used
home-made guns called 'qwashas' and an r4 rifle stolen from the
police when they went out to patrol the ghost-town.

''when this is over my hope is to sing in the choir again'',
said comrade tenor. ''my real worry is for the young ones who
are six or eight years old. they have been taught to kill. i
will have to take the militancy out of them.  we must build a
community centre, form a club and get the boys to take-part in
the choral competitions that are advertised on the radio.''

but tenor's job was to protect a where every house along the
gravel road winding through the village had been sacked and
evacuated. roofs were missing. window frames had been ripped
out. donkeys were grazing in the schoolyard where, day after
day, not a single pupil turned up.

''at night we divide into four regiments. we have divided
the place into four areas: moscow, lusaka, angola and libya,''
the lanky boy gadaffi explained after scrambling down from his
look-out post. ''last week they attacked killing five of us, so
we were forced to retaliate''.

that was in the middle of 1989. the low-grade civil war
between supporters of inkatha and the africa national congress
in natal had already killed more than 5,000 people and the boy
generals were reluctant participants in the war.

but there was, at the time, a cultural renaissance taking
place in south african townships that served to nourish comrade
tenor's dream of hearing the sounds of choirs again in the
ntshongweni valley.

south africa's most famous vocalist, miriam makeba, was back
in the country after decades in exile. bayete and sakhile were
experimenting with a blend of home-grown jazz and imported
fusion. the sharptown swingsters and the jazz pioneers were in
full swing.

commercial music agents hosted concerts around the country as
a tribute to the men and women who had created the legend known
as township jazz. (more/ips)


south africa: cultural (2)

''the mid-1980s was a period of extraordinary cultural
vitality, despite the state of emergency that existed at the
time. there were new venues for jazz and a resurgence of all
kinds of groups,''  says chris balantine, professor of music
at the university of natal and expert on south africa's jazz
history.

''the spirit of the movement was very integrative. there was
a wierd and wonderful combination of styles. it was a time for
musical exploration of the most extraordinary kind, a kind of
alchemy to erode the old order and create the new. there was a
sense of hope, excitement and optimism'', he says.

but today, except for the performaces of a few big names from
overseas and exiles who have returned after making it abroad,
there is nothing new in the townships. even the recording
studios have nothing innovative to offer.

it is as though the unprecedented levels of violence in
natal and in the transvaal have done what apartheid failed to
do. they have strangled culture.

''young people are caught up in vicious ways of defending
themselves. someone with a gun or a knife has no time to sit on
street corners and get good at playing their instrument or to
play something new that expresses their feelings,'' says lara
allen, who is studying the history of 'kwela', the sparkling
penny-whistle playing which came to epitomise township music.

''there is a lack of groundswell of creative innovation and
exitement from below. in the 1980s there was a feeling that the
new future was around the corner and that we could make it
happen. now that's not there anymore'', adds ballantine.

''there was violence in the townships in the 1950s and in
the musical revival of the 1980s. but somehow the internal
violence was not destructive of expression then as it is now'',
lara notes. looking at todays cultural stagnation compared to
the optimism of the 80's one sees a loss of excitement and hope.

it is estimated that there now could be as many as 100,000
internal refugees in natal, people dislocated from their homes
by the civil war that still rages there. comrade tenor is
probably among them. at the end of 1992 there is no community
centre or choir in ntshongweni, and comrade tenor's dream, along
with so many other hopes, is dead. (end/ips/ek/nm/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african